The Wisconsin women's basketball team (8-3 Big Ten, 13-10 overall) hosts Northwestern (4-6 Big Ten, 15-8 overall) Thursday night at 7 p.m. The game will be a rematch between two teams that saw each other 11 days ago when the Badgers handled the Wildcats 62-50 in Evanston, Ill.
The Badgers are coming off a convincing 75-49 road win against Indiana Sunday. In that contest, senior guard Alyssa Karel had the game-high 21 points against Indiana, while three additional Badgers contributed double-digit points. Senior forward Lin Zastrow had 14 points, senior forward Tara Steinbauer had 13 points and sophomore guard Taylor Wurtz added 11 in the effort.
Head coach Lisa Stone also notched her 500th career victory with the Badgers' win Sunday. Stone knows her team continues to grow, but that growth has been positive.
""I'm very confident in this team,"" Stone said. ""I'm very confident in their chemistry and the fact that we are getting better everyday.""
In the Jan. 30 matchup between the Wildcats and Badgers, Zastrow and Karel both chipped in with 17 points apiece. Senior guard Meshia Reed, who had 13 points, led the Wildcats that night.
Northwestern is coming off a milestone win Sunday over Ohio State. Senior center Amy Jaeschke carried the team on her back against the Buckeyes, scoring 29 points. It was the Wildcats first win at Ohio State since the 1996-'97 season. Jaeschke earned Big Ten player of the week with her performance last week. This season, she is averaging 25.5 points per game.
Stone understands the unique situation in playing an opponent again so quickly.
""Northwestern, having played them ten days ago from today, it's fresh in your mind,"" Stone said. ""The players are going to know who the players are, the scouting report is going to be personnel-drive again, and we'll watch clips in our game and their last two games, and we'll get ready to play.""
