In her continuing attempts to get her team to play better on the road, Jane Albright took her Badger team to New Jersey to play two games over the past weekend.

Saturday night Bucky took on Rutgers, who had soundly defeated Wisconsin last year in Madison. The game was a classic battle of styles, with Wisconsin's size matched against Rutgers' athleticism. Rutgers was hurt by an injury to their top post player Tammy Sutton-Brown. Wisconsin was hurt by having to play against one of the best defenses they'll see this year.

It was a game that was a test for both teams. Rutgers was still stung by their loss to NC State and Wisconsin was still stung by a three year series of road flops. Both teams passed their test.

C Viv started her non-starters again and the teams stayed even for the first 5 to 7 minutes of the game. As the Rutgers starters entered, they slowly pulled ahead and the game was played with the Scarlet Knights leading by 6-10 until about five minutes remained. Rutgers would pull ahead by a bit and Wisconsin would reel them back in. Rutgers got balanced scoring, while Tamara Moore led the Badgers.

With about five minutes remaining, Wisconsin did something they haven't done in a very long time. They went on a late-game run on a good team's home court. After a 13-2 run, Wisconsin led by 6 with 4 minutes to play.

But then Rutgers brought out THE PRESS. There are few that do it as well as they do when they are stoked. And they were stoked. A couple steals and turnovers gave the Scarlet Knights a 60-59 lead, but Moore gave Wisconsin its last lead at 61-60. Rutgers showed tremendous poise hitting six free throws in the last 90 seconds to hand Wisconsin its first loss of the year.

Moore led Wisconsin with 19 points. Jessie Stomski had 13. LaTonya Sims and Nina Smith each had 11, with Smith grabbing a team-high 6 boards. Despite the loss, this was the best game Wisconsin has played away from Madison in recent memory.

Rutgers was led by Tasha Pointer, who was everywhere Wisconsin didn't want her to be. She scored 16 points and tied Smith for game honors with 6 rebounds. Linda Miles added 12 points. A special mention has to go to Jen Clemente. After sitting out for over a year, she entered the game in the last minute and hit two clutch free throws. Wisconsin coach Jane Albright is convinced Rutgers is a Final Four team and they showed the kind of poise they will need to play in Philly.

Sixteen hours later, Wisconsin took the floor against a good Northeastern team. Wisconsin came out flying and built a 25 point lead with 17 minutes to play. Then their collective tanks hit empty. Northeastern's inside outside duo of Tesha Tinsley and Lani Lawrence took over. They led a 36-9 run that tied the game at 54 with 4 minutes to go. They traded baskets until Tinsley banked in a 30 foot three pointer with three seconds to play. Not to be outdone, Wisconsin's Kyle Black banked in her own three pointer (that may have been partially blocked) to tie the game with .5 seconds left.

Northeastern jumped out to a lead in the overtime, but Wisconsin fought back. A shot by Sims hit two shots to tie the game and then hit a shot with .3 left to send it to the second ot.

Sims then hit the winning shot with 8 seconds left in the second overtime. Moore deflected a pass to seal the victory and give the Badgers their third road win of the year--the exact number they had in the entire 1998 season.

Stomski led Wisconsin with 24 points, half of them coming in the overtimes, and 10 rebounds. Sims, who may have gotten her game back in the overtimes, had 22 points, 6 boards and 3 steals. 5'11 Tamara Moore had 12 points, 12 rebounds and a huge loose ball recovery near the end of the second overtime.

Sims has struggled with her shot this season. If she can carry this through and continue to play as she can, that would be the biggest plus of the weekend. The biggest negative came when senior captain Kelley Paulus hit her head hard on the floor and suffered a concussion. She is not expected to play Wednesday when the Badgers travel to UW-Green Bay.

Tinsley led Northeastern with 25 points and 7 assists, while Lawrence added 27 points and 12 rebounds.