Women's Basketball in Big Ten/ACC Challenge
November 28, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Wisconsin resumes its road schedule this week in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge at Virginia Friday at 6 p.m. CST in Charlottesville, Va. The game can be heard locally on WTSO Radio AM 1070 with Mike Heller and also on the Internet at yahoo.com. Virginia will be providing a live video stream for cost.
This is the first year for the Women's Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The men's teams have been playing one another for nine years. Last season UW came from 14 points down to beat the Caviliers 84-78 in the quarterfinals of the WNIT Championship at the Kohl Center. UW returns Sunday for what will be a five-game homestand starting with IPFW (Indiana-Purdue at Ft Wayne) at 1:30 p.m. in the Kohl Center.
The Badgers are 2-2 after beating Ole Miss 74-57 in the semifinals of the Pepperdine Tournament in Malibu, Calif. UW's championship final with Texas-Arlington Saturday was cancelled due to wild fires breaking out in Malibu. It was the fourth time in the past five years the Badgers had been in the championship final of the Thanksgiving tournament in which they have participated.
Wisconsin needed the Ole Miss confidence booster after a close 66-67 loss to Wyoming in their home opener Nov. 20. UW opened its season with an 82-62 win at Cleveland State, and lost at Marquette, 67-53. UW was scheduled to play six of its first seven games on the road prior to the tournament cancellation.
In the win over Ole Miss, UW had four scorers in double figures for the first time this season. Last year UW was 10-1 when it had four or more double-figure scorers.
Senior guard Jolene Anderson picked up where she left off last season as the leading scorer in the Big Ten averaging 25.5 points per game. Anderson set a career-high with 37 points on 13-26 field goal shooting at Cleveland State. She is fourth in conference rebounding with 8.5 per game.
Last season Anderson became UW's first Big Ten scoring champion with a 19.3 Big Ten average in Big Ten games. She set the season scoring mark with 714 points, and needs just 178 points to tie UW's career record of 1,994 set by Barb Franke in 1996.
Coach Lisa Stone
Head coach Lisa Stone is in her fifth season at Wisconsin with a 58-66 (.467) school record. In her 23rd season of coaching, Stone is 433-184 overall (.702 winning percentage). She achieved career victory No. 400 with a win over Idaho State on Nov. 25, 2005, and ranks 22nd in all-time career win percentage among active Division I coaches at the beginning of the 2007-08 season.
Badger Quick Notes
NO'ORDINARY JO: Senior guard Jolene Anderson (Port Wing, Wis.), started a new double-digit scoring streak with 24 points vs. S. Mississippi Dec. 1, 2006, and it now stands at 33, 21 games of which are 20+, games including a career-high of 37 points in the season opener at Cleveland State. Anderson has scored in double figures in 93 of her 97 career games. Her career-low was two points against Iowa State on Dec. 5, 2004, the sixth game of her career. Follow her at uwbadgers.com/noordinaryjo.
Anderson has started in every game as a Badger (97 straight games) and is UW's leading scorer for the fourth-straight season with 25.5 points per game which leads the Big Ten. Anderson has made at least one 3-pointer in 83 of her 97 career games and is the only UW player to rank among the top 11 in four major career categories: 6th 1,816 points; 11th 651 rebounds; 11th 309 assists; 10th 196 steals.
Anderson set the Wisconsin prep scoring record with 2,881 points in 78 games (37.1 ppg). With 1,816 collegiate points in 97 games she has averaged 18.72 points per game. Together she has scored 4,697 points/175 games = 26.84 lifetime average.
A 2007 first team All-Big Ten honoree, Anderson was also named UW's sixth Kodak District IV All-American. Last year she was named to the 2007 WNIT all-tournament team and the MVP of the 2006 Rebel Shootout in Las Vegas. She was also all-tournament and MVP of last year's 2005 Rainbow Wahini Classic in Hawaii. On March 13, 2007, she was honored by the Wisconsin State Legislature.
DAIRYLAND'DUO: Wisconsin's backcourt duo of seniors Jolene Anderson and Janese Banks have accounted for 53.4 percent (36.75 points/game) of Wisconsin 's scoring, and 26.0 percent of UW's rebounds. The two also account for 50.0 percent of the team's steals, and 33.3 percent of the assists.
YOUTH MOVEMENT: Unlike last year when UW had no seniors, this year their are four including two four-year starters in Jolene Anderson and Janese Banks. But 10 of the team members are either sophomores (7) or freshmen (3). One of the youths had a significant coming out party against Ole Miss 11/23. Lin Zastrow was needed early to spell Danielle Ward who was in foul trouble. The 6-4 freshman not only scored her first collegiate points with 11, she added nine rebounds.
