Venue	Kohl Center, Madison, Wis.
Game Notes	Wisconsin | St. Thomas
Statistics	Wisconsin | St. Thomas
Stream	B1G+
Radio	Listen Live on U100.9 FM
Live Stats	vs. St. Thomas
Social Media	Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

 
MADISON, Wis. -- The Wisconsin women's basketball team (0-0) opens its regular-season play at home with a non-conference matchup against St. Thomas (Minn.). Tip-off is 6:30 p.m. from the Kohl Center and will be streamed live on B1G+.

The Badgers look to build of of their pre-season exhibition win over UW-Oshkosh on Oct. 31 in order to start their fifth-straight season in the win column.

Here are five things you need to know before the game:

1. OPENING WITH A WIN: The Badgers are 31-16 all-time in season openers, including an 18-4 mark at home. UW has won its last four season openers, including a 73-66 win over Western Illinois in 2020.

2. SHOOTING IMPROVEMENTS: From all distances, Wisconsin had excellent shooting performances across the board against the Titans. As a team, the Badgers shot 54.4% (31-57) from field goal range, 47.6% (10-21) from 3-point land and 81.8% (9-11) from the free-throw line. Four Badgers scored in double figures behind a game-high 15 points from Julie Pospisilova. The junior from the Czech Republic netted three 3-pointers. Junior Sydney Hilliard added 13 points while transfer Katie Nelson chipped in 12 points. Graduate student Alex Luehring contributed 11 points and had a game-high four blocks.

3. INSTANT CHEMISTRY: In a 81-47 win over the Titans, there was no lack of chemistry between anyone of the court, especially graduate transfer Katie Nelson and Badger leading scorer Sydney Hilliard. The two guards led the backcourt, pulling strings and directing traffic like they have been doing it together for years. Hilliard and Nelson scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, while dishing out a combined 10 assists.

In her post game interview, Coach Moseley said, "Those two are a great combination both at the top of our defense and also offensively playing off of one another making sure we know where each other are at."

4. CZECHED OUT:  Wisconsin will be playing without junior Julie Pospisilova for the first two games of the season as the guard returned to the Czech Republic to play two games with the national team. The Czech Republic plays Belarus on Thursday and at Ireland on Sunday as part of the European Championships.

5. SCOUTING THE TOMMIES: The Badgers will be St. Thomas' first match-up this season and only the team's eighth game in the last two seasons. The Tommies had a lot of postponed competition last season where they finished with an overall record of 6-1. St. Thomas returns all three of its leading scorers from last year and a senior class that has only dropped 13 games in their colligate careers. The Badgers will need to shut down that senior leadership as well as find ways to score on the Tommies' stingy defense that gave up only 60 points per game in order to pull out a season opening win at the Kohl Center.