The season starts on Oct. 28 with an exhibition matchup at the Kohl Center versus in-state UW-Eau Claire and then the first non-warm-up game tips off on Nov. 3, also at the Kohl Center.

Here is the full non-conference schedule in case the embedded Instagram post isn’t showing up for you:

• Oct. 28 vs. UW-Eau Claire (exhibition)

• Nov. 3 vs. Bradley

• Nov. 5 vs. Oakland

• Nov. 8 vs. Grambling State

• Nov. 11 vs. Delaware

• Nov. 14 at Green Bay

• Nov. 17 vs. Marquette

• Nov. 22 vs. Lafayette

• Nov. 25 vs. Auburn (Puerto Rico Shootout and Classic)

• Nov. 26 vs. Syracuse (Puerto Rico Shootout and Classic)

• Dec. 2 vs. Western Michigan

• Dec. 10 at Valparaiso

• Dec. 17 vs. Delaware State

• Dec. 20 vs. Nebraska-Omaha

In total, the Badgers will play 13 non-conference games with two on the road, two at a neutral site, and nine in the friendly confines of the Kohl Center. I will have a full breakdown of the non-conference schedule coming later, but for now it’s time to start charting out which games the Badgers need to win to earn a postseason bid.

Badgers at the FIBA World Cup!

While I know the Badgers above is plural there is actually only one Badger playing in the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Germany and that player is…freshman guard Alicia Courthiau of Belgium!

A native of Brussels, Courthiau has represented her home nation at the youth and senior national team levels. During qualifying for this tournament, the 5-foot-10 guard averaged 7.0 points, 1.5 assists, and 1.3 rebounds per game and helped Belgium finish atop their qualifying group with a perfect 5-0 record.

Belgium plays three games in Group C and then potentially knockout round contests after group play is finished.

- Türkiye, 9/4, 10:30 am CT (HBO Max)
- Puerto Rico, 9/6, 10:45 am CT (truTV/HBO Max)
- Australia, 9/7, 4:30 am CT (HBO Max)

Per BetMGM, the Belgians have the third best odds of winning the whole tournament (behind the United States and France) so hopefully we’ll get to see a lot of Courthiau over the coming weeks.

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College volleyball is back!

The Wisconsin volleyball team is two weeks into their season and their record is 1-3. Now, that isn’t a good record but lets just take a look at who they’ve played so far and GOOD LORD IS KELLY SHEFFIELD INSANE?!?

• No. 3 Kentucky (in Milwaukee), L

• No. 7 Louisville (in Milwaukee), W

• No. 5 Stanford (at Pitt), L

• No. 4 Pitt (at Pitt), L

Surely things get easier from there…right? ::looks at next four matches:: OH WHAT THE HELL, MAN?!?

• vs. No. 17 Florida

• vs. Auburn

• at No. 8 Texas A&M

• at No. 2 Texas

At least the Florida and Auburn matches are at the Field House! Sheffield really went Full Tom Izzo Mode with this non-conference schedule which will, hopefully, have the Badgers battle-tested come Big Ten time because, uh, their first four conference matches are also against ranked teams and that doesn’t even include Nebraska and Penn State later in the year.

There is a lot more to say about this team (for instance: they are extremely young and have limited returning production and also have a few injury issues they’re dealing with) but I will leave that to more qualified folks.

You can watch the Badgers take on Florida (tonight, Wednesday, Sept. 2) at 7 p.m. CT on FS1 and then the same time and TV network on Thursday for the Auburn match.

College football is back, huh?

Per sources, Week 0 of college football is in the books and Wisconsin Badgers legend Billy Edwards already quarterbacked his new team to a win in Ireland? I dunno, none of that sounds real. I’m working to confirm.

Either way, the current iteration of the Wisconsin Badgers football team takes the field for the first time this season on Sunday evening at historic Lambeau Field in Green Bay against historic College Football Playoff Missers, the No. 4 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish. In a past life I would be frothing at the mouth for a matchup of this magnitude to open UW’s season but I just don’t feel It (whatever that may be) anymore.

I had written out a whole entire long post about how I’ve been slowly falling out of love with college football over the past decade but then friend of the newsletter posted his thoughts on the matter and, well, it was basically what I was going to say!

Stats by Will Archive

The explanation

Up front, this piece is not a demand for others to join. It is not about a movement, or a school of thought. It’s not about anyone in my life, not really, and it’s not an objective truth. As such, the power of such a piece is probably limited before it even starts, but that’s life. What this…

Read more

3 days ago · 1 like · Will Warren

Will is mainly a college hoops writer and you can find all of his current content at the excellent site, Basket Under Review.

Here is the opening of my post, which I’m not going to publish but which I WAS going to title “Ennui-sconsin”:

I’ve been thinking a lot about college football lately. Not so much “who is good” or “which player will win the Heisman” or anything, but more existential thoughts. Thoughts like “who is even eligible to play college football anymore” and “how funny would it be if the SEC actually kicked LSU out of the conference for rostering players who were most recently on an NFL roster” or “does any of this matter” and “do I even LIKE college football anymore?”

Those last two queries have really tied me up in knots this summer and reckoning with them has been a long time coming. While basketball (in totality) is my favorite sport, college football used to be my favorite thing to follow and I don’t even know if it cracks my top-five now. Does that matter even a tiny bit to anyone who makes decisions about the sport? Dishearteningly, I highly doubt it.

(this video couldn’t be included in the block quote due to technology reasons)

News dropped this week about Penn State opening something called the “Paterno Family Football Experience Room” in their sports history museum on campus and it was yet another reminder that college football doesn’t care about you or anyone! To be fair to college football, this actually applies to all college sports…but football is the worst offender.

It’s simply getting harder and harder to get fired up for college football season. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older and I have more important things happening in my life because I know it isn’t because Wisconsin has both sucked and blown the past five seasons. Shit, I attended (IN PERSON!) Badgers football games in three different states last year! Wisconsin only won four games!!

What I think it actually is though? It is the simple fact that something I’ve loved unconditionally for pretty much my entire life has never shown me any love back. For what it’s worth, I mean this on an institutional level because college football as an idea has given me many great memories and moments but it is nearly impossible to have the cognitive dissonance to separate the two. Quite frankly, I know too much. I got too deep into the belly of the beast and didn’t like what I found and now I’m forced to have a deep, personal reckoning. Spoiler alert: those aren’t fun!

Am I still going to watch the stupid Badgers play football this year? Yeah, man, I am. I like hanging out with my friends and watching sports and many of my best friends are Wisconsin fans too. I like tailgating. I like tossin’ the ol’ pigskin around the front yard. I like the band and the traditions and how, against all odds, the sport can still bring people together. But I just can’t do the rest.

I don’t want to participate in the discourse du jour online, I don’t care about what your idea to fix the Playoff is, and I definitely don’t want to read another law brief on eligibility issues. They say “if you love something, let it go” and so I’m gonna try it. If college football comes back to me…great. But if it doesn’t? I won’t shed a tear.

Now, I am not on Twitter anymore due to the ::waves hands at rampant white nationalism and overt Nazism on that cesspool of a platform:: and the high school recruiting content hasn’t quite migrated over to Bluesky (aka the retirement home for Posters) so I’m sure I’ve missed many offers that UW handed out. However, thanks to Instagram, I have still rounded up 17 offers the Badgers have made since the grassroots season started in the spring.

All four high school classes are represented among the offers and even one that went to a rising 8th grader! Two of the younger players that earned scholarships are from Wisconsin and are definitely worth keeping an eye on while the rest of the players span the country from Arizona to Massachusetts. I didn’t go super in-depth on any of these prospects because it is highly unlikely that Wisconsin will receive a commitment from ANY of them, let alone multiple of them. As recruitments move along and potential schools are whittled down, I’ll revisit any players that are seriously considering Wisconsin.

Just in case you are confused by all of the abbreviations below, here is a quick guide to what they mean:

• 3SSB is the Adidas grassroots circuit

• EYBL is the Nike grassroots circuit

• GUAA is the Under Armour grassroots circuit

• LP32 is the New Balance grassroots circuit

• E40 is the Elite 40 League which isn’t paired up with a shoe brand

  ---

Corinne Lomax

Year: 2027
High School: Tabor Academy (Mass.)
Hometown: Watertown, Conn.
Grassroots Team: Lady Mass Rivals (3SSB)
Height: 6-foot-0
Position: SG/SF
Offers: Arizona, Boston College, Harvard, Illinois, Georgetown, Georgia, La Salle, Marist, Miami (Fla.), Memphis, NC State, Northwestern, Penn, Penn State, Rutgers, Stony Brook, Texas A&M, Towson, UMass, USF, Wake Forest

Alannah Morantus

Year: 2028
High School: Noble & Greenough (Mass.) High School
Hometown: North Attleboro, Mass.
Grassroots Team: Lady Mass Rivals (3SSB)
Height: 6-foot-0
Position: PG
Offers: Boston College, College of Charleston, Dayton, Delaware, Florida, Fordham, Harvard, Illinois, Louisville, NC A&T, Quinnipiac, Richmond, Texas A&M, Tulane, UMBC, USF

