Thursday night the Wisconsin women's basketball team (2-7 Big Ten, 10-12 overall) will travel to Columbus to take on Ohio state (2-7, 12-10). The last time these two teams met the Badgers walked away with their first conference victory this season, taking down the Buckeyes 68-49 in Madison.
Wisconsin earned their second conference win last week against then-No. 7 ranked Penn State, but then went on to lose to Illinois on Sunday.
Head Coach Bobbie Kelsey said she feels the fundamentals are coming together and that passing is one of the last pieces the Badgers need to become a well-rounded team.
“We took care of the ball with Penn State we didn’t make a lot of the goofy plays that we made against Illinois," she said. "When they watched the turnovers they realized it was not necessarily them, but us not making the crisp passes, but we hit shots and now it’s just bringing it all together.”
Ohio State is coming off of a win against Indiana just as they were the last time the Buckeyes and Badgers met, however the Buckeyes will have home court advantage this time.
The 6-foot-4 junior forward Cassie Rochel is one weapon the Badgers will have in their arsenal at Columbus. Rochel currently leads the Big Ten in conference games with a field goal percentage of .564, shooting 31-of-55 in Big Ten play.
While Rochel may have the height to grab the rebounds and control the post, junior guard Morgan Paige leads the Badgers in total points and points per game, averaging 17.4. Paige averaged 28 points per game last week after scoring a career-high 33 against Penn State and a game-high 23 points against Illinois.
Paige believes that the key to the Penn State victory was the collaboration of the team as a well oiled machine.
“In the Penn State game we were really focused and took care of the ball, focused in on our game plan and executed really well," she said. "Then on Sunday [against Illinois] we came out a little flat and turned over the ball. Finding that consistency as a squad is what we’re going to try to do on Thursday.”
That consistency may be hard to find for the Badgers, who will be up against senior guard Tayler Hill, who is Ohio State’s leading scorer. Hill averages 21.2 points per game and has had an impressive 445 points this season.
For Wisconsin, though, their defense has been a strong point this season. Rochel leads the Badgers in rebounds with eight per game and in blocked shots with 2.2 per game. Helping Wisconsin’s defense is redshirt senior guard Tiera Stephens leading the Badgers in steals with an impressive 3.1 per game.
If the Badgers have bought into Kelsey’s plan to make an all-around performing team then Thursday night’s game will be an interesting battle in which the Badgers’ defense will work to suppress the high scoring offense of the Buckeyes
