ALBRIGHT LIKES WHAT SHE SEES

Madison Capital Times

Madison, Wis.

Dec 1, 1999

The record isn't perfect and the early season play hasn't always been stylish.

But, all things considered, Jane Albright is pleased with where her University

of Wisconsin women's basketball team is heading into December.

"We're actually a little ahead of where I though we would be," Albright

said of her 25th-ranked Albright Badgers (3-1), who play at UW-Green Bay

(1-3) tonight. "If we can get to 4-1 heading into the Tennessee game (Sunday),

it would say we picked up on last year's momentum that we gained in the

WNIT."

Wisconsin's only setback is a two-point loss at No. 7 Rutgers Saturday.

On the flip side, the UW hasn't dominated anyone, with two of the Badgers'

three wins coming in overtime.

"We're just a few points away from being 4-0, but we're also a few points

away from being 0-4," said the UW coach. "I'm realistic enough to know

that."

So far, it looks as though a more experienced UW team has carried the momentum

from last year's run to the WNIT title game into the early portion of the

1999-2000 season.

On Nov. 21, the Badgers upset then-No. 24 Nebraska, 92-85, on the road.

Saturday, UW lost a late lead at Rutgers and fell, 63-61, before holding

off Northeastern, 81-80, in double overtime Sunday in Piscataway, N.J.

A victory tonight would give the Badgers a 4-1 record away from home (2-1

on road, 2-0 neutral court). That would be more wins outside of Madison

than the Badgers had all of last season, when they were 2-9 in road games

and 1-2 in games played on neutral courts.

Albright knows her team still has a ways to go if it wants to reach some

of its lofty goals at the end of the season.

"When you look back at the Rutgers game, we were up by six points with

3 minutes left," said Albright. "And you look back at that and think of

all the things we could have done, but we're just not there mentally to

finish a game like that off yet. It was too big of a task.

"They called a timeout with a little under 3 (minutes left), and I could

almost see it on my kids' faces like, `Is this really happening to us?'

And then Rutgers turned it up a notch."

In addition to showing some mental toughness, UW also needs to take better

care of the ball, as the Badgers are averaging 25.3 turnovers per game.

Overall, however, the Badgers are showing improvement in most other categories.

Wisconsin is shooting the ball well (47.5 percent from the floor), outrebounding

opponents by more than four boards per game and playing good defense, as

opponents are shooting just 42.8 percent from the field.

The Badgers are also shooting well from the outside, making 3.3 3- pointers

per game and shooting 38.2 percent from beyond the arc.

Finally, the UW bench has outscored the opposing bench in each game to

date.

That said, it's only four games into the season.

"There are a lot of things to be encouraged with," said Albright. "But

it's still early, and we know that."

Paulus out: UW senior guard Kelley Paulus, who suffered a concussion while

falling hard to the floor Saturday, will not play tonight.

She did not practice Tuesday at the Kohl Center, and her status is listed

as day-to-day. It is not known if Paulus, who is averaging 10.3 points

per game, will play Sunday vs. No. 3 Tennessee.

Smith's foul trouble: UW freshman center Nina Smith has started all four

games for the UW, but is averaging just 22.8 minutes per game because of

foul trouble. She has fouled out of three of the Badgers' first four games

and is averaging 9.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.

"I would say I'm concerned about it," Albright said of Smith's foul troubles.

" ... I'm concerned that Nina's fouls are offensive, posting up. She's

a big girl and we've got to go back and look at a lot of film and see (why

she's being called for fouls). I think she's probably doing what we've

asked her to do, and for some reason they think it's illegal."

The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Smith is so much bigger and stronger than most

opponents, defenders sometimes fall to the floor simply because Smith is

trying to box out for a rebound or hold her position in the post - both

of which are legal.

Albright one shy of 100: With a victory tonight, Albright can become the

fastest UW coach to reach 100 victories. She is 99-53 at Wisconsin, and

her .651 winning percentage is tops in UW history.

The most wins by a UW coach was Edwina Qualls, who won 131 games from 1976-86.

Overall, Albright is 287-163 (.638) as a college coach.

Chat with the Badgers: Albright and UW forward Jessie Stomski will appear

in the Badger Chatroom Thursday from 6:30-7 p.m. Log on to the UW home

page at www.wisc.edu/ath

Free throws: Junior forward LaTonya Sims now has 1,029 career points at

Wisconsin. She scored her 1,000th point Saturday vs. Rutgers in her 66th

game as a Badger. Only UW all-time career scoring leader Barb Franke (64th

game) reached that mark faster. Sims has scored in double figures in 48

straight games.

*Dating back to last year, seven of the Badgers' last 15 games have gone

to overtime. Wisconsin is 6-1 in those games.

*Plenty of good seats remain, but 10,034 tickets have been sold for Sunday's

game vs. the Lady Vols.