Jhaliana Guy

Year: 2028
High School: Clinton High School
Hometown: Clinton, Iowa
Grassroots Team: Mac Irvin Fire (EYBL)
Height: 5-foot-10
Position: PG
Offers: Alabama, Arizona State, Cincinnati, Clemson, DePaul, Florida, Harvard, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisville, Maryland, Miami (Fla.), Michigan, Mississippi State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pitt, Purdue, Southern Cal, Syracuse, TCU, Texas A&M, UCLA, UNC, Virginia Tech
(decommitted from Stanford in May 2026)

Kelenna Ozumba

Year: 2028
High School: Faith Family (Texas) Academy
Hometown: Oak Cliff, Texas
Grassroots Team: CyFair Elite Sports (EYBL)
Height: 6-foot-4
Position: PF
Offers: Arkansas, Baylor, Cal, Clemson, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Houston, Illinois, Kansas State, LSU, Louisville, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, SMU, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UCF, Vanderbilt, Virginia

Payton Caudle

Year: 2028
High School: Fayetteville High School
Hometown: Fayetteville, Ark.
Grassroots Team: Arkansas Banshees (GUAA)
Height: 6-foot-0
Position: PG/SG
Offers: Alabama, Arkansas, BYU, Clemson, Columbia, Georgia Tech, Houston, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, Penn State, SMU, Texas State, Tulsa, UCF, Virginia, Virginia Tech

Serenity Rutledge

Year: 2028
High School: Moody High School
Hometown: Moody, Ala.
Grassroots Team: Alabama Southern Starz (EYBL)
Height: 5-foot-5
Position: PG/SG
Offers: Alabama, Charlotte, Houston, Jacksonville State, Mississippi State, Seattle U., South Alabama, Texas Tech, Tulane, UAB

Sydney Ferguson

Year: 2028
High School: St. Vincent-St. Mary (Ohio) High School
Hometown: Akron, Ohio
Grassroots Team: Sports City Angels (EYBL)
Height: 6-foot-4
Position: SG/SF/PF
Offers: Akron, Arizona State, Bowling Green, Cal, FGCU, Fordham, Georgia Tech, Houston, Iowa State, Marquette, Memphis, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Pitt, Purdue, Stetson, Toledo, UCF, UIC, USF, Virginia Tech

Charlotte McCurry

Year: 2029
High School: John Hardin (Ky.) High School
Hometown: Elizabethtown, Ky.
Grassroots Team: Phenom United (3SSB)
Height: 6-foot-0
Position: SG/W/SF
Offers: Bowling Green, Dayton, Harvard, Indiana, Iowa State, Kentucky, Liberty, Louisville, Miami (Fla.) Michigan, Murray State, Northern Kentucky, Ohio State, Providence, SMU, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, Western Kentucky

Evelyn Borcherding

Year: 2029
High School: Eau Claire Memorial High School
Hometown: Eau Claire, Wis.
Grassroots Team: All Iowa Attack (EYBL)
Height: 6-foot-5
Position: C
Offers: no others so far, but you can be sure they’re coming as you can’t teach height

Geralynn Byers-Veal

Year: 2029
High School: Westlake (Texas) High School
Hometown: Manor, Texas
Grassroots Team: Southwest Select (3SSB)
Height: 6-foot-1
Position: PG/SF
Offers: Abilene Christian, Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Houston, Indiana, Iowa State, Kansas State, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Texas State, Texas Tech

Ja’Kyiah Cook

Year: 2029
High School: Chaminade-Julienne (Ohio) High School
Hometown: Dayton, Ohio
Grassroots Team: United Family (3SSB)
Height: 6-foot-1
Position: PF/SF
Offers: Akron, Bowling Green, Dayton, Delaware State, Miami (Fla.), Michigan State, Northern Kentucky, Ohio State, Providence, SMU, Virginia Tech

Kolbi Brooks

Year: 2029
High School: Desert Vista (Ariz.) High School
Hometown: Phoenix
Grassroots Team: Hoop Code Basketball Academy (LP32)
Height: 5-foot-9 (I saw her listed as 5-foot-8 and 5-foot-10, so I’m splitting the difference here)
Position: PG
Offers: Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Baylor, Cal, Clemson, Creighton, Florida, Harvard, Indiana, Louisville, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Rutgers, SMU, Southern Cal, Stanford, Virginia Tech

Paisley Hogan

Year: 2029
High School: Northside (Ark.) High School
Hometown: Greenwood, Ark.
Grassroots Team: Arkansas Banshees (GUAA)
Height: 6-foot-2
Position: SF/W
Offers: Abilene Christian, Alabama, Arkansas, Harvard, Iowa, Iowa State, Minnesota, Mississippi State, North Texas, Oklahoma State, Wichita State

Bryce Webster

Year: 2030
High School: Carmel High School
Hometown: Carmel, Ind.
Grassroots Team: IGB (GUAA)
Height: 5-foot-8
Position: PG
Offers: Arizona State, Indiana, Iowa State, Marquette, Michigan, Purdue

Claire Stoops

Year: 2030
High School: IMG (Fla.) Academy
Hometown: Lakewood Ranch, Fla. (I’m fairly certain that she recently moved to Florida from Indiana)
Grassroots Team: Southeast All-Stars (3SSB)
Height: 5-foot-10
Position: PG
Offers: Arizona, Baylor, Colorado, Florida, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Kentucky, Louisville, Miami (Fla.), Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, USF, Virginia Tech

Quinn Sowder

Year: 2030
High School: Brownsburg High School
Hometown: Brownsburg, Ind.
Grassroots Team: IGB (GUAA)
Height: 6-foot-2
Position: SF
Offers: Arizona State, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Maryland, Miami (Fla.), Michigan, Purdue, UCF

Jaylah Marshall

Year: 2031
High School: she, uh, isn’t in high school yet
Hometown: Milwaukee area I think? There isn’t a ton of info on her which is perfectly fine because she’s in middle school.
Grassroots Team: Chapman Basketball Academy (E40)
Height: 5-foot-9
Position: PG/SG
Offers: Marquette

Wisconsin, along with every other Big Ten team, will play an 18-game conference schedule and only face one opponent both home and away. Per usual, Wisconsin and Minnesota will Border Battle at The Barn and the Kohl Center this season. Here are the rest of the games:

HOME
Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Northwestern, Ohio State, Rutgers, Southern Cal, UCLA

AWAY
Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State, Nebraska, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Washington

While rosters haven’t been 100% finalized yet, Wisconsin’s home schedule looks pretty fun if you were thinking about getting season tickets. Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio State, Southern Cal, and UCLA should all be top-25 teams and, while their roster has undergone a complete overhaul, the Bruins are the defending national champs.

USC will have Juju Watkins back and should be a national title favorite. Michigan brings back just about their entire roster from last year’s Elite Eight team. Illinois is going to be a popular preseason “dark horse” pick to make the Sweet 16 (at least around my house) and Maryland and Ohio State are perennial contenders these days.

Road trips to Iowa and Nebraska rarely end well for UW and the Badgers will be hitting up the Pacific Northwest again for any alums in the Cascadia region.

Other news around the Kohl Center:

• Wisconsin great Janet (Huff) Dyer was elected to the UW Hall of Fame in the Class of 2026. The Milwaukee native walked-on to the program in 1980 and ended her career in 1984 as the first Badger women’s basketball player to earn All-Big Ten honors (second-team in 1983; first-team in 1984). She joins her sister, Theresa, in the UW Hall of Fame and cements their status as the First Family of Wisconsin WBB.

• Adam Urlaub, who joined the UW staff as a grad assistant in 2025, was promoted to “analytics specialist” for the WBB team. He came to Madison from Mizzou when Robin Pingeton took the head coaching job for the Badgers. He also spent a pair of seasons as a student manager and scout player at Michigan State before graduating in 2024.

• New assistant coach Julia Ford, who joined the staff at the end of April, continued her success with USA Basketball by winning a gold medal at the 2026 FIBA 3x3 World Cup this past Sunday as an assistant. The Americans went a perfect 7-0 in the tournament and beat Australia by one point in the gold medal game. They were led by Player of the Tournament Mikaylah Williams (LSU) who is only the second American woman to win MVP (Cameron Brink, 2023). This was Team USA’s fifth medal in the FIBA 3x3 World Cup (2026, 2023, 2014, 2012 gold; 2016 bronze). The other three players on this year’s team were Joyce Edwards (South Carolina), MiLaysia Fulwiley (LSU), and Sahara Williams (Oklahoma) making this an All-SEC affair.

• On Wednesday, a good chunk of Wisconsin’s 2026-2027 newcomers moved-in to their new digs. Three of UW’s four freshman (excluding Alicia Courthiau who is still in Belgium I’m assuming) are now on campus and transfers Addie Deal and Caia Rose (which is what she is going by, per UW’s roster, instead of Elisaldez), who were teammates for one year at Mater Dei High School, joined them.

• Speaking of Deal and Rose, here is a nice profile of the two of them and why they chose Wisconsin from Badger Connect’s Jesse Temple that is free to read.

"We're excited to welcome Julia Ford to Wisconsin," said Pingeton in a release from UW. "Having worked with her at Missouri, I've seen the impact she brings. Julia is a strong teacher of the game with a proven ability to develop players, and her energy and connection with student-athletes make her a great addition to our staff."

