Coming off a blowout win in their exhibition opener against Minnesota State Mankato, Wisconsin head coach Bobbie Kelsey’s goal for tomorrow’s exhibition game against Division III opponent UW-Eau Claire remains the same.
“Basically you don’t want anybody to get hurt,” Kelsey told reporters last week.
As a result, sixth year senior Michala Johnson will again be inactive Wednesday night. Such a measure is merely precautionary, according to Kelsey. Johnson will make her return to the floor Saturday afternoon for the Badgers season opener against Louisiana Tech.
“Mic [Johnson] will be available. We are just trying to be cautious,” Kelsey said. “Obviously these exhibition games don’t count, so we don’t want any freak accidents, anything happening to her. You can’t bubble wrap ‘em, as I always say, but we definitely want her to be able to get in there.”
In the past eight years UW-Eau Claire has defeated Division II programs such as North Dakota, St. Cloud State and Minnesota State Mankato. They also have had five Division III Josten Player of the Year award finalists in the past 12 seasons.
But in the present, UW-Eau Claire is yet another scrappy team who, like Minnesota State Mankato, might not provide an ideal matchup for the Badgers.
“Usually the team coming in is a D-2 or D-3 team, and it’s not a good match-up for your bigs, especially, but I thought our kids did a really good job of coming out and playing hard, in the beginning,” Kelsey added.
It is likely the Badgers dress only eight players again, allowing freshmen Marsha Howard and Roichelle Marble to see plenty of playing time. Redshirt junior Avyanna Young had a double-double Sunday and will look to build on her success with another strong performance Wednesday night.
“We didn’t have her last year. You can tell what we were missing. To come out and get 15 points and 15 rebounds, and she probably could have 25 points, she missed some layups,” Kelsey said.
Young and the Badgers will have the opportunity to correct some of those mistakes and improve before the games count for real. The regular season kicks off for the Badgers Saturday afternoon when Louisiana Tech leaves the warm Louisiana Bayou for the chilling Madison isthmus.
