Fresh off an 82-71 victory Sunday over Ohio State that broke a four-game losing streak for the Wisconsin women’s basketball team (3-6 Big Ten, 10-11 overall), the Badgers are looking to repeat this success at the Kohl Center Wednesday against No. 22 Nebraska (5-3, 15-5).
“It’s nice to get a home win, and especially against Ohio State. Obviously, we want to always beat them, just like they want to beat us,” head coach Bobbie Kelsey said in a press conference Monday. “They did make a run in that game, and we were up enough to weather the storm.”
Wisconsin will need to bring out the same strong offense they showcased Sunday afternoon when they play the Cornhuskers. UW’s top four scorers all hit double digits. Junior forward Jacki Gulczynski and redshirt junior forward Michala Johnson in the lead with 21 points each, and senior guards Taylor Wurtz and Morgan Paige netting 17 and 12, respectively.
This scoring success comes after a serious slump for the Badgers, who struggled to find the basket in their last four contests. According to Kelsey, the team has been working in practice to improve this record.
“We tweaked the offense to get them more shots. We were taking too many threes,” she said. “It can’t be all one thing or another. You can’t just shoot threes, you’ve got to play what they’re giving you. You have to be multidimensional.”
Gulczynski has certainly demonstrated her versatility in the last few games, a valuable trait for the Badgers and that has potential to be useful against Nebraska.
“Jacki can defend different positions. She blocks shots. She rebounds. She can hit the three. She screens. She gets other people open, and they have to guard her on the perimeter,” Kelsey said. “It’s a hard matchup for the other team, which is nice for us to have ... It’s versatility within our scorers, and that’s a good thing.”
Nebraska, however, will not be an easy contest for the Badgers. The Cornhuskers are coming off two of their strongest performances of the season, first defeating Michigan 84-51 at home last week, then besting Iowa 87-61 Saturday on the road.
Despite the tough challenge ahead, according to Kelsey, the Badgers are hopeful and plan to bring out their strongest game.
“I believe we could win every game. If I’m the coach and I don’t believe it, then what’s that saying to the players? So when we don’t, I say we get the next one. Let’s just prepare for the next one,” she said. “As every game, you’re trying to win it. They’re close, but you’ve got to win them.”
