Badgers Host Central Connecticut State
November 17, 2006 | Women's Basketball
UW tries to keep its unblemished record at 2-0 when it hosts Central Connecticut State tonight at 7 p.m. Tickets priced at $7 adults and $3 children and seniors, are available at the door or in advance at uwbadgers.com.
Wisconsin had a successful season home opener Tuesday with an 80-77 win over a very good Western Michigan team. Wisconsin opened its fourth season under Coach Lisa Stone with a 91-58 victory over Air Force in Colorado Springs, Colo, Nov. 10. It was Stone's third season opening win in four years.
LAST TIME OUT
A year ago the Badgers were 0-4 in games decided by three points or fewer, but this year Wisconsin came out on top with a hard-fought 80-77 win over Western Michigan. Jolene Anderson had 26 points and tied her career high for a second-consecutive game with five three-pointers. She just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Center Caitlin Gibson had her career high with 15 points including 7-of-10 free throws.
The runnin'-and-gunnin' Badgers are a fun team to watch as they let their depth and quickness provide instant offense. Against WMU, UW scored 16 points in transition, had 15 steals, and outrebounded the Broncos 38-31. Behind Anderson's 5-of-9 3-pointers, UW shot 50 percent from the 3-point line.
uWisconsin is getting contributions from every position. With starting forward Danielle Ward in foul trouble, Brittany Heins stepped in to grab seven rebounds and score four points. Point guard Rae Lin D'Alie is quickly becoming a crowd favorite with her spunky play. The 5-3 freshman had career highs with eight points and five steals against WMU.
INDIVIDUAL UPDATES
Guard Janese Banks (Indianapolis) is the second leading scorer for UW with 20.0 points per game. She showed her versatility with a great stats line at Air Force and earned Big Ten honors with a career-high 28 points on 9-of-13 shooting including three-of-four 3-pointers. She added seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Banks was the second-leading scorer in 2005-06 with 12.8 points per game. She led the Badgers in assists with 4.42 per game while playing point guard. She has led UW in most free throws the past two years and does again converting 10-13 for 76.9 percent.
Guard Jolene Anderson (Port Wing, Wis.), extended her double-figure scoring streak which began last season to 31, the longest in the Big Ten, with a season-high 26 points Western Michigan. She has scored in double figures in 56 of her 59 career games. Wisconsin lost all three games in which she was held below 10 points. Her career-low was two points against Iowa State on Dec. 5, 2004, the sixth game of her career. The last time she had single digits in a game was the last game of the 2005 Big Ten Tournament against Ohio State. The UW record is 45 straight games by LaTonya Sims (1997-2000).
Anderson is UW's leading scorer for the third-straight season with 24.5 points per game. Last year she averaged 17.3 points per game which ranked fourth in the Big Ten in overall stats. She scored her 1,000th point to end her sophomore season, (career points now 1,049), and has had seven double-doubles (11 in her career).
Anderson has made at least one 3-pointer in 51 of her 59 career games. Wisconsin is 3-5 in games which Anderson did not make a 3-pointer. The Illinois game on Feb. 9, 2006, was the last game in which she did not score a 3-point bucket (seven-game streak).
Center Caitlin Gibson (Jefferson, Wis.) has scored consecutive career highs with 12 points at Air Force and 15 points vs. Western Michigan. She has has doubled her scoring average of a year ago (5.1 ppg) averaging 13.5 points per game in two games.
Junior 6-4 center Danielle Ward (Milwaukee, Wis.) leading the team in steals (3.5) and blocks (2.0), but has had foul trouble in the last two games. A starter in the last eight games of 2006, she ranked third on the team in scoring (10.2) and was second in rebounding with 5.7 per game. She had the best field goal percentage at 48.4 percent.
Rae Lin D'Alie (Waterford, Wis.) is the first TRUE starting point guard at Wisconsin since Dee Dee Pate graduated in 2000. A true freshman, the 5-3 D'Alie (prounced duh le ah) ties Purdue's starting point guard, FahKara Malone, as the smallest player in the Big Ten. She had a career-high eight points against WMU and leads UW in assists with 5.5 per game.
UW TEAM NOTES
The high-flying Badgers scored 91 points in their first game against Air Force and are averaging a Big Ten leading 85.5 points per game. The 91 points was the most points scored since a 104-91 win over Santa Clara in 2004. The Badgers ranked seventh in the Big Ten in scoring offense in 2005-06 with 66.3 points per game.
Last season UW was the top rebounding team in the Big Ten with 40.0 rebounds per game. UW was also the conference leader in offensive boards with 16.34 per game (averaging 20.0 through one game). This season UW is averaging 40.5 rebounds per game (16.5 offensive boards) and has a 11 rebound plus-margin over opponents.
Led by Jolene's Anderson's career-tying five 3-pointers the past two games, UW is averaging nine 3-pointers per contest and hitting at a 60 percent clip. The 10-of-14 3-pointers and 71.4 3-point percentage at Air Force were not school records. The 10 3-pointers in a game ranked second most (record is 11 in three other games).
Wisconsin was picked to finish sixth in the Big Ten by the coaches and by the media in the Big Ten Pre-season Polls. UW junior Jolene Anderson was a pre-season pick for first-team All-Big Ten by both polls.ST
NEXT OPPONENT: Central Connecticut State
Central Connecticut is 0-1 heading into the game tonight against Wisconsin. The Blue Devils will make the most of their trip to the state of Wisconsin with a game Sunday at UW-Milwaukee.
CCSU fell in the season opener vs. Virginia Commonwealth. Junior Gabrielle Guegbelet led the team with a double-double performance.
The Blue Devils tied for seventh place in the Northeast Conference last season and finished the year with a 9-20 record.
Last Time Out
Gabriella Guegbelet led CCSU (0-1) in a 68-47 season-opening home loss versus Virginia Commonwealth last Friday (Nov. 10). The senior forward played all 40 minutes and had 12 points and 16 rebounds for her 45th career double-double. Sophomore Jhanay Harris added seven points and five assists in the losing effort.
It was a tale of two halves for CCSU The Blue Devils marched out to a 29-23 halftime lead, but Virginia Commonwealth outscored its host 45-18 over the final 20 minutes to earn the win.
Head Coach Yvette Harris
Yvette Harris enters her fifth season at the helm of the Blue Devil program. Harris is no stranger to Big Ten basketball, having played one year at Michigan before transferring and finishing her last three years at Detroit Mercy. Harris also spent three years as an assistant coach at Ohio State and also was an assistant at Michigan for five years directly before heading up the Central Connecticut program.
Harris began her first head coaching stint at Central Connecticut State in 2002.
Preseason Picks
Central Connecticut was picked to finish seventh in the NEC preseason poll. The Blue Devils ended last season with a 9-20 overall record and an 6-12 conference mark, earning a spot in the NEC tournament for the second consecutive season.
Junior forward Gabriella Guegbelet, meanwhile, joined Sacred Heart senior guard Amanda Pape as a unanimous preseason first team all-conference selection for the third consecutive season.