“I am humbled and excited for the opportunity to join the Wisconsin women’s basketball program,” said Ford in the same release from UW. “Coach Pingeton has created an environment of growth that holds student-athletes to a high standard on and off the court. I look forward to working with this outstanding group of coaches and players. I am grateful to Coach Pingeton for her trust and support in welcoming me to her staff. On, Wisconsin!”

Ford has been involved with basketball basically her entire life. Her father played at Providence, her older brother was a grad assistant at Texas when she was a senior in college (and, if I have the correct Dave Ford, is currently the Director of Operations for the WCC), and her younger brother was a MBB manager at Providence (and, if I have the correct Andrew Ford, is currently the Scouting Director for the Brooklyn Nets).

A native of Charlton, Mass., she played AAU with Mass Rivals and graduated from Nobles and Greenough School, a prep school just outside of Boston, where she won multiple conference titles. She attended D2 Bentley (Mass.) University and played four years under Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer, Barbara Stevens. When Stevens retired after the 2020 season, she was fourth all-time in NCAA career victories with 1,058.

Ford was never a standout player for Bentley, but she appeared in 89 career games (five starts) over four years and averaged 3.3 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 1.5 apg, and 0.6 spg in 16.3 mpg. She was also elected co-captain in her senior year.

Her coaching career began after graduating in 2020 when she took a grad assistant position at Clemson. She worked there for the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons before heading to Coastal Carolina as an assistant coach for the 2022-23 season. After that she was hired by Pingeton at Mizzou and spent her first season there as special assistant to the head coach and then got promoted to assistant coach in the 2024-25 season. Last season was spent as an assistant coach at Grand Canyon.

The Wisconsin release says that Ford has “seven years of collegiate coaching experience” but by my count her seventh year will be this upcoming season in Madison. Ford has some impressive international coaching experience however, winning the 2025 Women’s 3x3 Nations League Americas Conference as Team USA’s head coach.

At the week-long tournament in Puerto Arenas, Chile, Ford led Team USA to a 14-2 record and first place in the Americas Conference. Her roster was fairly star-studded, featuring players like Joyce Edwards (South Carolina), MiLaysia Fulwiley (LSU now, but South Carolina at the time), and Serena Sundell (Kansas State). You may remember hearing about this tournament before because the 2024 roster featured former Badger Serah Williams on the team.

Ford also was a manager/support staff for various Team USA squads in the summers of 2021 and 2019, per her LinkedIn, although multiple of her previous bios say she worked with Team USA in the summers of 2016, 2017, 2020, and 2021. Regardless, she has a lot of international hoops experience to draw on.

I don’t know if Ford has any sort of “specialty” as an assistant coach, but due to her many years of film study/scouting I think she’ll bring insights to both ends of the court and to multiple position groups. She is a young coach who has Power 4 conference experience and is familiar with most of the coaching staff from a previous stop…all in all, a pretty good hire.

Also worth noting is what this signals to fans and potential new players. Two years ago, under Marisa Moseley, Wisconsin had three assistant coaches. Last year, in Pingeton’s first year, the Badgers had four assistants and now, after a successful run in the WBIT, the Badgers will enter the 2026-27 campaign with five assistants. That is a significant investment because assistant coaches aren’t cheap.

If Wisconsin is increasing their investment in the women’s basketball program hopefully that means an increase in on-court results which would, presumably, coincide with more fan engagement and a more full Kohl Center. That would be pretty cool in my humble opinion.

Here’s a quick recap of the moves Robin Pingeton and her staff have made this off-season:

• Belgian national team guard Alicia Courthiau is the final (???) member of UW’s 2026 recruiting class

• a pair of former Iowa Hawkeyes teammates, Wisconsin native Teagan Mallegni and former 5-star guard Addie Deal, moved north to Madison

• the reigning NEC Player of the Year, 6-foot-3 forward, Kadidia Toure, is now a Badger

• the reigning SoCon Player of the Year, 5-foot-5 point guard Caia Elisaldez, is also now a Badger

Oh, probably shouldn’t have buried this so far down in the post, but one of the four players that entered the portal from Wisconsin actually withdrew her name and will be returning to the Badgers! Rising senior wing Kyrah Daniels is coming back and will take the 15th and final spot on UW’s roster. Daniels, who left Wisconsin’s final game of the season against Columbia with a leg injury, will miss the upcoming year but she still counts against the hard cap of 15 players.

The other three players (wing Jovana Spasovski, point guard Breauna Ware, post Alie Bisballe) who are in the portal have yet to find landing spots and per my brief inquiries on the topic there aren’t exactly a long line of suitors queuing up for the former Badgers.

Wisconsin Badgers 2026-27 Roster As Far As I Know Right Now

• Point Guard

  • Caia Elisaldez (senior)

  • Addie Deal (sophomore)

  • Nikki Kerstein (sophomore)

  • Alba Martin Mesa (junior)

• Off Guard

  • Laci Steele (senior)

  • Alicia Courthiau (freshman)

  • Reese Jaramillo (junior)

  • Giselle Janowski (freshman)

• Wing

  • Teagan Mallegni (junior)

  • Adaline Sheplee (freshman)

  • Kyrah Daniels (senior; redshirting)

• Forward/Wing

  • Kadidia Toure (senior)

  • Shay Bollin (senior)

  • Leah Nordin (freshman)

• Center/Post

  • Dorja Zaja (sophomore)

Roster spots filled: 15
Roster spots open: 0
Class breakdown: 4 FR; 3 SO; 3 JR; 5 SR

The Badgers also posted on the UW Job Board for an assistant coaching position that has, presumably, been filled since the state-mandated two week application period ended. I haven’t heard any rumblings about who this Mystery Coach is and Wisconsin hasn’t announced anything so, uh, yeah. If YOU know who it is, why don’t you just comment the answer down below!

Wisconsin’s current staff has been out on the recruiting trail already this spring and will be all over the country this summer watching various AAU tournaments.

Wisconsin has two players committed in their 2027 recruiting class and who knows how many more they’ll take due to the Unknowable Status of every team’s roster each season.

For the rest of the summer I’m sure I’ll have a few newsletters here and there, especially as schedule announcements start getting made, but I won’t be in your inbox regularly. Hopefully the next time I’m regularly sending emails to you the Wisconsin football team will have not completely embarrassed themselves!

The rising senior floor general has not finished below 45th nationally in assists per game during either of her two seasons as the starting point guard for the Chattanooga Mocs and her numbers in that category have actually improved every season. Under her tutelage, rising sophomore Nikki Kerstein should pick up some valuable tricks of the trade and be ready for a larger role, during both this season and the following ones.

"Caia is a dynamic guard who brings toughness, skill and a strong understanding of the game. A great floor general and an elite facilitator, she also excels at attacking the rim and getting to the free-throw line," said head coach Robin Pingeton in a release from UW.

Caia Elisaldez Fast Facts

• Height: 5-foot-5

• Position: point guard

• Eligibility: one year remaining

• Previous School: Chattanooga

• Hometown: Whittier, Calif.

• High School: Mater Dei (Calif.) HS

• Recruiting Rankings (2023): unranked nationally; ranked 10th in California by Prep Girls Hoops

• 2023-24 Highlights: SoCon regular season champion; SoCon Tournament champion

• 2024-25 Highlights: First Team All-SoCon; SoCon Tournament All-Tournament First Team; 2x SoCon Player of the Week; led Mocs in scoring and assists

• 2025-26 Highlights: SoCon regular season co-champion; SoCon Player of the Year; First Team All-SoCon; SoCon Tournament All-Tournament First Team; 2x SoCon Player of the Week

Caia Elisaldez Fast Stats

• Career College Stats (three seasons)

  • GP/GS: 95/64

  • MPG: 30.1

  • PPG: 11.6

  • RPG: 2.4

  • APG: 3.8

  • SPG: 1.1

  • BPG: two total in her career

  • TOPG: 3.0

  • FG: 411-of-846 (48.6%)

  • 3P: 51-of-158 (32.3%)

  • FT: 226-of-296 (76.4%)

• 2025-26 College Stats

  • GP/GS: 31/31

  • MPG: 36.2

  • PPG: 17.0

  • RPG: 3.1

  • APG: 5.1

  • SPG: 1.5

  • BPG: 0.1

  • TOPG: 3.8

  • FG: 197-of-397 (49.6%)

  • 3P: 16-of-54 (29.6%)

  • FT: 118-of-152 (77.6%)

• 2025-26 College Advanced Stats (national percentile in parentheses)

  • Usage: 26.9% (93rd)

  • Points Per Play: 0.90 (80th)

  • Points Per Scoring Attempt: 1.13 (72nd)

  • eFG: 51.6% (65th)

  • FT Rate: 16.9% (54th)

  • 3P Rate: 11.6% (25th)

  • Assist Rate: 33.8% (99th)

  • Turnover Rate: 20.0% (42nd)

  • Total Rebounding Rate: 5.1% (16th)

  • Steal Rate: 2.2% (65th)

• 2025-26 College Value Stats (national percentile in parentheses)

  • PER: 23.3 (91st)

  • PER*Minutes: 26,146 (97th)

  • Win Shares: 4.1 (96th)

  • Win Shares/40: 0.14 (90th)

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Caia Elisaldez Scouting Report

A 30,000 foot view comparison if you don’t want to read more than one sentence? A more offensively assertive Ronnie Porter who will probably be a bit worse on defense. But you don’t subscribe to a niche women’s basketball newsletter for that, you want to get in the weeds!

