Badger Women's Basketball Hosts UW-Milwaukee Tonight
December 08, 2004 | Women's Basketball
The battle for state supremacy among Div. I women's basketball programs continues this week when UW (2-4) hosts UW-Milwaukee (2-4) Wednesday at 7 p.m., and UW-Green Bay (6-0) on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The Badgers have already played Marquette falling last week in Milwaukee, 78-64.
The games will be televised taped-delayed by Wisconsin Public Television at 11 p.m. Saturday's game will be televised live by UPN14. The games may also be heard on WIBA 1310 AM and on live video streamed on uwbadgers.com.
The last time Wisconsin played all three schools in the same season was 1998, with UW beating Milwaukee and Green Bay, and falling to Marquette.
The Badgers are pleased to finally return home after four-straight road losses. After a 2-0 start, Wisconsin lost its fourth-straight game, 88-65, at Iowa State Sunday. Leading scorer and frosh sensation, Jolene Anderson, was ill and held to just two points. She is expected to play this week.
UW began the year winning its first two games of the season for the first time since 1999-2000 with an 82-53 rout of Southern Illinois Nov. 22. Wisconsin had its first opening season win since 2001, and first under second year head coach Lisa Stone, with a decisive 82-49 victory over IUPUI on Nov. 19. The 2-4 start parallels a 2-5 start in 2002-03.
Two freshmen (Jolene Anderson, Janese Banks) have started since the first game. It's the first time UW has started two freshmen since 1998-99, when Jessie Stomski and Tamara Moore both started in the sixth game of the season.
BADGER COACH LISA STONE
Head coach Lisa Stone begins her second season at Wisconsin and is just 13 wins shy of her 400th career victory. Now in her 20th season of coaching, Stone is 387-139 overall. She was ranked 11th in all-time winning career percentage among active Div. I coaches as the 2004 season began. She was 10-17 in her opening year at Wisconsin. which was the first losing season she ever coached.
BADGER INDIVIDUAL NOTES
' Junior Jordan Wilson (Naperville, Ill.) has established herself as the go-to player inside. Her patented left-handed jump hook has been effective as she ranks third on the team in scoring (10.2) and is second in rebounding (6.2). As a sophomore she started the final 12 games and averaged a then-career-high 6.8 points and 5.4 rebounds. She was the MVP of the 2003 Miami Tournament and UW's Most Improved Player in 2004.
' Freshman Jolene Anderson (Port Wing, Wis.), came to Wisconsin with impecable scoring credentials and has not disappointed. The team's leading scorer with 15.7 points per game, she ranks ninth in the conference in scoring, second in 3-pt. goals made (2.3), and is third in assists (4.8). She is the State of Wisconsin's all-time leading prep scorer (2,881 points) and 2004 AP State Player of the Year. In addition to averaging 37.1 points and 15.1 rebounds her senior season, Anderson holds the sprep coring records for most points in a game (58) and most points in a season (956).
' Freshman guard Janese Banks (Indianapolis, Ind.) came off a knee injury to start the season opener collecting 15 points and seven rebounds against IUPUI. She is second on the team in free throw shooting making 83.3 percent. Banks missed both exhibitions and did not practice Nov. 1-8 due to a non-sports related injury to her left knee.
' The Big Ten assists leader in 2003-04 with 5.8 per game, Stephanie Rich (Crawfordsville, Iowa) has continued that pace ranking second in the Big Ten with 5.0 assists per game. She nearly had her third career double-double versus SIU with 13 points and nine assists. Rich also is first in 3-pt. goals made with 2.50 per game.
' Junior Annie Nelson (Hudson, Wis.) earned her first career start against Marquette is having a career-year in stats. She led Wisconsin with a career-high 13 points and eight rebounds at Iowa State. She has established career highs with nine rebounds (twice), three steals and three assists. She is second in the Big Ten in field goal percentage hitting 18-of-29 for .621 percent.
' Ashley Josephson (Onalaska, Wis.) returned from a back injury her freshman season to lead the team in scoring in 2003-04 with 12.3 points per game. The long-distance shooter has come off the bench to average 6.2 points per game, but a neck injury has sidelined her as she missed the Marquette game Dec. 1 and is day-to-day for Dec. 5..
' Freshman 6-4 center Danielle Ward (Milwaukee, Wis.) had a career night vs. SIU with 11 points and tying for game-high rebounding honors with nine. She is second on the team in blocks with 1.3 per game.
' Frosh Record Watch: The highly-talented freshmen class will make watching the Wisconsin freshmen records mandatory. The best season scoring average by any UW freshman was 15.7 points per game by Pam Moore in 1977-78 and the most points scored in a frosh season was 459 by Jessie Stomski in 1998-99. Jolene Anderson has 94 points in five games and is averaging 15.7 points per game.
