The University of Wisconsin women's basketball team did just enough good things at the Kohl Center Tuesday night to put a smile on coach Jane Albright's face during her postgame press conference.

Then again, it's safe to say the sixth-year UW coach is glad she still has a handful of practices left before the Badgers open regular-season play Nov. 19.

In other words, the Badgers' 76-66 victory over an Athletes in Action squad of former collegians went as expected for an exhibition opener.

"There were times when I felt like we were really a very good basketball team,'' said Albright. "And then at other times, we showed that it was the first game, with a lot of youth at some key positions.''

The Badgers built a 24-point lead against AIA just six minutes into the second half before the visitors rallied to pull within 68-64 with just under two minutes to play. But the UW made 6 of 6 foul shots in the final 1:39 to ice the victory.

"I think we did fairly well for the first game,'' said UW senior captain Kelley Paulus, who made two second-half 3-pointers and finished with 8 points. "We've been playing against each other for a long time now and I think it was just a nice, refreshing thought to be able to play and beat up on somebody else rather than our own teammates.''

Sophomore swing player Tamara Moore, who played superbly during the UW's late run to the WNIT title game last season, picked up where she left off by making 7 of 8 field goals and 6 of 6 free throws for a game-high 20 points. Moore also played solid defense while rotating between point guard, shooting guard and small forward.

"I kind of put last year behind me,'' said Moore, who struggled through an inconsistent freshman season. "... I'm trying to play for this year. I'm trying to leave the past in the past and look toward the future. And that's what I think I did today.''

Freshman Nina Smith also pleased the Kohl Center crowd by adding 13 points on a variety of post moves. She was the first Badger off the bench.

"I was a little nervous sitting on the bench, but once I got out there and hit my first bucket, it started to come back again,'' said Smith, the 6-foot-4 center who entered the game with 14:58 to play in the first half. "I can see things I need to work on. I can definitely tell it was my first game and college ball is a lot different. But, as nervous as I was, I thought I did pretty good.''

The backbones of the UW squad, junior forward LaTonya Sims and sophomore forward Jessie Stomski, were solid as usual. Sims finished with 15 points and 6 rebounds, while Stomski added 10 points and 14 boards.

"I thought we had a lot of different weapons,'' said Albright.

The UW defense forced 19 AIA turnovers and allowed the visitors to shoot just 40.6 percent from the field. The Badgers also collected 13 steals, led by point guard Dee Dee Pate's five thefts.

Despite those good stats, the UW almost blew a 24-point second-half lead, shot just 41.4 percent from the floor in the second half and was outrebounded, 42-41, by a shorter team. Smith had only two rebounds.

"We broke down several times, and we definitely have some very nice film to pinpoint what we need to work on,'' Albright said.

All in all, there were few complaints.

"I think we did well,'' said Paulus. "I think offensively we had a couple times where we looked confused and were running into each other and stuff like that. But I think that will come out with experience.''