The Wisconsin Badgers (3-4) host the Florida Gators (7-1) Thursday evening in their first home game since Nov. 18.
The Badgers’ five-game road trip featured anything and everything you could imagine: a buzzer-beater win, an overtime loss, countless slow starts, a trip to the zoo, face paint and even Krispy Kreme donuts. But the biggest change of the road trip was a new starting lineup.
For the first time since her freshman year, senior point guard Dakota Whyte will not be announced in the Badgers’ pregame introductions. Whyte has come off the bench in three of the last four games, with the lone exception being a game she missed entirely due to illness.
Coming off the bench has allowed Whyte to see the game differently.
“It’s definitely a way for me to see the game without being in it right away,” White said. “You get to see where the gaps are. Where the defense is. What we’re doing wrong, what we’re doing right. What we should continue to do.”
But even more than its impact on the court, her relegation to the bench has been a wake-up call for Whyte.
“I think that when your starting spot is compromised it gives you the awareness that you gotta play every game like it’s your last,” Whyte said.
Sunday afternoon, after falling behind the Marquette Golden Eagles 20-2 seven minutes into the first quarter, the entire Badgers’ team was in need of a wake-up call.
That’s why after yet another disappointing defeat, the Badgers have practiced this week with jerseys or T-shirts without the Wisconsin logo visible. Instead, due to their inside-out T-shirts, the Badgers look more like an intramural team than a Division I athletic program.
“We gotta work for the Wisconsin on our chest,” Whyte said.
Sixth-year senior Michala Johnson has certainly worked for the front of her jersey in the past. But this season, Johnson has been inconsistent to say the least.
Johnson’s 17 points against the Golden Eagles this weekend made Sunday’s loss her best offensive game this season. But after scoring a combined seven points in the Badgers’ prior two games, she has been far from the consistent force Wisconsin needs her to be.
“It’s been kinda hard. We’ve been kinda streaky and inconsistent but we’re working on it,” Johnson said.
But on top of the offensive inconsistencies, the Badgers’ effort level has also been even more of a problem. Slow starts, turnovers and rebounding struggles are pretty good indicators of just that.
Johnson admitted to being a bit fatigued in the first month of the season, a factor she conceded might have had a role in her struggles on the glass.
“I’ve just been trying to find a person and turn around quickly and box out. I’ve been kind of there, but I have to push back. That’s about being mentally and physically tough,” Johnson said.
The Gators visit Madison riding a seven-game win streak. Their lone loss, at the hands of the Temple Owls opening night, featured zero defensive resistance from either team.
The Gators are a lot like one of the Badgers’ prior opponents, the Drake Bulldogs, in terms of their depth. Florida plays 10 players at least 10 minutes per game, a tactic that is designed to tire teams out. The Badgers seldom play more than eight players, but nevertheless are confident in they can upend a much deeper Florida team and stop the Gators’ chomp.
“When they can sub five for five and it’s fresh legs going against five people that have been in the game the whole time, we’re going to have to adjust to that,” Whyte said. “But if we play efficiently and look for our stuff we’ll be fine."