BADGER TEAM NOTES
' Wisconsin is on school record pace in 3-point goals and attempts. the Badgers are averaging a Big Ten-leading 7.3 triples per game (school record average is 5.8) and 22.0 attempts per game (record is 17.3 per game).i
' Wisconsin is on school record pace in assists averaging 18.7 per game which ranks third in the Big Ten. The record of 16.8 assists per game was set in 2000-01.i
' A more athletic and offensive-minded UW team has taken the floor this season. The Badgers are averaging 71.3 points per game, 14 points more than last season's average of 57.3. UW's 82 points vs. IUPUI and vs. SIU tied the most scored last year (82-87 OT vs. Iowa 2/12/04). The 33-point, 82-49, win over IUPUI was the largest margin of victory since a 33 point win over Northwestern (80-47) on 2/14/02.
' UW's 25 assists vs. SIU was the most since 25 vs. Cleveland State, 11/30/01
' UW's 53 rebounds vs. IUPUI was the most since 50 vs. Eastern Illinois, 12/10/02
' The uptempo game Wisconsin wants to play demands rebounds. UW holds a 41.7 to 36.3 advantage in rebounds over opponents which ranks third in the Big Ten.
' All but four of 11 UW players are averaging double-digit minutes and all 11 have scored in the games played. UW is playing an 11-player rotation so far this season.
' Wisconsin is averaging 5,544 in attendance this season which ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 11th nationally. The team has ranked among the top 15 nationally since 1995, and owns all the Big Ten Conference attendance marks.
Wisconsin's Starting Lineups
Games Record Lineup (F-F-G-G-G)
1-4 2-2 Wilson, Gebisa, Banks, Anderson, Rich
5-6 0-2 Wilson, Nelson, Banks, Anderson, Rich
Almost All Home Games Live Video Streamed on the Web
All of Wisconsin's home games, except those games televised by Fox Sports Net, will be video live streamed on uwbadgers.com. When Wisconsin Public Television broadcasts the event, their broadcast and announcers will be streamed. When the game is not televised, the scoreboard video and radio broadcasters will be streamed.
Just click on the `live stream' link on the front page of uwbadgers.com at the start of the game. A broadband connection and windows media are recommended to view the stream. Home post game news conferences are also video streamed live, and archived on the women's basketball multimedia page.
Scouting Report on UW-Milwaukee
After a season in which UW-Milwaukee posted a 17-12 record and finished second in the Horizon League, the team is off to a rough start with just a 2-4 mark. Although the Panthers have four returning starters, they did lose Horizon League Player of the Year Maria Viall.
Taking her place is senior forward Teri Huff, who is averaging a 13.2 ppg and 1.7 apg. She racked up 10 points and eight rebounds in the team's loss to Northern Iowa last week.
Also starting at forward are senior Kimberly Becker and junior Molly O'Brien. The former has collected 10.3 ppg and 6.2 rpg, while the latter has made a team-high 18 steals so far.
At guard are sophomore sophomore Aubrey Hampton and junior Nichole Drummond. Hampton returns from a knee injury that limited her to just 12 starts in 2003-04. She is currently averaging around 30 minutes a game and shooting .500 from beyond the arc (10-of-20).
Drummond is the leading returning scorer from last year, when she had 9.5 ppg. She has since improved to 13.5 ppg with a .900 free throw percentage.
In Sunday's game against Oakland (Mich.), UW-Milwaukee had four players in double-figures for a 69-64 road win. The Panthers led 31-30 at the break and trailed just twice in the second half to improve.
Becker led her squad with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Hampton added 13 points and five assists.
Both the Panthers and Grizzlies shot under 40 percent, but the difference was that UWM held OU scoreless in the last 1:43.
Head Coach Sandy Botham
Sandy Botham is in her ninth season as head coach of the Panther basketball program and 10th season overall as a collegiate head coach. In the last five seasons, which includes one league title and four runner-up finishes, Botham boasts an 87-56 mark, good for a .608 winning percentage.
UW-Milwaukee has been dominant at home vs. Horizon League opponents under Botham. Under her direction, UWM boasts a 51-9 home record in conference play, good for an 85.0 winning percentage. In the last five seasons, which includes perfect seasons in 1999-00, 2000-01 and 2003-04, the team is 34-4 in league competition.
Botham came to UWM in 1996 following a successful season as head coach at Beloit College in Beloit, Wis. Her team went 22-4 in 1995-96, making it the most successful team in school history. That Beloit squad advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament before losing to eventual national champion UW-Oshkosh.
2004-05 Schedule
UW-Milwaukee opened the season with three straight losses before getting a four-point win over Columbia Thanksgiving weekend. Following their game against Wisconsin, the Panthers play host to Northwestern and Iowa consecutively, although spread out by 16 days.
UWM, which also lost to Wisconsin AAU in exhibition action, begins Horizon League play on Dec. 30 against UW-Green Bay.