My love of “big city point guards” is a well-known and well-established fact at this point. Caia Elisaldez is from Whittier, California, which only has a population of just over 87,000 people, HOWEVAH, it is located just southeast of Los Angeles aka the second biggest city in the United States. I’m gonna go ahead and count it because Elisaldez plays with a reckless abandon that I think Badgers fans are going to really enjoy.

The diminutive lead guard is lightning quick with the ball in her hands and has a crossover that can only be described as Iversonian (as Allen Iverson is my favorite all-time player, there is no higher compliment I can give a player than this). She plays with her head up at all times, even when in traffic, and rarely seems unsure about where she, or the ball, is going.

Elisaldez slices through defenses and slaloms around defenders with ease, getting to the rim even when it appears as if she’s walled off. I’ve always wanted Wisconsin to have more players that can create shots for themselves and that’s something at which Elisaldez excels. Per Hoop-Explorer, her two-point attempt rate at the rim is 57.2% (top-400 nationally) and only 11% of those were assisted (top-90) meaning she was getting to the tin regularly and on her own schedule.

Elisaldez is as durable as they come, ranking 13th and 17th in minutes per game the past two years and she has improved in every counting stat each season. It’s honestly kind of incredible to see. Check this out:

• PPG: 4.1 —> 14.2 —> 17.0

• RPG: 1.5 —> 2.6 —> 3.1

• APG: 1.5 —> 4.9 —> 5.1

• SPG: 0.6 —> 1.0 —> 1.5

• BPG: 0.0 —> 0.0 —> 0.1 (lol)

• her turnover numbers have gone down when you look at her turnover rate, but stayed the same (3.8) on a per game basis

Her shooting percentages have followed a similar pattern:

• FG%: 44.6 —> 48.7 —> 49.6

• FT%: 73.7 —> 75.5 —> 77.6

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There is one area where she hasn’t improved steadily and that’s from beyond the arc. Her freshman year saw her sink 53.3% of her long range attempts on a career high 25.2% three-point rate. As she progressed at Chattanooga, her three-point rate FELL steadily, bottoming out at 11.6% (25th percentile) last year. She shot 29.6% from three last year, which was better than the 26.4% mark as a sophomore, but certainly isn’t an ideal number for a point guard.

It’s hard to say what sort of shooter Elisaldez will be at Wisconsin because she has shown she can make threes at an excellent clip, and her free throw shooting has improved to nearly 80%, but her last two seasons of results are, well, bad. If she could settle in the 32-33 percent range that would be an excellent development especially since she’ll presumably be presented with more three-point attempts in Pingeton’s offense.

The senior point guard is a wonderful passer and has finished the last two seasons in the 99th percentile for assist rate. Vision like that will pretty easily translate from the SoCon to the Big Ten and the rest of Wisconsin’s roster should be salivating at the thought of playing with Elisaldez.

She isn’t much of a contributor on the glass but, like most of her other stats, her numbers have gotten better each year. She has solid, if unspectacular, steal numbers and has two career blocked shots. Her defensive value stats vary between slightly below average and slightly above average leaving her as, uh, probably an average defender. Elisaldez is bigger than Ronnie Porter and that should help her, and UW, on the defensive end.

One area where I think Elisaldez will fill in seamlessly for Porter is leadership. Not only is Elisaldez a top-notch student (Dean’s List four times and 4.0 GPA in two semesters) she was one of two players in the entire nation selected to be the NCAA D1 Women’s Basketball Rules Committee Liaison. The below interview is insightful if you’d like to learn more about what Elisaldez was doing off the court.

Elisaldez is a plug-and-play starter at point guard for the Badgers and she should see an uptick in efficiency as her offensive workload falls to a bit more reasonable level. Pingeton and her staff have done a nice job (for the second straight off-season) filling out the roster with players to take on specific roles.

Alicia Courthiau, a combo guard out of Belgium, is coming stateside to help the Badgers (hopefully) take the next step as a program. The 20-year old freshman will bring extensive international experience to the team and should be an immediate contributor in a similar mold to Dorja Zaja last season.

"Alicia is a very talented young player who has competed at the highest levels with Belgium and in EuroCup play. She'll make an immediate impact with her ability to score, create for others and defend at a high level. Alicia will be a great addition to our Badger family," said head coach Robin Pingeton in a release from UW.

Alicia Courthiau Fast Facts

• Height: 5-foot-10

• Position: guard

• Eligibility: freshman

• Birth Year: 2005

• Hometown: Brussels, Belgium

• Pro Team: Royal Castors Braine (Belgium Top Division Women)

• National Team: Belgium (youth and senior national teams)

Alicia Courthiau Fast Stats

• 2025-2026 Belgium Top Division Stats (Royal Castors Braine)

  • GP: 25 (22-3 record)

  • MPG: 21.6

  • PPG: 7.0

  • RPG: 2.0

  • APG: 1.8

  • SPG: 1.4

  • BPG: 0.1

  • TOPG: 1.3

  • FG: 62-of-165 (37.6%)

  • 3P: 9-of-70 (12.9%)

  • FT: 43-of-61 (70.5%)

• 2025-2026 Eurocup Stats (Royal Castors Braine)

  • GP: 10 (6-4 record)

  • MPG: 29.1

  • PPG: 13.7

  • RPG: 2.9

  • APG: 2.4

  • SPG: 1.3

  • BPG: n/a

  • TOPG: 1.9

  • FG: 49-of-78 (62.8%)

  • 3P: 19-of-33 (57.6%)

  • FT: 20-of-26 (76.9%)

• 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup Qualifying Stats (Belgium)

  • GP: 4 (4-0 record)

  • MPG: 12.3

  • PPG: 7.0

  • RPG: 1.3

  • APG: 1.5

  • SPG: 0.8

  • BPG: n/a

  • TOPG: 1.0

  • FG: 10-of-20 (50.0%)

  • 3P: 6-of-11 (54.5%)

  • FT: 2-of-5 (40.0%)

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Alicia Courthiau Scouting Report

After watching some highlights of Courthiau I feel confident in saying this: she is quick as a hiccup getting downhill towards the basket. I wouldn’t classify her as a pure point guard, but she can definitely initiate the offense by bringing the ball up.

What Wisconsin’s plan is for the point guard position next year is unclear currently, but if they’re going to use some sort of “by committee” approach then Courthiau is going to be on that committee. While she is (oddly) listed as a forward on the Belgian national team’s website, that doesn’t seem like the main position she’ll be playing in Madison.

These two highlight videos are from a couple of years ago but I think they show what Courthiau brings to the table. She is both fast and quick, especially when beating her defender while going towards the rim. Her shot mechanics are repeatable and compact and, while she struggled mightily from beyond the arc for her club team this past year, I think she’ll be a threat from three for the Badgers. Her free throw numbers are solid and every other season/competition from which I can find stats for her shows a player who is much closer to a 40% three-point shooter than a 20% one.

Her rebounding seems solid for a guard and there were a couple of nice passes in the above highlights that were more advanced reads than just “moving the ball along within the offense.” It's hard to tell what her defense is like, but my guess is “aggressive” due to the fact that she averages over a steal per game and commits fouls at an above average rate.

Corthiau is strong and finishes through contact without much worry and I’d wager that also helps her on the defensive end. She’ll turn 21 in December this year, so she isn’t some kid coming out of high school who’ll need a bit of time in the weight room. She has already appeared in real games for the Belgian senior national team, who are the fifth ranked team in the world and second ranked team in Europe.

“She has some attributes that you can’t really teach. Competitive spirit and athleticism combined with physical strength, and she also has a mentality where she wants to absorb everything, she listens and pays attention, she tries to do everything. And she’s still only 19 years old. If she keeps developing then I think we’ll have a very good player in a couple of years,” Belgian assistant coach Pascal Angillis said in this cool video about the team’s preparation for EuroBasket 27 qualifiers. You may recognize Angillis’ name if you’re a fan of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun, as he is an assistant coach there too.

Courthiau is the second youngest player on the Belgian senior national team which includes global stars like Julie Vanloo (Los Angeles Sparks), Julie Allemand (Toronto Tempo; Fenerbaçhe), and Emma Meesseman (WNBA free agent; Fenerbaçhe). In the video linked above, Courthiau mentions how welcoming her senior national teammates were and you can see that reflected in her stats from the World Cup 2026 Qualifying Tournament in China from a month ago.

It is also worth noting that Courthiau’s stats got better, in an almost perfect line, as she got older and the competition, presumably, became more intense. That kind of international experience will make playing in Iowa City seem like a breeze, tbqh. This addition is another nice one for Pingeton and it’ll be exciting to see where she fits in to next year’s Wisconsin roster.

After struggling with various injuries and maladies (like a bad case of tonsillitis) which forced her in and out of the lineup last year, Mallegni will be looking for a fresh start, and clean bill of health, with the Badgers. Let’s take a look at her game and see what we can expect to see at the Kohl Center next year.

