The Badgers (3-9 Big Ten, 7-15 overall), in a close, back-and-forth contest, finally found a way to win their first game in a month Monday against Purdue (7-5, 16-7). Coming off seven straight losses, the Badgers focused on controlling the little things, and their efforts ultimately propelled them to a highly energized and rare victory. Wisconsin is looking to carry that momentum into its next game, a road trip to Michigan (5-7, 15-10) Thursday.
Despite losing seven of their last eight games, the Badgers remain confident they can travel to Ann Arbor, Mich. and get a win.
“We definitely want to build on this,” senior guard Nicole Bauman said after Monday’s game. “I think we play Michigan next, and then Illinois, and those two games are definitely winnable.”
Still, Michigan will definitely not be a walk in the park for UW. The Badgers are currently 0-5 on the road this conference season, and they give up around 75 points per game when they are the away team, compared to giving up just under 70 at the Kohl Center. Unfortunately for the Badgers, Michigan’s offense is extremely potent, averaging over 80 points per game.
Michigan’s offense is led by sophomore guard Katelynn Flaherty. This conference season, Flaherty is averaging just under 24 points per game, which puts her third in scoring in the entire conference behind perennial superstars Rachel Banham of Minnesota and Kelsey Mitchell of Ohio State, who might be the best player in the nation.
To stop Flaherty, the Badgers will probably look to the 2-3 zone that assistant coach Sasha Palmer has increasingly implemented in this team’s repertoire. The Badgers will likely often use that look to slow down Flaherty and the rest of Michigan’s offense. Still, many Big Ten stars, like Maryland’s Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, have found a way to beat this zone, so the Badgers will look to alternate between the zone and man-to-man defense.
When in man-to-man, senior guard Tessa Cichy will most likely have the difficult task of guarding Flaherty. Still, despite the probable challenge, Cichy loves the task of guarding the opposing teams’ top scorer.
Still, even if the Badgers do find a way to shut down Flaherty, Michigan will look to utilize its impressive ball movement, which has been a big part of their offensive success all year. The Wolverines have totaled 402 assists on the year compared to the Badgers’ 280.
Wisconsin will look to throw different looks at the Wolverines all night in hopes to slow them down on the offensive end of the ball. Fortunately for the Badgers, even if they cannot find a way to control Michigan’s high-octane offense, they will likely be able to capitalize themselves on offense. So far this year, Michigan has not shown the ability to play consistent defense, as it gives up almost 82 points per game in Big Ten play.
The Badgers are coming off one of their best all-around offensive performance of the year and will look to assert themselves further against a shaky Michigan defense. Last game, three seniors, Dakota Whyte, Michala Johnson and Nicole Bauman all put in over 10 points. If the three of them can put up similar numbers, Wisconsin has a good chance to leave Ann Arbor with a win.
This entire season, the Badgers’ motto, both in games and between games, has been “keep fighting.” Heading into their matchup with Michigan, the team looks to do just that and fight for their second-straight Big Ten victory.