REBOUNDING'PROWESS: UW outrebounded every team but four last season and ranked fourth in the conference averaging 39.8 rebounds per game. That trend has continued with a season-high 58 vs. Ole MIss, 54 at Cleveland State and 48 vs. Marquette to put UW first in the league averaging 48. caroms per game.
SUCCESS'AT'HOME: Even with an 0-1 start, the Badgers are looking forward to being at home where in 2006-07 Wisconsin had its best start under Lisa Stone at 9-0 and finished 17-3, UW set the record for the most home wins and best home mark since the 1998-99 team was 15-3.
TAKING'CARE'OF'THE'ROCK: The Badgers are 11th in Big Ten in turnover margin at -3.25 turnovers per game and 11th in most turnovers averaging 20.3. Uncharacteristic after last season UW sest a school record for fewest turnovers averaging 17.17. That mark replaced 17.84 average/game set in 1997-98.
NOT MUCH CHARITY: Also uncharacteristic is UW's free throw percentage of 62.2 percent which is last in the conference. Last season UW set the Big Ten school free throw record, hitting .752 (249-331) and the overall UW record with 74.2 percent (old charity mark was 71.9 set in 16 years ago in 1990-91).
SPENCER TO TRANSFER: Junior guard Chris Spencer (Traverse City, Mich.) has elected to transfer from Wisconsin effective the second semester. Spencer, who sat out last year with a hip injury, was ill and did not play in the Badger opener at Cleveland State. She played in 27 career games averaging eight minutes and 2.3 points per game.
BIG TEN PREDICTIONS: The Badgers were picked to finish second in the 2007 preseason Big Ten coaches poll and third by the media. UW is coming off a record-setting season of 23 wins, the most in school history. The Badgers finished 23-13 last year and lost in the finals of the WNIT Tournament. UW tied for fifth in the Big Ten with a 7-9 mark, its best conference finish since 2002.
RETURNS EVERYONE: Wisconsing returned everyone from a year ago. Ten of 12 returning letter winners saw extensive minutes in at least 29 games.
NATIONAL RANKING: Wisconsin enjoyed its first top-25 ranking in five years Nov. 13 appearing at 25th in the AP poll for the first time since Feb. 11, 2002. UW dropped out of the poll a week later, but continues to receive votes in the AP and the USA Today/ESPN coaches polls.
UW's Starting Lineups
Games Record Lineups (F-F-G-G-G)
1-2, 4 2-1 Ward, Dunham, Banks, Anderson, D'Alie
3 0-1 Ward, Gant, Banks, Anderson, D'Alie
Badgers Continue on the Road at Virginia
The Badgers go from the west coast at the Pepperdine Tournament to the east coast for their first appearance in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
SCOUTING REPORT:
Virginia finished the 2006 season with a 19-15 overall record and advanced to the quarterfinals of the WNIT. In ACC play, the Cavaliers finished with a 5-9 record and advanced to the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament as the No. 8 seed.
UVa returns three starters from last year's squad including fourth-year point guard Sharnee Zoll, third-year forward Lyndra Littles and second-year guard Monica Wright.
Littles, a 6-1 junior forward, is averaging 18.6 ppg this season, tallying 93 points in six games. Sophomores Wright and Paulisha Kellum follow averaging 14.8 and 14.2 ppg, respectively. Junior center Aisha Mohammed is averaging 12.0 ppg, while grabbing 55 boards this year with a game average of 9.2.
LAST TIME OUT: Virginia, who is 4-3 overall, competed in the Rainbow Wahine Classis in Honolulu, Hawaii, over the Thanksgiving weekend, first defeating then-No. 21/22 Texas, 86-83 to head to the semifinals where UVa beat Minnesota 73-62. On Sunday night, Virginia fell to Hartford, 70-53, in the championship game.
Against the Gophers, Littles led all players with 18 points, while Wright added 17 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Cavaliers. On Friday against Texas, Mohammed had a double-double, while Wright scored a game-high 23 points and Kellum hit crucial free throws down the stretch to lift UVa over the Longhorns.
Wright was named to the all-tournament team, after leading the Cavaliers with 18 points and seven rebounds on Sunday. Littles, who had just seven points against the Hawks, was also named to the all-tournament team.
HEAD COACH DEBBIE RYAN: Head coach Debbie Ryan is in her 31st season at Virginia. Ryan has accumulated a 651-278 record at Virginia, averaging 21.8 wins per season. She has recorded 20 or more wins in a season 20 times and 30 or more twice en route to 21 NCAA Tournament appearances and three consecutive Final Four berths.
THE SERIES: This is just the third meeting between Wisconsin and Virginia and the first in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. The series stands tied, with each team earning wins on their respective home courts. The teams last met in Madison at the WNIT Quarterfinals on March 25, 2007, when Wisconsin came from 14 points down in the second half to win 84-78 to advance to the semifinals. The Badgers visited Charlottesville only once losing 82-59 on Dec. 6, 1985.
