The Wisconsin women’s basketball team (4-5 Big Ten, 8-13 overall) looks to expand on its three game winning streak against a high-flying Iowa team (4-5, 12-10) at the Kohl Center Thursday as part of UW Student Night. UW students will receive free admission, free pizza and free t-shirts courtesy of Adidas.
The Badgers also look to slow Iowa’s recent dominance at the Kohl Center, as the Hawkeyes have come out on top seven of the last eight times at the venue.
Fresh off their nail-biting 66-60 victory over the Michigan Wolverines Monday, the Badgers hope to continue their climb up the Big Ten standings.
During their three-game conference-winning streak, the Badgers have propelled themselves into a tie for seventh place in the conference, just four games behind first palce Purdue, which checks in with an 8-1 conference mark.
In the team’s previous meeting, a 69-57 Hawkeye win in Iowa City on Jan. 19, the Hawkeyes went on a 17-2 run after the game was tied at 47 with 10:52 remaining in the game. However, the Badgers have looked like a completely different team late in games as of late, something many players have acknowledged they have noticed and worked on.
“I would say chemistry is a huge thing,” sophomore guard Morgan Paige said of the team’s more comfortable feel late in games. “We’re just making more runs and when the other team goes on runs we’re able to shut them down a little quicker.”
Sophomore forward Cassie Rochel, who proved instrumental late in the game against Michigan on Monday, couldn’t agree more and says that the team’s win at Illinois on Jan. 8 served as the turning point in performing better late in games.
“That’s something we really emphasized going into Illinois,” Rochel said. “We just said we need to start finishing games. And then all of a sudden we’ve started pulling together towards the end.”
In order to keep their exceptional play late in games moving forward, the Badgers have to find a way to slow down Iowa junior guard Jaime Printy, who picked apart the Badgers defense and racked up 25 points in the two teams’ last meeting. Printy actually hails from the same hometown as Paige (Marion, Iowa) and puts up 17.4 points per game, good for fifth in the Big Ten.
“Her basketball IQ is so high,” Paige said. “She knows when to shoot the ball, when to take you off the dribble, knows how to draw contact and she finished really well from the free throw line.”
Wisconsin head coach Bobbie Kelsey attributed the 17-2 Iowa run in the previous meeting to defensive breakdowns and poor communication.
“Yeah, not switching when we were supposed to. We just watched in several clips where players were not doing what they were supposed to do. Also communication; if you’re gonna switch (on defense), you have to call it.”
Another aspect to look for in Thursday’s game is how Rochel responds to her clutch play that was evident late in the game on Monday. The 6 foot 4 inch forward scored seven of her nine points in the final four minutes of the game against Michigan.
“Yesterday she looked for the ball and she scored and the teammates got her the ball,” Kelsey said of her signs of aggressiveness.
Wisconsin also looks to keep its sudden and dramatic scoring increase up. In its last three games, it has averaged 73.0 points per game, 13.9 above its season average. Doing this is crucial, as Iowa scores an average of 70.3 points per game and has outscored opponents by 20 or more points four times this season.
Tip-off for UW Student Night Thursday is scheduled for 7 p.m.
