TOUGH SCHEDULE PREPARES UW FOR BIG TEN RUN

BUT THE BADGERS NEED TO BEAT IUPUI TO HEAD INTO THE CONFERENCE SEASON ON A POSITIVE NOTE.

Wisconsin State Journal

Dec 12, 1999

Authors: Jon Masson Sports reporter

When the University of Wisconsin women's basketball team's schedule was

released, the marquee games jumped out.

Tennessee, Rutgers, Nebraska and Marquette were the signature games during

the non-conference portion.

But today's game against Indiana University-Purdue University of Indianapolis

- IUPUI for short - takes on added significance for the Badgers, who have

lost consecutive games to Tennessee and Marquette.

A UW victory this afternoon at the Kohl Center would leave the Badgers

5-3 for this segment of the schedule, which wouldn't be bad considering

the difficulty of playing nationally ranked Tennessee, Rutgers and Nebraska.

A convincing victory would steer the Badgers in the right direction entering

Big Ten Conference play and restore confidence lost during the past week.

"The teams we put together (on the schedule), most will be in postseason,"

UW coach Jane Albright said. "I don't think we have any losses that are

bad losses. If we can win this one and win it the way we want to win it

by doing the things we've been working on, then we will settle in and fine-tune

for the Big Ten season."

Winning the Big Ten title is one of the team's goals, but considerable

work must be done before the conference season begins.

"I still think we have a good chance to be in the upper division of the

Big Ten," UW forward LaTonya Sims said. "But I'm not thinking about the

Big Ten until after (today's game). I want to beat this team first. I think

we need to play good against IUPUI to get us going and to have some momentum

going into the Big Ten season. I definitely don't want it to be a close

game."

However, a victory by IUPUI over the favored Badgers would be damaging

and cause Albright and her team to wonder if their expectations for the

season were misguided.

"If we have a bad game (today), win or lose, it wouldn't be a good momentum-builder

because we start off with Purdue and Illinois right away," Sims said. "They

are two tough teams."

After playing IUPUI (3-4), UW doesn't return to action until meeting defending

national champion Purdue Dec. 30 at the Kohl Center. Illinois, the preseason

favorite with Penn State to win the league crown, comes to Madison Jan.

4.

UW's performance today, while important, shouldn't be seen as some magic

elixir. The Badgers displayed flashes of excellence in winning the tournament

at Nebraska and in losses to then-No. 3 Tennessee and then-No. 8 Rutgers,

but they have been sluggish in victories over Southern Illinois, Northeastern

and UW-Green Bay.

The Tennessee game was emotionally draining because the Badgers focused

so much on it. Despite being emotionally tired afterward, UW senior guard

Kelley Paulus succinctly pointed out the Badgers' trouble spots: committing

too many turnovers and failing to rebound, maintain composure and get transition

baskets.

"I don't think it was anything that was new to us," Paulus said. "Tennessee

exploited those problems we were having and it really showed. But we worked

hard, especially on the guard stuff (in practice). Hopefully, everyone

will take the individual responsibility to get better in all those aspects."

The turnovers continued in a 69-65 defeat at Marquette Wednesday. In addition,

Marquette's defense bottled up UW's inside players and dared the Badgers

to shoot from outside.

"I'm not at all embarrassed to lose to this team, and I want to make that

very clear," Albright said after the Badgers lost to Marquette, which was

an NCAA tournament qualifier last season. "This is not in my mind a game

that is `the world has ended.' It was a team again that will help us get

ready for the Big Ten."