After a victory in their season opener on Sunday, the Badgers (1-0) look to win their second straight game as they face a tough SEC opponent in Vanderbilt (2-0) Thursday at the Kohl Center at 7 p.m.
“Vanderbilt has always been very good, very well-coached, and they’ve had a lot of nice, good coaches come through,” said UW head coach Bobbie Kelsey.
“We played in their tournament last year so this is a return game. We try to play different SEC, ACC, Power Five opponents that are comparable to us, and that will give us a good challenge,” Kelsey said. “We're trying to play those teams that obviously give us an opportunity to showcase our skills and look good when it's selection time, at the end of the year.”
Vanderbilt has a win over Belmont and an overtime victory over UW-Green Bay this season and looks to be very competitive in a tough SEC conference. The Commodores have a young team led by junior guard Morgan Batey (13 points per game), freshman guard Paris Kea (10.5 ppg), sophomore forward Marqu’es Webb (12 ppg) and freshman forward Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau (10 ppg). Freshman guard Rebekah Dahlman (7.5 ppg) will be in the mix as well.
UW hopes to put up another great offensive performance this Thursday. In last Sunday’s game, three players were in double figures for the Badgers.
Sophomore forward Michala Johnson had 16 points and seven rebounds, freshman guard Cayla McMorris had 12 points and junior guard Nicole Bauman had 14 points and a career-high nine assists.
The Badgers come into this game shooting 40.9 percent from the field, 38.5 percent from three-point range and 66.7 percent from the free throw line. Vanderbilt is shooting 48 percent from the field, 36.4 percent from beyond the arc and has a 66.1 free throw percentage.
The Commodores are averaging 66.5 points per game, have allowed 61 points per game and their opponents are shooting 35.8 percent from the field.
In their meeting last year, the Commodores beat UW 81-69 in the championship game of the Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament at Memorial Gym in Nashville. The Badgers believe they can get revenge in this year’s rematch with their hard work and their height advantage.
“We always feel if the kids work hard and focus and pay attention to the scouting report, we can beat anybody; we have shown that in the past,” said Kelsey.
“We need to make sure that we have people in place to really understand what their roles are and what they're supposed to be doing out there,” Kelsey said. “Because we have the height this year along with the guard play much improved, we've cut down on the turnovers, hopefully that will continue.”
