After one possession of the Wisconsin’s exhibition opener against Minnesota State Mankato Sunday, the Badgers seemed eerily similar to the team that went 9-20 last year. Senior guard Nicole Bauman threw an errant pass trying to feed freshman Marsha Howard in the post, which led to the Badgers immediately scurrying back to defense. But that was Bauman’s lone mistake in the Badger’s 84-48 win over the Minnesota State Mavericks in the Badgers’ first of two preseason games this season. It was an outlier in what appeared to be a very different Badgers team in both style of play and physical makeup.
Freshman Marsha Howard started at power forward and played quite well in her Badger debut. In the preseason, head coach Bobbie Kelsey described Howard as not having the “deer in the headlights look” that most freshmen have, and it was clear early on that Kelsey has confidence in her young forward.
Howard finished the game with seven points and 11 rebounds in 28 minutes of action, a feat that impressed Kelsey greatly.
“Starting off I was kind of nervous. Had a few mistakes in the beginning. But the team was very encouraging,” Howard said.
Howard though, did have a few “freshman moments.” At one point in the third quarter, Howard bent down to tie her shoe during a live ball situation. Kelsey had a different take on the play.
“I’m like what? That’s a freshman. You don’t tie your shoe in the middle of the play,” Kelsey said.
Howard, though, recovered and blocked the subsequent Minnesota State shot out of bounds.
A few possessions later, upon being subbed out, Kelsey and assistant coach Sasha Palmer talked Howard on the sidelines about her post defense.
“They kind of played high school where they put both hands in the air, but you can’t move laterally with both hands straight up. You can get away with that in high school, but against the big girls you can’t get away with that, especially in the Big Ten. But she’ll learn,” Kelsey said.
Sunday also marked the Badger debut of redshirt junior Avyanna Young, who sat out last season due to transfer regulations. Young finished the game with a double-double, picking up 15 points and 15 rebounds in 28 minutes of action.
But much like Howard, Young admitted to having some pregame jitters.
“I just didn’t know what to expect. I kinda doubted myself,” Young said. “I wanted to make sure I was ready for the game and that I could make sure to do what I’m gonna to do to help my team win.”
Both Young and Howard played integral roles for a Badgers team that will thrive even more when its best forward, sixth-year senior Michala Johnson, returns next Sunday for the regular-season opener against Louisiana Tech.
The Badgers played at a faster pace as well, something that has been a point of emphasis for Wisconsin throughout the preseason.
“Throughout this whole month of October coach Bobbie has been implementing a lot of transition with the five that we have, so we know we that we can really push the ball. And if we don’t have it we know we have our offense that we can go right into,” senior point guard Dakota Whyte said after the game.
Whyte finished with an efficient 20 points and five assists in only 26 minutes of play.
The star of the night for the Badgers was fellow senior Tessa Cichy. Cichy finished with 22 points and shot 75 percent from 3-point range.
But she was adamant her performance was “not so much about me taking over,” instead saying, “it was just my opportunity, I think any of us would have, I think we’re going to be good like that. Everyone is going to have their game.”
Cichy later added, “but I think for our first showing we did pretty, pretty well.”
The Badgers play their final exhibition game of the preseason Wednesday at the Kohl Center against UW-Eau Claire.
