The Badgers, fresh off of their second-place finish in the Colorado Omni Classic in Boulder, Colo., last weekend, face Boston College (2-2 overall) Wednesday as part of the Big Ten-ACC Challenge.
Wisconsin (2-5) has been challenged with a crammed schedule, playing seven games in just 15 days to start the season.
"We love the game of basketball, so anytime we have a chance to play a game it's great," senior forward Anya Covington said. "It's been tough, but it's only going to make us better and prepare us for the long haul," she said.
The busy schedule might have finally caught up to the Badgers against Colorado, as they were out-rebounded 48-27.
"We just didn't have our box out mentality going in that game," Badgers head coach Bobbie Kelsey said."We did a lot of ball watching."
The Badgers plan on getting back to their stellar rebounding play today on UW Student Night, where students will receive free admission with a valid student ID.
"You have to want the ball like coach said," Covington said. "We could actually be doing better on the boards and that's our goal for the next game, to just go after the boards more."
Another aspect the Badgers find themselves preparing for is attacking the 2-3 zone the Eagles have boasted about quite often this season. Kelsey led the starters against the zone for a good portion towards the end of practice Tuesday afternoon.
"We know that they play a lot of zone," junior guard Taylor Wurtz said. "And again just coming back to fundamentals: taking care of the ball and rebounding," she said.
Wurtz has been praised by coach Kelsey for her aggressiveness so far this season, saying that the team has noticed and has learned from her play.
"The aggressive ones are the ones that get it done," Kelsey said. "Taylor's aggressive. She makes mistakes, don't get me wrong, she makes a lot of mistakes, but she makes up for it by hustling."
The Badgers will have to showcase this aggressiveness and their work on rebounding as they will face off against Katie Zenevitch, a 6-foot 3-inch center who is averaging 11 points and nearly six rebounds per game.
Sophomore Cassie Rochel also looks to continue her stellar play against the Eagles. She racked up her first double-double while scoring 14 points and pulling down 11 rebounds against Montana State last Friday in the first game of the tournament. She also blocked five shots.
Despite the mediocre record of 2-5 on the season, the team and coaching staff have not hung their heads the slightest bit, but have remained optimistic. Covington thinks playing Boston College is a new start and strongly believes the best is yet to come.
"When we pull this whole thing together," Covington said with a laugh. "It's going to be beautiful."
