The Wisconsin women’s basketball team (1-6 Big Ten, 9-11 overall) will be hosting No. 7 Penn State (7-0, 17-2) in a Big Ten contest Thursday night.
The Badgers are coming off a tough loss on the road to Iowa. The Hawkeyes outscored the Badgers 18-5 in the last 4 minutes to take the game 71-60.
With only one win in the Big Ten, UW has struggled thus far in conference play. Thursday will mark the half-way point in Big Ten play for the Badgers.
Penn State on the other hand has not lost in the conference this season. Wisconsin and Penn State already met earlier this month, which resulted in a 84-40 drubbing at the hands of the Nittany Lions.
“In all areas of the game, we were really not poised and not executing our offense the way we should, and then that led to some turnovers,” head coach Bobbie Kelsey said. “Once Penn State gets going, they’re very hard to stop because they have a lot of guards that can really hurt you in a number of different ways.”
Nittany Lion senior forward Nikki Greene scored 23 points and had 14 rebounds against the Badgers.
Wisconsin will try to prevent history from repeating itself, and they will have to do so by facing a solid team lead by head coach Coquese Washington, who was named Big Ten coach of the year last season.
Also up against the Badgers is junior guard Maggie Lucas who is currently the leading scorer for Penn State, averaging 20 points per game this season.
“Lucas didn’t get going in that game, but Nikki Greene did,” Kelsey said “It’s kind of like our Iowa game. You take away [Morgan] Johnson, and then [Jaime] Printy gets loose. We have to fix that. We did watch video of the whole second half (against Iowa) yesterday. There were probably nine or 10 plays where it was us not doing the defensive plan we put in place.”
Wisconsin does have some weapons of its own, however. The Badgers strong point is in their well-rounded team.
Senior guard Tiera Stephen currently leads the Big Ten with 4.1 steals per game. In all games Stephen is second in the league, with 3.3 steals per game.
Junior guard Morgan Paige is currently leading UW in points per game with a 16.4 average.
The Badgers will have to focus on getting to the free throw line often against Penn State. UW is among the leaders in free throw shooting in the conference, and their accuracy from the charity stripe will be crucial against a top-ten opponent.
“Again, we have to emphasize that because that’s one way to score without pressure or without having to handle the ball,” Kelsey said. “You’re just standing up there and shooting free throws, but it’s a different pressure because you’re standing up there shooting free throws, and everyone’s watching. Some kids, it doesn’t bother them at all. Some, they feel like all eyes are on them, which it is, and they feel that.”
As the Badgers take a shot at redemption they will be facing one of the toughest teams in the league. The Nittany Lions are on an 11 game win streak, the third longest streaks in the nation.
