After the Badgers (1-7 Big Ten, 6-12 overall) lost to Minnesota in their last Big Ten outing, the team remained excited about the future. Despite falling to a tough Gopher group, Wisconsin thought it had found something that takes many teams and organizations weeks or seasons to find: chemistry. Unfortunately for the Badgers, this chemistry was short lived, as the team fell short to Nebraska (6-3, 11-2) in their latest recent comeback attempt, losing 75-62 Wednesday night.
At the end of the Minnesota game, behind the pro-style, Golden State Warriors-esque, small-ball unit of Nicole Bauman, Tessa Cichy, Dakota Whyte, Roichelle Marble and Avyanna Young, the Badgers looked like they finally found a group that can play together with energy and passion.
“You have to have attitude and you have to have a hunger. You need to be in attack mode,” head coach Bobbie Kelsey said after the Minnesota game. “I liked the fight in this last group, I really did.”
Despite the high praise and hope this unit brought to the Wisconsin coaching staff, their potential did not flourish Wednesday. Instead, the Badgers wrote the fourth chapter of their repetitive conference season book, giving up an early lead and not having enough left in the tank to recover.
The Badgers started the aforementioned personnel group against Nebraska. However, instead of starting out with high energy, the team found themselves once again trailing early, heading into the second quarter already down 26-10.
The score accurately exemplifies the lack of energy the Badgers and, in particular, their new starting five, put forth early in the contest.
Still, the way the Badgers gave up the lead was even more concerning, especially for the high-energy group. Nebraska was beating the Badgers to the ball and outhustling them up and down the floor. Specifically, Nebraska hit a 3-pointer early in the first and, after the Badgers took the ball out of bounds, they threw it away right to a Nebraska player, giving the Cornhusker back an extra possession.
Similarly, the Badgers were outrebounded throughout the duration of the game. After the Minnesota game, Kelsey emphasized the importance of pulling down defensive rebounds, but the Badgers allowed Nebraska to collect 11 offensive boards. The Badgers also turned the ball over 14 times, which is higher than their Big Ten average of 11.
What may be most concerning for the Badgers is that the players often find their best games when they are taken out of the starting roll. Kelsey is really trying to find a group that molds together as a cohesive unit, but her players are playing better when she takes them out of their projected roles.
Specifically, redshirt senior Michala Johnson did not start tonight for the first time this conference season, and consequently had her best game of the year. Johnson finished the game with 21 points, which is her season high. Obviously Kelsey is happy with Johnson’s performance, but the fact that Johnson cannot put up those numbers when she is starting makes Kelsey’s job of finding a dominant five-man unit all the more difficult.
Going forward, Kelsey will have to start from scratch in her attempt to find a unit that can open up a game with more energy. As shown by four of the Badgers’ last five games, their formula of comeback attempts after large deficits has not paid dividends for the team. As such, Kelsey will need to muster up some magic to find players that want to play in all four quarters, or else they will continue losing to teams right out of the gate.
