Badgers Face Illinois on the Road Sunday
December 30, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Wisconsin (7-4, 0-1) opened the Big Ten Conference slate on the road at Purdue (5-6, 1-0) Dec. 28 losing for the 10th straight time to the Boilermakers 65-48. Wisconsin remained on the road facing Illinois (9-3, 1-0) Sunday night in Champaign. The game can be heard locally on WTSO Radio AM 1070 with Mike Heller.
The Badgers finished the non-conference season with five-straight home victories and a 7-3 record before taking a 14-day break from games for finals and the holiday break. UW returns home to host Michigan State Wednesday, Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. in the Kohl Center. That game will be televised tape-delayed on Wisconsin Public Television.
UW welcomed the return of starting freshman post player Tara Steinbauer who missed the last two non-conference games with a leg injury. She was leading the Big Ten in field goal shooting at 68.8 percent when she went out missing the UW-Green Bay and South Dakota State games.
Despite scoring its lowest point total of the season at Purdue (48), UW ranks second to Ohio State in Big Ten in scoring with 69.8 points per game. UW leads the Big Ten in rebounding with 42.8 per game.
With Jolene Anderson's sub-par, six-point performance at Purdue Dec. 28, her consecutive double-figure scoring mark was stopped at 39. It was the second longest in school history and just six shy of the record. She also scored double figures in 35 straight games in 2005-06, and has scored in double figures in 99 of 104 career games. Anderson was leading the Big Ten in scoring for a second-straight season prior to Purdue and now ranks second with 18.7 points per game. She needs 74 points to tie the UW women 's career scoring record of 1,994 which was set by Barb Franke (1991-96).
Several players have achieved season-highs in the past three games. Teah Gant had a career-high with 11 points vs. SDSU while and Rae Lin D'Alie tied her high with 14 vs. Purdue. Senior Danielle Ward had a season-high 14 points vs. Air Force and her third career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds vs. Purdue.
COACH LISA STONE
Head coach Lisa Stone is in her fifth season at Wisconsin with a 63-68 (.481) school record. In her 23rd season of coaching, Stone is 438-186 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.
LAST TIME OUT
GAME 11: UW 48, Purdue 66
In one of the poorest shooting performances of the season, UW scored its fewest points and hit just 31 percent for the game in losing its Big Ten opener at Purdue, 65-48. Wisconsin trailed 29-24 at the half, and was unable to make headway in the second stanza. UW 's leadling scorer Jolene Anderson's double-figure scoring streak stopped at 39 when she had just six points. Danielle Ward had her third career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Rae Lin D'Alie led the Badgers with a season high 14 points. The Boilermakers had four in double figures led by Danielle Campbell with 19.
ILLINOIS SCOUTING REPORT
Illinois (9-3, 1-0) returned all five starters from one year ago on a squad that went 19-12 overall and finished fourth in the Big Ten Conference. Junior Lori Bjork was named second team All-Big Ten, as the team's leading scorer averaging14.3 points. Notably, Bjork broke the UI single season three-point FG record last season with 84.
Bjork is averaging 9.8 points per game this season. The team is led by 6-3 sophomore Jenna Smith with 19.1 points per game to lead the Big Ten. Smith averages a double-double with 10.2 rebounds per game. Senior 6-2 forward Danyel Crutcher averages 10.4 points per game.
Last Time Out
Northwestern opened the Big Ten season at Northwestern with a come-from-behind win at Northwestern, 58-44. The Illini trailed 28-24 at the half but kicked it in gear in the second half.
Head Coach Jolette Law
Jolette Law was named Illinois' seventh women's basketball coach on March 11, 2007 after spending 12 years as an assistant at Rutgers. At Rutgers, where she was an associate coach the last four years, Law was a driving force behind the team's success, including two Final Fours, three Elite Eights and three Sweet Sixteen appearances, among them this past season's run to the 2007 national championship game in Cleveland. The Scarlet Knights compiled a 257-125 (.673) record during Law's tenure, winning Big East regular season titles in both 2005 and 2006 and the Big East Tournament title in 2007.
Law played collegiate ball at the University of Iowa, helping lead the Hawkeyes to four consecutive Big Ten titles and a record of 105-18 from 1987-90. Following her collegiate career, Law joined the Harlem Globetrotters from 1990-94 as the only female team member, completing three worldwide tours with the team.
Illini Picked Third
Illinois was picked to finish third by the Big Ten Conference coaches and sixth by the media, while junior Lori Bjork was named to the preseason All-Big Ten team by both coaches and media.
The Series
Over the years, Wisconsin and Illinois have met 52 times, with Illinois holding the series advantage 28-24. In Madison, Wisconsin leads the series 16-10. The last time the teams met, Illinois came away with an eight-point victory at the Kohl Center, 70-62, on January 14, 2007. The Badgers last won in Champaign 66-61 on Feb. 9, 2006.
UW 62, ILLINOIS 70
Wisconsin suffered its first loss at home in 10 games with a 70-62 decision to Illinois Sunday. UW started slowly scoring just 19 first-half points on 26 percent shooting (halftime score 31-19). The Illini went ahead by 17 before the Badgers closed the gap twice to seven points. Junior guards Jolene Anderson and Janese Banks led UW with 18 points each and Rae Lin D'Alie added 10. Erin Wigley led Illinois with 15. Anderson had six rebounds to become just the 13th UW'player to score 1,000 points and collect 500 rebounds.
