The UW women's basketball team took on a reeling Southern Illinois team Monday night. The Badgers were fresh off a 82-49 victory over IUPUI Nov. 19, and were looking to keep up their 78.3 points per game average. They did just that, posting an emphatic 82-53 win over the now 0-3 Salukis.
Wisconsin Head Coach Lisa Stone is now 2-0 in her second year with the job. Stone, coaching a young Badger squad boasting only two seniors and six freshmen, had an answer for every SIU move en route to what Stone called \a great team effort.""
The Salukis were clearly over-matched, out-manned and out-sized by a tough Badger squad that set a school-best single game record for an opposing team, holding SIU to 17 rebounds the entire game. This was the result of dominating performances down low by UW's junior forward Annie Nelson and freshman center Danielle Ward, who combined for 12 offensive boards and 17 points.
The Badgers outscored the Salukis 42-24 in the paint thanks to the help off a 33-4 advantage in second chance points.
The opening tip went to the Badgers, who went down low to senior center Ebba Gebisa for a lay-up, followed by a steal off the inbounds pass for another two. The Salukis looked as though they were going to make a run before Ward provided a spark with her impact off the bench. She had two blocks, two buckets and five rebounds in her first five minutes.
The second half opened with a scoring drought of almost seven minutes for the Salukis, despite the hard-fought efforts of light-footed SIU senior point guard Daphney Desamours.
Once again, as she did in three previous games this year, Stone went to the bench for solid minutes from everyone. All but two players had more than 10 minutes of playing time and four were in double digits in scoring. Freshman guard Jolene Anderson led the team with 17 points.
Anderson is looking to become the first freshman to average a double-double for the season by averaging 17.5 points and 10 rebounds before last night.
The Badgers were anchored by senior guard Stephanie Rich who exhibited clear leadership setting up the offense very effectively as well as playing tight defense while hitting two three-pointers, ending up one assist shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine assists.
After the win, Coach Stone said ""it's time to dig into some film,"" as they head to Houston, Texas, for the Houston Classic Tournament.
