Badgers Breeze by Southern Illinois, 82-53
November 22, 2004 | Women's Basketball
From start to finish, the University of Wisconsin women's basketball team played a dominating game against Southern Illinois en route to an 82-53 triumph Monday night at the Kohl Center.
With 17 points, freshman Jolene Anderson led all scorers for the second straight game as the Badgers improved to 2-0 for the first time since 1999-2000.
Wisconsin's height was certainly a factor in the rout, as evidenced with the team's advantage in points in the paint (42-24) and rebounds (51-17)'with a good number of its offensive rebounds converted for put-backs.
'To out-rebound a team of that magnitude is certainly noteworthy,' head coach Lisa Stone said. '(Overall, it was) just a great team effort, (and) another game to allow a lot of people to get some minutes.'
UW freshman Danielle Ward provided a huge spark off the bench, churning out 11 points and nine rebounds. Senior Stephanie Rich and junior Jordan Wilson, meanwhile, combined for 25 points.
The Salukis (0-3) got the bulk of their scoring from seniors Daphney Desamours and Danette Jones, who had 16 points apiece. Wendy Goodman paced her squad with four rebounds and also had one of the team's two blocks.
The game began with a 10-4 run by the Badgers, aided in part by the three turnovers they forced SIU to commit. Rich had a steal for a breakaway layup in that span.
Altogether in the first period, UW shot 48.6 percent from the floor for a 41-29 lead. That advantage was increased as the Badgers opened the next half with 14 consecutive points.
The Salukis had to call two timeouts in the first five minutes of the second half and did not score until Desamours tossed in a couple of free throws with 13:20 remaining.
Wisconsin never let up in pressuring the ball and crashing the basket and eventually got the lead to as high as 31.
'I was very, very pleased with our team's response to the second-half start,' Stone said. 'We had to lock down on defense a little bit more (in the first half), so we made our adjustment at halftime.'
The Badgers now hit the road for the Houston Classic this weekend. They will play Houston at 7 p.m. Friday and Middle Tennessee State at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Game Notes
Wisconsin improves to 3-2 all-time vs. Southern Illinois ' all 11 Badgers played for the second straight game ' the Badgers scored more than 40 points in the first half for the second game in a row ' Jordan Wilson and Jolene Anderson have now scored in double-figures in back-to-back contests ' with just 17 rebounds, the Salukis broke the previous Kohl Center low for rebounds in a game (22)
