The University of Wisconsin Women's basketball team seeks to avenge an ugly loss earlier this season when they host a very physical Iowa Hawkeye team at the Kohl Center Sunday on Senior Day. The Badgers (5-8 Big Ten, 7-17 overall) are coming off a disappointing home loss to Indiana, 49-48, last Sunday. On the other hand, Iowa (4-7, 13-10), is coming off its biggest win of the season, knocking off the Big Ten leader No. 12, Penn State.
In their last meeting, Wisconsin came out and jumped on the Hawkeyes in the first half, shooting 68 percent from the field. The second half was a different story. The Badgers went ice cold, only scoring three field goals in the final 12 minutes of the half.
\In the first half, I was able to create opportunities for my teammates,"" sophomore guard Stephanie Rich, who led the Badgers with 12 points and six assists, said. ""I didn't shoot the ball well in the second half, so I want to concentrate on doing that this time."" To make matters worse for the Badgers, their free throw shooting left them as well, as they converted only 5-of-13 attempts during that stretch, and eventually lost the game 77-60.
After that game, Head Coach Jane Albright felt that her team was overpowered in both the physical and mental battles of the game.
""Iowa is a physical team so we are going to have to handle them being physical,"" Albright said. ""When we were there, I thought they really took us out of our game that we wanted to play by their ability to offensively rebound, and defensively they just roughed us up a bit.""
The loss in Iowa City seemed to act as a wake-up call for Wisconsin.
""We just had too many turnovers and defensively we just let them do whatever they wanted,"" Rich said. They had dropped to 3-13 (1-5) but then went on to win their next three conference games.
This week the Badgers have studied film and have made adjustments to the way they will approach a tough Iowa club. ""What happens normally when you have a team that is as physical as they are, it makes you get back on your heels and not attack, and really that's what you have to do to beat a team like that is by attacking them,"" Albright said.
Sunday will be a particularly special game for three seniors on the squad. Guards Leah Hefte and Jessica Liegel and forward Kristi Seeger will take the court for the last time in their college careers at the Kohl Center on Senior Day.
""I am going to try to treat it as much as any other game, as much as I can,"" Seeger said. ""There is going to be a lot of emotions and stuff but I am going to try to clear that out of my head before I play.""
This Hawkeye team, flying high after last week's upset of Penn State, looks to continue playing solid basketball in their visit to Madison, then finishing up strong at home against Michigan State and No. 11 Purdue, both top three teams in the Big Ten.
The Badgers close out their regular season next week with tough road games at No. 17 Minnesota and at No. 12 Penn State.
""Our main goal is that we have to get our offense on track and we want to finish with a lot of confidence, "" Albright said. ""We're entering those games wanting to win all of them, and we've proved actually to be a pretty good road team.""
Seeger echoed her coach's sentiments.
""Those are two games that we think we can get,"" Seeger said. ""Records really don't mean anything, especially going down the stretch.\