(her last name is pronounced like “Muh-laney” as an FYI)

“Teagan has a tremendous foundation and experience competing at a high level. We’re thrilled to welcome her back to her home state and our basketball family,” said head coach Robin Pingeton in UW’s release on the commitment.

Teagan Mallegni Fast Facts

• Height: 6-foot-1

• Position: guard/wing

• Eligibility: two years remaining

• Previous School: Iowa

• Hometown: McFarland, Wis.

• High School: McFarland HS

• Recruiting Rankings (2024): No. 65 overall, No. 2 in Wisconsin, 4-star, 93-rating (ESPN)

• 2024-25 Highlights: scored 14 points in her Iowa debut, the most by a true freshman at Iowa since Caitlin Clark

• 2025-26 Highlights: Academic All-Big Ten; dished out a career-high four assists vs. Wisconsin

Teagan Mallegni Fast Stats

• Career College Stats (two seasons)

  • GP/GS: 45/0

  • MPG: 7.8

  • PPG: 2.6

  • RPG: 1.8

  • APG: 0.6

  • SPG: 0.3

  • BPG: 0.2

  • TOPG: 0.8

  • FG: 41-of-129 (31.8%)

  • 3P: 16-of-77 (20.8%)

  • FT: 21-of-29 (72.4%)

• 2024-25 College Advanced Stats (national percentile in parentheses; only used her freshman year because she played way more minutes than in her sophomore year)

  • Usage: 24.8% (86th)

  • Points Per Play: 0.71 (30th)

  • Points Per Shot Attempt: 0.92

  • eFG: 41.1%

  • FT Rate: 20.4% (76th)

  • 3P Rate: 53.8% (84th)

  • Assist Rate: 9.3% (35th)

  • Turnover Rate: 22.1% (34th)

  • Total Rebounding Rate: 14.1% (87th)

  • Block Rate: 3.4% (86th)

• 2024-25 College Value Stats (national percentile in parentheses)

  • PER: 12.5 (42nd)

  • PER*Minutes: 3,300 (18th)

  • Win Shares: 0.3 (30th)

  • Win Shares/40: 0.05 (44th)

Teagan Mallegni Scouting Report

A 30,000 foot view comparison if you don’t want to read more than one sentence? I dunno, her game kinda reminds me of Kyrah Daniels and that is exactly the type of player Wisconsin needs to replace as it would happen! But you don’t subscribe to a niche women’s basketball newsletter for that, you want to get in the weeds!

I had heard rumblings that Mallegni was thinking about transferring to Wisconsin before Daniels entered her name into the portal and I thought there might be a bit of a log jam at the wing position, but now it looks like a nice “like for like” swap on the roster. They aren’t exactly the same player, for instance I’d argue that Daniels is quicker but I think Mallegni will be a better defender against forwards.

Unfortunately, due to injuries, it is difficult to suss out a ton about Mallegni’s game with just her college stats but, nevertheless, we persist. As a freshman, Mallegni picked up a concussion at the end of the year and missed both of Iowa’s NCAA Tournament games. After fully recovering from that, she suffered an ankle injury in Iowa’s exhibition game that held her to playing 22 minutes total in non-conference games. Later in the year she had her tonsils removed which held her out of the lineup for a while too.

That’s a lot of bad luck on the injury front!

She played nearly 100 games in her high school career and averaged over 30 minutes per game so I don’t think she’s necessarily injury prone, just unlucky. Perhaps a fresh start and clean slate is just what she needs to kick start her career?

I had to go back to her high school highlights to get a good look at her playing style, but if you want a preview of what next season might look like for the Badgers I did find a clip of new Badgers Addie Deal and Mallegni connecting for a fast-break layup last season with Iowa. Looks good to me!

Going back to Mallegni’s Hudl highlights from McFarland, you see a dominant player imposing their will on most games with superior talent. While it’s sometimes difficult to compare “future Big Ten players” with “players who just liked basketball and wanted to play with their friends in high school but are going to go to college for business or marketing or history or whatever,” it’s good to see that Mallegni was clearly the best player on the court in almost every game.

She looked active on defense, often playing as the tip of McFarland’s press after made baskets, and that even bears out in her collegiate numbers too. Looking at her per 40 stats as a freshman, Mallegni averaged 1.7 steals per game with Iowa and 1.2 blocks per game (which would’ve placed her in the 84th percentile nationally). Her steals numbers were good as a sophomore too (1.4 spg per 40) but she didn’t record any blocks.

Her small sample sizes on offense with the Hawkeyes make a Sweeping Statistical Profile nearly impossible, but what the numbers seem to say is that Mallegni is a well above average rebounder who likes to let it fly from three. Her career three-point shooting numbers at Iowa are worrying…if you don’t look at her career three-point shooting numbers from high school.

Yes, Mallegni was only 16-of-77 (20.8%) from beyond the arc in Iowa City and yes, that is bad. HOWEVAH, the small sample size there gives me pause in painting her as a Bad Shooter. What else gives me pause? Her much larger sample size over four years of high school hoops:

• freshman year: 29-of-84, 34.5%

• sophomore year: 80-of-208, 38.5%

• junior year: 67-of-194, 34.5%

• senior year: 63-of-206: 30.6%

• career: 239-of-692, 34.5%

To add some more context, she also shot 79.1% from the free throw line on 608 attempts at McFarland. Her high school numbers show what I think she can be with extended minutes and a defined role. There are the two outlier seasons (sophomore and senior years) which, when joined with her other two seasons, show us a valuable shooter from range.

Last year, as a team, the Badgers shot 34.5% from beyond the arc which was tied for 40th best in the country. And, would you look at that, Mallegni shot that exact same number in high school! You know who else shot exactly 34.5% from three last year? Kyrah Daniels. Don’t you just love it when a comparison works out even better than you thought?

At 6-foot-1, Mallegni has a high release on her jumper, making it extremely difficult for defenders to bother her on close outs, and smooth, repeatable mechanics to boot. On many of her highlights from high school she showed the ability to shoot, and make, pull-up and off-the-dribble threes. I didn’t see her attempting a lot of threes off screens or any other sort of motion, but I don’t really think that’s ever been her game either.

Both of Mallegni’s parents were athletes at UW-Whitewater, so there is a solid athletic baseline in the family and she had offers from schools like Ohio State, Iowa State, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, Michigan State, Alabama, West Virginia, Princeton, Kansas, Green Bay, and many others so her talent was recognized nationally. This is a good get for Wisconsin on the court and, especially when combined with the 2026 recruiting class of three in-state players, off the court as well.

I wasn’t sure where to put this as it isn’t basketball related, but also of note is the tragic passing of Mallegni’s boyfriend at the end of March in a car crash. Hopefully being closer to home and her family/friends helps her through this extremely difficult time.

The 6-foot-3 forward, who is originally from Maryland, had one of the most impressive, box-score-stuffing statistical seasons I’ve ever seen. When looking at her counting stats, her lowest percentile ranking nationally was in assists per game…which sat in the 90th percentile! AGAIN, THAT WAS HER LOWEST!!!!

Now, we obviously can’t discount the fact that playing in the NEC is a tiny bit different than playing in the Big Ten, but we’ll get into that below. For the moment we should celebrate another nice transfer portal addition for Robin Pingeton’s squad.

Kadidia Toure Fast Facts

• Height: 6-foot-3

• Position: forward

• Eligibility: one year remaining

• Previous School(s): LIU, Arizona State, James Madison

• Hometown: Silver Spring, Md.

• High School: Our Lady of Good Counsel (Md.) HS

• 2025-26 Highlights: NEC Player of the Year; NEC Newcomer of the Year; First Team All-NEC

Kadidia Toure Fast Stats

• Career College Stats (four seasons)

  • GP/GS: 87/38

  • MPG: 19.0

  • PPG: 9.8

  • RPG: 5.5

  • APG: 1.3

  • SPG: 1.0

  • BPG: 0.6

  • TOPG: 2.0

  • FG: 314-of-687 (45.7%)

  • 3P: 15-of-50 (30.0%)

  • FT: 209-of-286 (73.1%)

• Last Season Stats

  • GP/GS: 31/31

  • MPG: 29.4

  • PPG: 19.2

  • RPG: 10.4

  • APG: 2.9

  • SPG: 2.0

  • BPG: 1.4

  • TOPG: 4.1

  • FG: 214-of-456 (46.9%)

  • 3P: 13-of-38 (34.2%)

  • FT: 155-of-199 (77.9%)

• Last Season Advanced Stats (national percentile in parentheses)

  • Usage: 35.7% (100th)

  • Points Per Play: 0.88 (76th)

  • Points Per Shot Attempt: 1.09 (55th)

  • eFG: 48.4% (40th)

  • FT Rate: 18.2% (62nd)

  • Total Rebound Rate: 19.3% (98th)

  • Assist Rate: 26.6% (95th)

  • Steal Rate: 3.3% (92nd)

  • Block Rate: 5.1% (93rd)

  • Turnover Rate: 18.8% (50th)

• Last Season Value Stats (national percentile in parentheses)

  • PER: 33.5 (99th)

  • PER*Minutes: 30,528 (99th)

  • Win Shares: 4.8 (98th)

  • Win Shares/40: 0.21 (98th)

Kadidia Toure Scouting Report

A 30,000 foot view comparison if you don’t want to read more than one sentence? Toure definitely has a little Serah Williams to her game, but is a better shooter. But you don’t subscribe to a niche women’s basketball newsletter for that! You want to get in the weeds!

