Women’s Hockey
Wisconsin (24-3-1 WCHA, 32-3-1 overall) advanced to the WCHA Final Face-Off in Minneapolis, Minn., after sweeping Minnesota State (0-25-3, 3-29-4) 4-0 and 6-0 at LaBahn Arena.
Junior goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens broke the NCAA shutout record Saturday, blanking UW’s opponent for the 18th time this season. Head coach Mark Johnson believes that Desbiens is currently having the best season ever for a goaltender.
“I think the numbers and the record speak—to answer that question, yes. She has been consistent. She's gotten better over the course of the season, especially—you know I think she made another step after our Christmas break, so kudos to her for putting up those numbers,” Johnson said.
“As I looked at them Saturday night, they're a little mind-boggling because as a coach you don't think about individual players, a goaltender doing that, because we've only played 36 games and over half of them have been shutouts, and that's probably an unrealistic number if you're sitting here in September looking over what you might want to do over the course of the season, but it's become what it is and certainly happy for her and happy for our team.”
The Badgers face Minnesota Duluth in the first game Saturday at 2:07 p.m. and with a win would play for the WCHA Championship Sunday at 2:07 p.m.
Johnson wouldn’t be surprised if UMD copies Minnesota State’s strategy of loading up the center of the ice to disrupt UW’s offense.
“If they want to clog the neutral zone up and make it difficult to bring the puck from blue line to blue line, we need to be prepared for that and do some of the things we did this past weekend, get pucks in deep and get pucks to the net and do some of the things that will give us an advantage,” Johnson said.
“So at this point it's more about us and what we can control and how we can play, and if we're continuing to do what we want to do all year, it's get better every weekend, it's building off Saturday's game and getting ourselves prepared for this upcoming Saturday's game.”
Men’s basketball
The hot streak for Wisconsin continued, as it defeated No. 16 Iowa (11-5 Big Ten, 20-8 overall) on the road 69-60 and Michigan (10-7, 20-10) 68-60 in its home finale last week.
The Badgers (11-5, 19-10), chasing an outside chance of a share of the Big Ten regular season championship with No. 12 Indiana (13-3, 23-6), hit the road to face Minnesota (2-14, 8-20) Wednesday night at 8 p.m.
Head coach Greg Gard isn’t focusing on the opponent’s name on the jersey as much as his team’s preparation.
“We have always approached every game for what it is. It will be more about how we prepare and how we play. Obviously [Minnesota], a team that plays very well at home, obviously have gone through a rough stretch, rough season, also with suspensions last night, and whether those guys are back or not back, that's for them to determine and take care of, but I think just from our standpoint, we never really get too wound up in the opponent,” Gard said. “We prepare more for making sure we play the proper way. We know it's a tough place to play. It's a team that's very capable with what they've done, most recently against Maryland.”
Gard also had high praise for redshirt freshman forward Ethan Happ, who benefitted from redshirt year behind former Badger and current Charlotte Hornet Frank Kaminsky.
“You understand class, you understand semester breaks, you understand finals, and you're not having the added pressure of playing in games, as another mental load on you as well, and obviously physically he's gotten better, but obviously to be around Frank not only to guard Frank and have Frank guard him every day in that experience, but to see how Frank handled day-to-day operations, how he worked, how he prepared, all those things behind the scenes that I think were valuable for Ethan, and still there's no replacement for experience,” Gard said.
“And I've said that many times, as much as Ethan learned from Frank last year, he still had to go there and do it himself, and that is where I think I've seen the growth over the last two to four weeks, is that experience that he's gotten earlier in the year is starting to—he's becoming more consistent, I think that's the biggest thing and hopefully—obviously I think he's only scratching the surface in terms of where he can be, and he's got a lot of time left here in his career.”
The Badgers finish the regular season Sunday at Purdue (10-6, 22-7) at 6:30 p.m.
Women’s basketball
Coming off road losses to No. 5 Maryland (16-2 Big Ten, 27-3 overall) and then Purdue (10-8, 19-10) in its Big Ten regular season finale, Wisconsin (3-15, 7-21) is looking to make some noise in the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis, Ind.
