Harnessed by the burden of an entire program and a large physique, Smith has weight on her shoulders. But to have to pick up her entire team and carry it against the No. 3 team in the nation is an all-together different burden.

Particularly for a freshman.

But in Wisconsin's loss to the Tennessee Lady Vols, Smith, a heralded 6-foot-4 center who picked UW over Tennessee, grabbed the reins of her team and gave them a fighting chance to win. Plagued by turnovers and ghastly rebounding, the Badgers needed a scoring force to keep up with the high-tempo Lady Vols. Smith responded with arguably her best game of the season and contributed a career-high 16 points and six rebounds.

She possesses tremendous touch for her size and went 7-of-11 from the field and 1-of-2 from the line. But scoring prowess isn't anything new to Smith - a leadership role at Wisconsin is - and there was a serious lack of guidance against Tennessee with all three captains struggling in different ways.

Third-year captain Kelley Paulus was slowed by a concussion and played only 19 minutes, nonetheless chipping in with a 10-point showing. Second-year captain LaTonya Sims was fighting off a cold shooting start and first-time captain Dee Dee Pate could not find the handle, turning the ball over six times in 20 minutes of play.

And so the Badgers turned to their wunderkind.

"I came in with the same mentality as always, and that's to win," Smith said. "I just want to do whatever I can win the game, and I want the whole team to do well. And we just fell short of that."

Having seen more pine time this season than prime time because of foul trouble, Smith controlled her physical brand of play without turning down the RPM's in the paint and tallied 30 minutes. Showing brains as well as brawn, Smith avoided a single foul in the second half and played 19 of the half's 20 minutes.

Simply bigger than anyone she comes up against, Smith manhandled the Lady Vols over the course of the game. On three separate occasions, the Iowa product literally threw Tennessee players to the ground in struggles for loose balls. To think that she will be banging away inside for Wisconsin for four years is a welcome thought indeed.

At least for all those who don't have to butt heads with her.

"You have to play up hill on her and play in front of her," Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. "If you can't match size to size with her, you have to match speed with size. But either way it's tough."

Smith's best stretch of the game came early in the second half with Wisconsin trailing 41-34, and it provided far more than a spark for the clawing Badgers. It offered a glimpse into the future.

Taking a pass from Tamara Moore, Smith turned to the basket and set her feet. Not a problem, considering she leads the team in field goal percentage with an impressive 65 percent rating. But this time Smith was squaring up from beyond the three-point line. Nothing but net.

Two minutes later, with UW carrying the momentum after a pair of defensive stops, Smith kept on pushing. Her lay-up cut the Tennessee lead to just two, 41-39, with 17:05 left to play. Following a steal by LaTonya Sims, Smith took the feed and dropped in another lay up, knotting the game at 41.

The Badgers went on to lead just twice more, however, and never again after the 13:49 mark. Smith tacked on just one more point after the run and was held scoreless in the last 10 minutes of the game.

And so what all 11,861 fans saw Sunday were glimpses, not the final product. Smith still exhibited a naivete attributable to her age with respect to perimeter passing and interior defense.

Smith has tremendous footwork for a center but found herself out of position on defense and lunging at attacking Lady Vols. She lost out on a number of rebounds as well because of positioning, something that can't happen with the consistency it did against Tennessee.

Smith pulled down six rebounds but could have had a dozen against Tennessee, which missed 48 of its 79 shots. A premier rebounder, the type laced throughout the Lady Vol lineup, hauls in more than four boards on the defensive glass.

But Smith, in time, should be that all-around post player.

Smith's kinks, the few that they are, will be worked out in time as she evolves into this newfound leadership role. And what comes then is a scary thought.

"She's a big girl," said Lady Vol Michelle Snow, who had shared the unfortunate task of defending against Smith. "She's a big player who knows how to use [her size]. Some big players don't know how to use it, but she does. She was working inside and outside."