Look, I know comparing Kadidia Toure to one of the best Wisconsin women’s basketball players of all time who also just got drafted by the Connecticut Sun (and then traded to the Portland Fire) in the third round of the WNBA Draft isn’t necessarily fair…but it’s what I saw on the tape! It’s also really hard to find a proper comparison for what Toure did last year statistically.

Using Bart Torvik’s database, which for WBB only goes back to the 2020-21 season, there is basically nobody who did what Toure did last year. The two players I found over the past six seasons who had a similar statistical profile to Toure were:

• Adrianna Smith’s 2023 season at Maine

• Antoniette Emma-Nnopu’s 2026 season at Weber State

Both of these players are considerably shorter than Toure (neither is over 5-foot-11) and Smith didn’t come close to having the same defensive impact as Toure. Both Smith and Emma-Nnopu were more efficient scoring the ball and Smith, despite her extremely high usage, almost never turned the ball over. Basically, to do what Toure did, at her height, is unheard of in recent college basketball history.

This is as good a time as any to mention that LIU’s schedule last year was absolute booty cheeks. Their RPI strength of schedule was ranked 363rd (out of 363!) in the nation while the NET formula was a little more forgiving, ranking their schedule the 361st hardest in the country.

The Sharks played one (1) team ranked in the top-100 all season, a five-point loss at No. 72 South Florida in the second game of the year, and Toure DIDN’T EVEN PLAY! It was the only game she missed all season!! Toure did have one season of high-major hoops, in the Pac-12 with Arizona State in 2023-24, but she was not a featured offensive player on that Sun Devils squad. Her per/40 minute stats from that year ASU are still promising, but nowhere near what her numbers looked like last season at LIU.

Where I think I land on this is here…Toure will not produce at a 99th percentile level as a forward in the Big Ten, but she also won’t be an end-of-the-bench player who struggles for minutes. Even if she comes to Madison and is ONLY a defensive menace and rebound collector, that’s a really valuable portal find! Those two things are “effort based” stats and I’d wager she is going to fight just as hard for rebounds at UCLA as she did when she played at Fairleigh Dickinson.

As far as scoring goes, I think there will be a readjustment period due to the increase in competition/athleticism/length for Toure. However, her jump shot mechanics are sound and her free throw shooting is above average (meaning there may be some untapped three-point potential in there) which means I can easily see her being a double-digit per game scorer. Her shot diet last year showed that she was more efficient in the mid-range than at the rim, which was surprising to me, but that could also give her an edge against B1G competition if they aren’t expecting her to pull-up for two from the elbow, or wherever.

Toure has the skillset to be a Big Ten starter and, if everything clicks early, she could even find herself in the running for all-conference honors. I’ve heard rumors that the Badgers dropped a significant bag to get Toure to Madison so she’ll get every chance to succeed with UW. This is the kind of high-upside swing I hoped Wisconsin would take in the portal this year and I’m champing at the bit to see her in action next season.

I’ll have more on Wisconsin’s transfer portal haul as new players are announced so stick with Badgers Ball Knower all offseason!

The rising sophomore guard, who played for the Iowa Hawkeyes last year, will have an extremely good chance of opening next season in Wisconsin’s starting five. Let’s get into her game!

Addie Deal Fast Facts

• Height: 6-foot-0

• Position: guard

• Eligibility: three years remaining

• Previous School: Iowa

• Hometown: Irvine, Calif.

• High School: Mater Dei (Calif.) HS

• Recruiting Rankings (2025): No. 18 overall, No. 2 in California, 5-star, 96-rating (ESPN)

• 2025-26 Highlights: All-Big Ten Freshman Team; Big Ten Freshman of the Week (x2)

Addie Deal Fast Stats

• Career College Stats (one season)

  • GP/GS: 34/3

  • MPG: 15.6

  • PPG: 5.1

  • RPG: 1.2

  • APG: 1.6

  • SPG: 0.4

  • BPG: 0.2

  • TOPG: 1.7

  • FG: 67-of-170 (39.4%)

  • 3P: 22-of-74 (29.7%)

  • FT: 17-of-25 (68.0%)

• Career College Advanced Stats (national percentile in parentheses)

  • Usage: 21.8% (71st)

  • Points Per Play: 0.72 (33rd)

  • Points Per Shot Attempt: 0.96

  • eFG: 45.9%

  • FT Rate: 9.4% (9th)

  • 3P Rate: 41.1% (69th)

  • Assist Rate: 17.3% (77th)

  • Turnover Rate: 24.7% (21st)

• Career College Value Stats (national percentile in parentheses)

  • PER: 9.4 (24th)

  • PER*Minutes: 4,957 (28th)

  • Win Shares: 0.2 (24th)

  • Win Shares/40: 0.02 (23rd)

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Addie Deal Scouting Report

A 30,000 foot view comparison if you don’t want to read more than one sentence? A more well-rounded (but worse shooting) Destiny Howell. But you don’t subscribe to a niche women’s basketball newsletter for that! You want to get in the weeds!

I think Deal’s main appeal to Wisconsin is her ability to get downhill with the basketball and either finish at the rim or collapse the defense to get an open shot for a teammate. I don’t know if I’d qualify her as a wizard passing the ball, but you can see in the highlights below how she’ll make the quick, easy read and it results in open threes all game!

Her ability to knife into the lane is top notch and that is a skill-set that the Badgers have lacked for years. Destiny Howell was probably the closest player to fulfilling that role, but she hung out around the three-point line a lot (for good reason as her shooting numbers can attest) and Deal appears to want to drive first before attempting a jumper.

While getting close to the basket, Deal is patient. On both her high school and college tapes I noticed that she likes to drive, give a little pump fake or shoulder fake, and then spin away from her defender for a close-range fall away jumper. She isn’t an explosive athlete but she is fluid, has excellent positional size, and can get that shot off over almost any perimeter defender. Deal is also comfortable finishing through contact at the rim with either hand which is just ::chef’s kiss:: beautiful to see.

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After committing to Iowa out of high school, Hawkeyes head coach Jan Jensen noted Deal’s positional versatility. “Addie is one of the nation’s premier point guards and off guards – she can play either. She has an extremely high IQ, and she is extremely talented,” the longtime Iowa coaching staff member said. The Badgers should still be after at least one more point guard in the portal, but having Deal as an option at floor general is quite the luxury for Pingeton.

“Addie is a proven competitor who’s done it at every level she’s played. She’s a McDonald’s All-American and a five-star prospect who was one of the top recruits in the country coming out of high school, and she’s already shown she can produce in the Big Ten. She brings size, skill, and versatility, and we’re excited for her to continue building on that foundation here at Wisconsin,” Pingeton noted in UW’s release announcing the commitment.

I don’t think any crazy alterations need to be made to her three-point shot, since it has worked for her up until this point, but I do not like her mechanics. If her numbers don’t improve from beyond the arc in Madison however, I wouldn’t hate it if she made some adjustments. Deal also turned the ball over way too much in limited action, although much of that can probably be chalked up to being a freshman.

Deal’s commitment checks off one of the player types I suggested UW should be searching for and it’ll be exciting to see who else joins up with the Badgers this off-season.

Robin Pingeton and her staff definitely have some moves to make, thanks more to graduation/eligibility exhaustion than the transfer portal, before the start of summer practice. Let’s establish what the roster looks like as we sit here on Sunday, April 12 around lunch time.

Players Departing

• Ronnie Porter, 5-foot-2, point guard, graduated

• Gift Uchenna, 6-foot-3, forward, graduated

• Destiny Howell, 6-foot-0, guard, graduated/WNBA Draft

• Leena Patibandla, 6-foot-0, guard, graduated

• Lily Krahn, 5-foot-10, guard, graduated

• Alie Bisballe, 6-foot-4, forward, transfer portal

• Kyrah Daniels, 6-foot-0, wing, transfer portal (WITHDREW FROM PORTAL)

• Jovana Spasovski, 6-foot-0, forward, transfer portal

• Breauna Ware, 5-foot-7, point guard, transfer portal

Ok, uh, when I write it all like that this appears to look more like a complete roster rebuild than I thought. Hmmm, well, that just means all the more reason to be aggressive in searching for new players in the portal right? But first, who’s coming back?