“The tournament is another chance to correct some wrongs and everybody is at 0-0, so it's an opportunity for us to go in and take it one game at a time and see what we can do,” head coach Bobbie Kelsey said.
The Badgers are set for a rematch with Northwestern (4-14, 15-15) in their opening game Wednesday. Kelsey knows her team has to show improvement in order to fare well against the Wildcats.
“We didn't do a very good job in transition defense the last time they played us. They got loose and made some layups and also boxing out. Those were the two big areas that I noticed when I watched the game that we didn't do a very good job of. Obviously you have to do those things no matter who you are playing, and we have to be more consistent in those areas,” Kelsey said.
“We didn't turn it over, but obviously when you give up easy baskets to a team that maybe, you know, you have to make them earn the baskets, then it makes it harder for you.”
Wisconsin continues to struggle shooting the ball.
“We're getting open shots, not all of them, but ones we have made in the past, bunnies right at the basket. I don't know if it's a lack of focus or maybe somebody thinking somebody is going to come over and block it, I don't know what it is, but we're getting them,” Kelsey said. “So it's not necessarily we're not running things to get people the shot. I just said, ‘we can't get you any closer to the basket.' I don't know what we can run to put you in the basket with the ball, not sure if there is a play we can where we can do that, but we're just trying to show them where they're missing opportunities to get easier baskets.”
UW tips off against Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament Wednesday at 12:30 p.m.
Men’s Hockey
Wisconsin (1-11-4 Big Ten, 6-16-8 overall) split a weekend series against Ohio State (5-8-3, 10-17-3), winning the shootout 1-0 after tying 4-4 in game one and losing 6-5 in game two.
The Badgers host Penn State (9-6-1 Big Ten, 19-9-4 overall) in the team’s home finale.
Head coach Mike Eaves drew parallels between the ups and downs his senior class has experienced with the ebb and flow of life.
“A little bit of an understanding of what they experienced here is a microcosm of life. They've had really good times, they've seen times that have been struggles for us as a group, they've seen change, and I think they look back on these four years as, wow, it was a lifetime within itself. One of the things that I can take from these experiences are going to help me in my next life, whatever that may be,” Eaves said.
“They played a lot of games, a lot of minutes and over the last couple of years, had significant roles for us. In talking with them this past weekend, they understand that their time is slipping by, and we've got four more games here that we know of and 12 more periods that we can continue to get better and grow, and that's their focus right now.”
Eaves is expecting Penn State to come in and play hard.
“There is [a lot] of difference from line-to-line. I would have to say that some of their lines may have a little bit more things you don't teach, kind of feel to them, but they all play hard and they play the same way and they want to get up the ice, and they have good goaltending,” Eaves said. “When we went in there, we felt like we were right there with them and coulda, shoulda, woulda. We will know what we're having when they come this weekend, but what they do is they all operate on the same premise, that they all work hard.”
The puck drops at the Kohl Center Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m.
Wrestling
Wisconsin (3-6 Big Ten, 4-8 overall) continues its preparation for both the Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament after defeating Northwestern at the UW Field House 38-3 in its last meet Feb. 21.
Head coach Barry Davis believes that health has been the biggest benefit for the team.
“Right now we're healthy. Beginning of the year we weren't healthy. Crone is finally healthy now, he's in the lineup. Jimenez is healthy, same with Taylor. So it was a really rough first half, not getting everything in the lineup. Right now our lineup the last month has been healthy, guys back 100% now, we've been able to train right now and right at our best,” Davis said. “It's a good time to be at our best, but it's nice to be healthy, too.”
Junior Isaac Jordan has had a bullseye on his back from competing wrestlers, but Davis isn’t worried.
“Yeah, I think he grew up with that, his dad being very successful here. He's been around successful people, and he's seen that. So I think he takes it one match at a time. He's very smart, understands his sport very well, condition he has to be in in order to be successful,” Davis said. “Matches against multiple guys, you're going to make small changes, he's very good at doing that. I think he looks at it one match at a time, my goal is the Big Ten, after that get ready for the NCAA Championships, so the goal is one match at a time.”
The Badgers head to Iowa City, Iowa, for the Big Ten Championships March 5-6.
