Wisconsin vs Mankato State
Nov 7, 2003
Kohl Center
Exhibition

Wisconsin opened its season with an easy 78-49 exhibition victory over Division 2 Mankato State on Friday.

Overall, it was a good first outing for a Wisconsin team that isn't expected to win many games this year. It was the first game for new Wisconsin coach Lisa Stone and she should be pleased with her team's overall performance.

It's always difficult when a team knows it's playing for the job of its coach and that was the situation the Badger players found themselves in the past couple of seasons. With all that drama and trauma gone, the players are free to just play basketball and it showed. It was a much looser group of players that took the floor for Wisconsin.

Mankato State was coming off a 9-18 season and was totally outsized by the Badgers. The Mavericks appeared to take one look at the taller, stronger Badgers and decide to shoot threes--lots of threes. 16 of their 22 first half shots were from beyond the arc. Only 2 of those 16 hit the bottom of the net, so we were playing to decide the final margin of victory early.

There were several real positives for Wisconsin. Junior guard Stephanie Rich finished with 29 points on 11-19 shooting. She hit 6 of her 10 three point shots. The points would have been a career record if this weren't an exhibition have. Likewise, the 6 threes would have been a Kohl Center record. The points were great, but that really wasn't what impressed. It was the poise and the focus. She looked like a different player than she has in her first two seasons. All the shots were in rhythm and none were forced. That's probably why she hit so many. Rich is now running the point and she looked like a point guard. She ran the team and controlled everything that went on.

The spacing in the Badger offense still doesn't seem right to me, but they passed the ball very well. There were a number of possessions where there were a number of excellent passes that led to an easy shot. Wisconsin assisted on a very good 20 of 30 baskets. They also did a very good job of getting the ball to post players. The main beneficiary was center Emily Ashbaugh. Emily hit 7 of 8 shots on the way to 16 points in 21 minutes. She did physically overmatch her opponents but that always hasn't helped her in the past.

The Badgers only freshman, Kandace Evans, looked decent. She's a quick athletic player in a backcourt that desperately needs both. But it also looks like most of her experience was playing playground ball. She needs to be more under control and play within the system, but she has more potential than I originally thought. She also looks like the kind of kid that you want to root for.

There were negatives too. 6'3 junior Ebba Gebisa should have been able to dominate with her athleticism. But she wasn't much of a factor. The happy feet she often brought to games last season weren't in evidence, but she still refuses to take the baseline. If she get the ball on the low block, there could be a lighted path with signs flashing "This way to the basket" and she'd still turn to the middle, and all the traffic, and try to force up a shot.

There were problems with the Badger defense. Mankato State made only 7 of 28 three point attempts, but Wisconsin can take no credit for that. They consistently refused to take the last step to close out on the three point shooter so most of the three point attempts were relatively uncontested. Other teams will make them pay for that. They did not defend the three well but they compensated by not defending against penetration well either. That's not quite how it's supposed to work, but it's early. When Mankato State began to drive to the basket, they did have more success than they should have.

The defense was the downside of the game.

Lisa Stone coached her first game at Wisconsin and proved to be as animated as rumored. The referees did mention to her once or twice that they could do just fine without her help. The officials were a very thoughtful group. They took time to comtemplate their calls before making them. They didn't really appreciate suggestions that their whistles have some general proximity to the play, but it wasn't really a big deal. It was an accident when the referee whupped Stone upside late in the game. Really. It was just a glancign blow and no damage was done.

Both teams played very hard and lots of floor burns were earned by many. Fortunately the only injury of consequence was relatively minor. Mankato State's Stacey Durate suffered a bloody mouth when she fouled Wisconsin's Lello Gebisa by ramming her face into Lello's elbow. She didn't return but she appeared fine.

Overall it was a fun game to watch. Even garbage time was entertaining. The Mavericks 5'4 Stacie Johnson used her considerable height advantage to post up the Badgers Margaret Gilmartin. The two engaged in one of the most physical, spirited, if miniature, post battles of the evening.

It is worth noting (to only one person who may or may not read this) that Wisconsin's first turnover of the year was a three-second call.

This sounds trite to say but it's not. Mankato State played with enormous heart and energy. They fought and scrapped every second of a game in which they clearly could not compete. They were led by a very nice guard, Kelli Freeman who played all but 1 minute and scored 20 points.

Wisconsin did nothing to cause Rene Portland or Kristy Curry to worry. But they also did nothing that should discourage Badger fans. There's lots of work to do, and not an enormous amount of talent to work with, but they performed better than expected. That's just fine.

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