The Wisconsin women's basketball team (9-4 Big Ten, 14-11 overall) will host the Michigan Wolverines (8-5, 15-10) Saturday afternoon at the Kohl Center. On top of conference standings ramifications, the game will be full of emotion as the Badgers bid farwell to four graduating players as part of Senior Night.
Wisconsin is coming off a tough loss to Iowa Wednesday night, as the team only scored 11 points in the first half. The Badgers had only one player in the double-digits, senior guard Alyssa Karel, who had 15 points. Senior forward Lin Zastrow had nine points.
""They turned us over in the first half, which set the tone for our shooting woes,"" head coach Lisa Stone said. ""Second half though we did a much better job. It's too bad we can't play another half but we can't.""
Wisconsin will need a better shooting presence in Saturday's game, as they shot 33 percent from the field and 23 percent from three-point range. The last time the Badgers and Wolverines met, Michigan defeated Wisconsin 75-59. Senior guard Veronica Hicks and junior guard Carmen Reynolds led Michigan offesnively, contributing 41 points in the win.
Michigan is coming off a win against Indiana on Wednesday night. The Wolverines had five players in double digits, including sophomore guard Kate Thompson, who sparked her team with a career-best 18 points. Reynolds led the team with 19.
Wisconsin will also face an issue the program hasn't dealt with for the past 111 games. Senior forward Tara Steinbauer injured her leg in the first two minutes of the game against Iowa Wednesday. The team announced Thursday Steinbauer suffered a season-ending torn ACL.
Freshman forward Cassie Rochel and junior forward Anya Covington took over Steinbauer's remaining minutes in the game Wednesday, and those players will likely be forced to carry the load for the rest of the year.
""When it comes to Tara Steinbauer, she's the X factor. She's one of the toughest kids on our team. She gets her hands on rebounds. If she's not scoring, she's defending for us,"" Stone said.
The Badgers will have to rely on their other senior leaders, Karel and Zastrow with Steinbauer now out. The team's motto this entire season has been simple: ""We are going to go as far as our seniors will take us.""
""They're our leaders in the classroom, all four of them,"" Stone said. ""They're our leaders on the court statistically. They're our leaders in the locker room in terms of expectation and their will and their want to win a Big Ten championship and get to the tournament.""
