Following the Wisconsin women's basketball team's upset win at then-No. 24 Nebraska Sunday, UW coach Jane Albright noted:

"I know it's the first time I've coached a 35-turnover game that we won,'' she said.

Albright -- whose Badgers tipped the Cornhuskers in overtime, 92-85, despite 35 turnovers -- knows the odds of winning another game with that many miscues are slim-to-none.

So when the Badgers huddled before practice Tuesday at the Nicholas-Johnson Pavilion, the UW's first practice of the week, Albright made it clear that she was not happy with her team's turnovers.

"I told them today that I don't think it's really possible to continue to turn the ball over and win,'' said Albright. "We were just so good in a couple of other categories that it didn't matter. But nine times out of 10, it is going to matter.''

A year ago, Wisconsin was worst in the Big Ten Conference in turnovers per game with 20.8. And despite turnovers being a point of emphasis for the Badgers this season, that statistic has only gotten worse. Through two games this season, the 25th-ranked Badgers (2-0) are averaging a whopping 27 turnovers per game.

One of the most frustrating aspects of the UW's turnovers is that they don't necessarily come from pressure defense by the opponent. Many seem to be of the unforced error variety.

While the UW guards, who do most of the team's ball-handling vs. pressure, have combined for 24 turnovers, UW frontcourt players LaTonya Sims (9 turnovers), Jessie Stomski (8) and Nina Smith (8) are giving the ball away at an alarming rate.

"That was the thing that was disappointing: We didn't really have the turnovers against the press,'' Albright said of the unforced errors. "There's really no pattern to it all. We have three-second calls, offensive fouls, off-the-ball holding. Our posts had a lot of turnovers.

"It's like a disease, like an epidemic. It all just kind of mounts up, but it can't mount up to 35.''

But how do you stop the turnover plague?

"The key for us is concentration and being focused,'' said UW senior guard Kelley Paulus. "If we put our focus on not turning the ball over we can be a great ball team.

"But sometimes I think we get too caught up in everything and get too excited. Maybe we try to make one more pass instead of just shooting the ball. Or maybe we try to thread the needle instead of making the basic pass. I think that will come.

"I think we had a lot of mental breakdowns, but we came back from them.''

This time.

UW senior point guard Dee Dee Pate is the only Badger with more assists (9) than turnovers (7). Pate also averages 4.0 steals per game, tops in the Big Ten.

Road warriors: Last season, Wisconsin went just 3-11 in games outside of Madison. The lack of success on the road was a major reason why the Badgers failed to contend for the Big Ten title or advance to the NCAA Tournament.

This year, the Badgers are 2-0 away from home, including the first road win vs. a ranked team since a 74-64 win at No. 17 Georgia on Jan 4, 1998.

"We really needed to know that we could go into a hostile environment against a very good team and not fold,'' Albright said of Sunday's win in Lincoln, Neb.

Wisconsin faces a pair of very tough games outside of Madison this weekend. The Badgers play at perennial NCAA power and No. 8 Rutgers Saturday before meeting a good Northeastern team Sunday in Piscataway, N.J.

"That was a big weekend for us,'' Paulus said of last weekend. "That was huge for us. We've never beaten a ranked team on the road. That was a big confidence builder.''

Last year aside, UW has posted a winning road record under Albright in three of her first five seasons in Madison.

Stomski honored: Stomski was named Big Ten player of the week for her play over the weekend. She averaged 19.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and hit 61 percent of her shots from the field in wins over Southern Illinois (66-58) and Nebraska in the Time Warner Cable Classic. Stomski also earned tourney MVP honors.

Bombs away: Albright has stressed all season that if the Badgers are going to have success in 1999-2000, the UW guards need to hit some outside shots to free up the middle for Stomski, Sims and Smith.

So far, so good.

Although it's only through two games, the Badgers are averaging four 3-pointers per game while hitting 42.1 percent of their shots from beyond the arc.

Last year, UW was last in the Big Ten in 3-pointers per game (2.6) and 3-point shooting (29.9 percent).

"We were worst in the Big Ten Conference in 3-point shooting and in turnovers last year,'' said Albright. "That's what I've harped on my team on. Good things aren't going to happen to us if we can't improve on those two things.''

Ticket update: Ticket sales for the Dec. 5 game vs. Tennessee at the Kohl Center are approaching 10,000 according to the UW. The Lady Vols have won six NCAA titles, including three in the past four years.

The season ticket count is at 4,875, compared to 5,163 a year ago. Season tickets will still be sold through the Tennessee game.

The UW averaged 7,566 fans per home game last season. UW's total attendance of 136,182 in 18 home dates was third-best in the nation.

Hefte steps up: UW shooting guard Leah Hefte, a freshman from McFarland, earned nine minutes of playing time Sunday vs. Nebraska after not seeing any action in the season-opener vs. Southern Illinois.

Although she didn't score, she played well, with no turnovers and one rebound. She hit a 3-pointer, but it was waived off by a UW foul away from the ball.

Hefte got her playing time over sophomore shooting guard Kyle Black, who has struggled with her shooting this year. Black played nine minutes vs. Southern Illinois and did not score, and she did not play vs. Nebraska.

Black averaged more than 19 minutes per game last season, was fifth on the team in scoring at 6.1 points per game and led the UW with 36 3-pointers.

"Leah doesn't make mistakes, and that's something good that she gives us when everyone else is kind of all running around,'' said Albright. "But Kyle had a better practice (Tuesday).''

This and that: Sims, who has scored in double figures in 46 straight games, is four points shy of 1,000 in her career. Sims will almost certainly score her 1,000th point in her 66th career game. All-time UW leading scorer Barb Franke scored her 1,000th point in her 64th game.

• Albright (98-52 at Wisconsin) is two wins shy of her 100th win at the UW. The most wins by a UW coach is 131 by Edwina Qualls from 1976-86.