Players Returning (as of this moment)

• Dorja Zaja, 6-foot-3, center

• Shay Bollin, 6-foot-3, wing

• Reese Jaramillo, 5-foot-8, guard

• Nikki Kerstein, 5-foot-8, point guard

• Alba Martin Mesa, 5-foot-6, guard

• Laci Steele, 5-foot-11, guard

• Kyrah Daniels, 6-foot-0, wing

Players Arriving (freshman variety)

• Adaline Sheplee, 6-foot-3, wing

• Leah Nordin, 6-foot-1, forward

• Giselle Janowski, 5-foot-9, guard

• Alicia Courthiau, 5-foot-10, guard

Players Arriving (transfer variety)

• Kadidia Toure, 6-foot-3, forward (LIU)

• Addie Deal, 6-foot-0, guard (Iowa)

• Teagan Mallegni, 6-foot-1, wing (Iowa)

• Caia Elisaldez, 5-foot-5, point guard (Chatanooga)

The depth chart, which will be changing an awful lot between now and the end of the month to be honest, is as follows:

• Point Guard

  • Caia Elisaldez (senior)

  • Addie Deal (sophomore)

  • Nikki Kerstein (sophomore)

  • Alba Martin Mesa (junior)

• Off Guard

  • Laci Steele (senior)

  • Alicia Courthiau (freshman)

  • Reese Jaramillo (junior)

  • Giselle Janowski (freshman)

• Wing

  • Teagan Mallegni (junior)

  • Adaline Sheplee (freshman)

  • Kyrah Daniels (senior)

• Forward/Wing

  • Kadidia Toure (senior)

  • Shay Bollin (senior)

  • Leah Nordin (freshman)

• Center/Post

  • Dorja Zaja (sophomore)

Roster spots filled: 15
Roster spots open: 0
Class breakdown: 4 FR; 3 SO; 3 JR; 5 SR

Right off the bat you can see a need for size in the front-court and shooting, uh, everywhere. A veteran point guard will also be necessary as well as a few stout defenders at, honestly, any position. The overall defensive floor needs to be raised on this team if they want any hope of moving into the middle of the pack in the Big Ten.

What should be atop Wisconsin’s wish list? Here is what I would be looking for if I were on staff with the Badgers.

• a veteran point guard

  • I think Kerstein showed promise as a true freshman and I expect her to improve this off-season, but I’d feel far more comfortable with a veteran floor general on the roster too. If Kerstein ends up winning the starting job…great! But if she isn’t quite ready to take the reins then it would be foolish to force her into the position. A few options I found:

    • Olivia Porter, 5-foot-8, Marquette, GR: low usage, defensive-minded PG, decent three-point shooter; turnover issues

    • Caia Elisaldez, 5-foot-5, Chattanooga, SR: bucket-getting blur who is an excellent passer and never comes off the court; size could be a problem on defense (COMMITTED TO WISCONSIN!!!)

    • Crystal Henderson, 5-foot-4, Georgia State, SR: defensive menace at point of attack, takes care of the ball, finds open teammates; inefficient, high-usage scorer, not a great three-point shooter

• a veteran post player (6-foot-3 or taller) that is a plus-rebounder

  • Dorja Zaja is a good post player but the Badgers don’t have any other options behind her currently (that aren’t true freshmen and honestly those freshmen aren’t even true posts) and need someone who can vacuum up boards

    • Mallory Miller, 6-foot-4, Butler, JR: a bit of a projection pick as she isn’t a dominant rebounder, but has the height and physicality to be one; good rim protector, smart passer for her size too (COMMITTED: Florida)

    • Kadidia Toure, 6-foot-3, LIU, GR: absolute stat-stuffer (19.2 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 2.9 apg, 2.0 spg, 1.4 bpg) last year; 99th percentile in defensive rebounding rate; extremely high usage (5th nationally!) with average efficency (COMMITTED TO WISCONSIN!!!)

    • Cristen Carter, 6-foot-4, Georgetown, SR: has never averaged more than 15 mpg in her career but has INSANE rebounding rate stats; never below 94th percentile nationally in total rebounding rate and never below 95th percentile in offensive rebounding rate (COMMITTED: Penn State)

• defensive-minded wing (x2)

  • Every team in America is looking for players like this, but it would be great to have one who can switch on to taller posts and not get dominated and also one who can switch on to faster guards and not get burned

    • Mary Ashley Stevenson, 6-foot-2, Stanford, SR: former B1G Freshman of the Year who has been buried on the bench for two years in Palo Alto; another projection pick in the hopes that a return to the B1G will get her back on track (COMMITTED: Columbia)

    • Doneelah Washington, 6-foot-1, Illinois State, JR: rangy pest on defense who finished last year in the 89th percentile in steal rate and 95th percentile in block rate; very good rebounder, efficient scorer (on high usage) inside the arc (COMMITTED: Ole Miss)

    • Teagan Mallegni, 6-foot-1, Iowa, JR: Wisconsin native who has suffered some bad injury luck with the Hawkeyes; former 4-star recruit who projects as a solid rebounder, smart defender, and complementary scorer (COMMITTED TO WISCONSIN!!!)

    • Jite Gbemuotor, 6-foot-2, Cal State Northridge, JR: great rebounder, efficient interior scorer, 94th percentile in block rate, 79th percentile in steal rate; not a good passer, jumper is in the “incomplete/needs more evaluation” category (COMMITTED: UC San Diego)

• gunner from three (x2)

  • Robin Pingeton’s style of offense was one in which gunning from three was high on the list of What A Good Possession Looked Like and the Badgers lost basically all of their three-point shooting this off-season. I’d like to see a pair of shooters, one who is 6-foot-0 or taller and average on defense at worst and one who is more of a combo guard that can be a secondary play-maker. First up the taller/defender version of the gunner:

    • Brooke Coffey, 6-foot-1, Lindenwood, SR: 39.4% from three on 3.2 attempts last year; good rebounder, good distributor, no slouch on defense; solid player with few holes in her game (COMMITTED: Alabama)

    • Chloe Sotell, 6-foot-0, Missouri, JR: not one of Pingeton’s recruits, despite coming for her old school; 37.2% from three on 5.6 attempts last year (98th percentile in 3P rate); 1.3 steals per game last year; a perfectly cromulent player in all other categories (COMMITTED: Maryland)

      

  • and secondly, the play-maker gunner

    • Lena Girardi, 5-foot-11, Oklahoma State, SO: 39.8% from three on 4.6 attempts per game; Wisconsin recruited her out of high school; doesn’t turn the ball over at all…but doesn’t really do much with it besides shoot anyways; not turning the ball over counts as secondary play-making in my book (COMMITTED: Utah)

    • Ella Ryan, 5-foot-8, Quinnipiac, SO: 41.1% from three on 4.8 attempts per game; doesn’t turn it over much and is an above average distributor; could probably fill in as PG as needed (COMMITTED: Arizona State)

    • Danae Powell, 5-foot-7, Fresno State, JR: 40.9% from three on 3.8 attempts per game; decent defender and above average assist rate; height could be an issue defensively in Big Ten (COMMITTED: LMU)

    • Paris Bradley, 5-foot-9, Louisiana Tech, JR: 37.6% from three on 5.6 attempts per game; she’s also excellent at getting to the free throw line and has averaged 3.0 assists per game in 32.4 mpg over her two seasons; massively cut down on turnovers between freshman and sophomore seasons (COMMITTED: Alabama)

• guard who can attack the rim and collapse defenses

  • the Badgers haven’t really had a player like this in many, many years although Destiny Howell was probably the closest and it would be great if they could get someone who could open up three-point shooting opportunities for her teammates

    • Addie Deal, 6-foot-0, Iowa, SO: former 5-star guard that can score from anywhere and is a smart passer; needs to work on rebounding, but her sample size as a freshman is incredibly small (COMMITTED TO WISCONSIN!!!!!!!!!)

    • MacKenzie Givens, 6-foot-0, Xavier, JR: shot nearly 69% at the rim on 124 attempts; good at getting to the free throw line; really good offensive rebounder and, weirdly, pretty bad defensive rebounder (COMMITTED: Marquette)

    • Hannah Wickstrom, 5-foot-10, UC Riverside, JR: 23.4 ppg (5th nationally) as a high usage/high efficiency guard; really good passer and active hands on defense; tough to know how well her stats will scale in the Big Ten, but obviously worth a shot at seeing if she can replicate it against better competition (COMMITTED: Purdue)

    • Shannon Dowell, 5-foot-10, Missouri, SR: weirdly, another Mizzou player who wasn’t a Pingeton recruit; good rebounder, good defender, good passer, really good at getting to the free throw line, averaged 14.9 ppg last year; not a good shooter from deep and turns it over a bit too much (COMMITTED: Cal)

April 14, 2026 (6:00 pm CT): Insightful commenters have informed me that Shay Bollin has one more year remaining, so I’ve updated the depth chart/current roster accordingly. I’ll keep all of the transfer targets listed even though there is one fewer roster spot available because I think all of these players are worth taking a look at still.

April 15, 2026 (8:45 am CT): I’ve updated schools for players that have committed elsewhere.

April 16, 2026 (2:23 pm CT): I’ve updated with links to my commitment posts for Addie Deal and Kadidia Toure.

April 17, 2026 (1:20 pm CT): Updated Wisconsin’s roster and depth chart as well as a few more commitments for the players on the wish list.

April 19, 2026 (9:59 am CT): Updated Wisconsin’s roster and depth chart as well as a few more commitments for the players on the wish list. Linked to commitment post for Teagan Mallegni.

April 23, 2026 (5:09 pm CT): Updated Wisconsin’s roster and depth chart as well as a few more commitments for the players on the wish list. You’ll note that Kyrah Daniels has WITHDRAWN from the portal and will return to Wisconsin.

