Coming off a tough loss to No. 9 Michigan State, the University of Wisconsin women's basketball team now hits the road for a rematch against No. 24 Penn State. Despite playing a solid game at the Kohl Center Jan. 8, the Badgers (4-8 Big Ten, 10-12 overall) fell 67-58 to the Nittany Lions.
After a slow start, Penn State (11-2 Big Ten, 16-8 overall) has made a drastic turnaround and is currently second in the Big Ten standings. UW head coach Lisa Stone blamed their early season troubles on an \unbelievable schedule to start with,"" and insisted Penn State is ""a special team.""
The two-time defending Big Ten Champions have two of the conference's best in senior guards Tanisha Wright and Jess Strom.
""Penn State brings probably the best one-two guard combo in the conference, in my mind,"" Stone said. ""I think Jess Strom and Tanisha Wright are two very special players.""
After garnering first-team All-Big Ten honors last year, as well as locking up the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award for an unprecedented second straight season, Wright has shown no signs of slowing down. The potential All-American candidate carries an impressive average of 19.5 points per game and is filling up the stat sheet with assists and rebounds as well.
The other half of Penn State's talented backcourt duo is floor general Jess Strom. An All-Big Ten selection last season, Strom has teamed with Wright to terrorize opposing backcourts.
One of the reasons they are so difficult to stop stems from the extensive experience the two have accumulated together. As if playing alongside each other four years in college was not enough, the duo also played AAU ball in high school. This time together has paid off and the two now possess the uncanny ability to seemingly know where the other is on the court at all times.
The responsibility for containing them will fall squarely on the shoulders of senior guard Stephanie Rich and the talented freshmen guard combo of Janese Banks and stellar Jolene Anderson. Besides turning heads of Badger fans all season, Anderson has caught the attention of opposing coaches as well.
""She is the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, of course!,"" Michigan State head coach Joanne McCallie said after Sunday's game. ""She just has had a great season.""
Stone is optomistic of Anderson's prospects for the rest of the season.
""She's still learning the game and that's what's fun,"" she said. ""You know, to look at where she is now and where she can be, it's pretty neat.""
Coming off another game where she led the team in scoring, Anderson will have to be at her best if the Badgers have any hope of knocking off the continually improving Nittany Lions.