April 26, 2026 (4:42 pm CT): Updated Wisconsin’s roster and depth chart as well as a few more commitments for the players on the wish list.

Between now and then rosters will be reshaped, coaching staffs restructured, and fans will be studying bios and highlights of players they hadn’t heard of weeks before who are set to become integral members of their favorite teams. Did you know who Destiny Howell was before she committed to UW last summer? No, probably not, but she was an offensive dynamo who helped lead Wisconsin to the semifinals of the WBIT and set the foundation for a new era of Badgers women’s hoops.

Who will be this year’s Destiny Howell or Gift Uchenna? Hard to say, but you can be sure we’ll discuss all angles of UW’s new roster here on BBK. So far Wisconsin hasn’t made any additions via the portal, but a handful of players have entered their names from the Badgers.

Alie Bisballe, 6-foot-4, sophomore, Lake City, Michigan

• the stretch big out of Michigan showed promise as a true freshman but found herself a bit buried on the depth chart this year with the emergence of freshman Dorja Zaja

• while more minutes would presumably be available next year due to the graduation of Gift Uchenna, Bisballe was a holdover from Marisa Moseley’s tenure in Madison and sometimes players stick around for a year under a new coach and then realize things aren’t a perfect fit

• career stats: 36 games played (zero starts); 3.7 mpg, 1.3 ppg, 0.6 rpg, 0.1 apg, 0.1 spg, 0.1 bpg, 0.5 topg; 42.5% FG/30.0% 3P/66.7% FT

Jovana Spasovski, 6-foot-0, sophomore, Belgrade, Serbia

• the versatile Serbian wing could guard multiple positions and appeared to take on roles willingly that weren’t necessarily in her wheelhouse, speaking to her “team-first” mentality

• another former Moseley recruit, Spasovski saw her minutes decrease a bit throughout the season and is probably looking for more consistent playing time, which she could find at a mid-major

• career stats: 54 games played (one start); 8.0 mpg, 1.9 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 0.3 apg, 0.2 spg, 1 block, 0.5 topg; 41.7% FG/9.1% 3P/66.7% FT

Breauna Ware, 5-foot-7, RS junior, Queens, New York

• the pugnacious New York City point guard plays exactly like you’d expect a Big City Guard to play, with toughness and a nose for the basket, while also being a sharpshooter from three

• spent her freshman year at St. Bonaventure, transferred to Stony Brook for two years (one of which she redshirted), and then spent this season in Madison; only played 12 minutes in Wisconsin’s final 10 games of the season and didn’t make the trip to Wichita for the semifinals of the WBIT with head coach Robin Pingeton basically citing “personal reasons” for Ware’s absence…which makes her entering the portal pretty logical

• career stats (at UW): 22 games played (12 starts); 16.1 mpg, 4.9 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 1.0 apg, 0.6 spg, 2 blocks, 1.3 topg; 40.0% FG/41.4% 3P/73.7% FT

While losing players in the transfer portal always stings a little that’s just the cost of doing business in college basketball in 2026 and, if I may speak freely in my own newsletter, none of these three players were integral, irreplaceable parts of Wisconsin’s rotation.

Ware will be missed the most as she would potentially have been UW’s starting point guard next year with Ronnie Porter graduating, but true freshman Nikki Kerstein showed promise running the show and, presumably, a veteran point guard is high on Pingeton’s Transfers In list. Bisballe is a player I always wanted to see more of, and I’ll be interested to follow her career, but I think we’ve seen the ceiling for Spasovski and I don’t think it’s at “Big Ten Rotation Player” caliber.

I am hoping to get around to a “transfer portal wish list” style post sooner rather than later, but we’ll see how much psychic damage the men’s hockey national championship game does to me later this afternoon before finalizing my writing schedule.

Other Wisconsin WBB News

• an assistant coach job was posted on April 5 on the official UW jobs website and there are rumblings that it is a new, additional position and not a replacement for a current assistant who took a different job

  • Wisconsin state law requires that the job be posted for two weeks, so the application process closes on April 13 at 11:59 pm CT which, uh, is only nine days (???) and an announcement will be made shortly thereafter

  • if this IS a new assistant that would bring Pingeton’s on-court staff to five which would show a significant increase in resources available for the WBB program as there were only three assistants during Marisa Moseley’s final season in Madison

    

• back at the beginning of April Wisconsin athletics announced a partnership with UW Health, making the local hospital system the official jersey patch (home and away) sponsor of four women’s sports teams at Wisconsin

  • the four teams are: basketball, hockey, softball, and volleyball

  • this is the first jersey sponsorship “dedicated exclusively to collegiate women’s sports” per UW’s press release and UW Health will have various athletes from the four teams in campaigns to “share important health messages” with the campus and throughout the state

  • "Women's sports have a powerful and storied legacy at Wisconsin, and UW Health's landmark commitment sends a clear message about their support for our student athletes and the future we are building together for Wisconsin Athletics," director of athletics Chris McIntosh said

The Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team’s magical run through the WBIT ended on Monday afternoon with a resounding semifinal loss to the Columbia Lions. The Ivy League runners up jumped out to an 8-0 lead that they never relinquished in their wire-to-wire victory.

UW lost star wing Kyrah Daniels at the beginning of the second quarter to a right ankle/foot injury, that forced her to be carried off the court, and it never seemed like Wisconsin fully recombobulated themselves after. While I’m sure it’s difficult for the team to find many positives from the game right now, there were still a few that deserve discussion!

Here is my full recap and analysis:

Final Score

3-seed Wisconsin Badgers (16-18 overall, 5-13 Big Ten): 50
4-seed Columbia Lions (24-8 overall, 11-3 Ivy League): 67

Four Factors

eFG%: 34.7%
Turnover%: 23.2%
Off. Rebound%: 28.6%
FTA/FGA: 20.3

Key Stats

FG%: 30.5 (18-of-59)
Opp. FG%: 41.9 (26-of-62)
3P%: 23.8 (5-of-21)
Opp. 3P%: 41.2 (7-of-17)
FT%: 75.0 (9-of-12)
Opp. FT%: 42.1 (8-of-19)
Points Per Possession: 0.725
Opponent Points Per Possession: 0.971
Rebounds: 32 (12 offensive)
Opponent Rebounds: 51 (21 offensive)
Turnovers: 16
Forced Turnovers: 19

Team Leaders

• Gift Uchenna: seven points (3-of-9 FG), seven rebounds (two offensive), one assist, one block, one steal, two turnovers, -12

• Ronnie Porter: five points (2-of-5 FG, 1-of-2 3P), two rebounds, five assists, two steals, three turnovers, -8

• Lily Krahn: seven points (3-of-8 FG, 1-of-4 3P), three rebounds (one offensive), one assist, one steal, -5

• Laci Steele: 11 points (3-of-11 FG, 0-of-5 3P), five rebounds (one offensive), one assist, two steals, three turnovers, -9

Columbia Team Leaders

• Riley Weiss: 21 points (7-of-14 FG, 3-of-4 3P), three rebounds (one offensive), four assists, two blocks, one turnover, +14

• Susie Rafiu: 11 points (5-of-9 FG, 0-of-2 3P), nine rebounds (three offensive), two assists, one block, two steals, three turnovers, +13

• Mia Broom: 12 points (4-of-8 FG, 2-of-3 3P), nine rebounds, five assists, three steals, eight turnovers, +14

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Three-ish Thoughts

1. We are now two days after the end of the game and I still haven’t found any update on Kyrah Daniels’ injury. It appeared that she hurt her right foot/ankle/leg and when she came back out to the bench in the fourth quarter she was on crutches and was wearing a flip-flop on her right foot. I hope the injury isn’t serious and that she is able to recover quickly and be ready for next season.
   
   When Daniels went down at 8:34 of the second quarter I doubt I was the only one to immediately think of the WNIT quarterfinals two years ago when Serah Williams got hurt on the first play of the game and UW dropped a close one to Saint Louis. Just a brutal string of injury luck for the Badgers in their last two postseason appearances.
   
   It was clear in the post-game press conference how much Daniels meant to this team, on and off the court. “You can always look to Kyrah -- we call her KD, whenever we need a big stop, a big play, hustle play or somebody to make us laugh in those hard moments,” senior point guard Ronnie Porter said.
   
   Losing Daniels obviously had a major effect on Wisconsin’s game plan on both ends of the court as she ranks second on the team in: minutes per game, points per game, rebounds per game, assists per game, steals per game, and free throw percentage. She was also going to be the primary defender on Columbia’s Honorable Mention All-American, Riley Weiss.
   
   ”Well, she's a huge part of what we do, for sure. I'm not one to make excuses and it's next man up and you've got to find a way. I felt like our rotations were off,” head coach Robin Pingeton noted. “Bottom line, do we miss KD? Absolutely. She's one of our leaders. Mentally, emotionally, physically, very good rebounder, competes.”
   
   In her 10 minutes, Daniels scored three points, one offensive rebound, and one steal.

2. With Daniels out, someone had to step up and try to fill the all-over-the-box-score void which she left behind. That “someone” was Laci Steele. In the second quarter, Steele scored six points and grabbed a pair of rebounds while also throwing her body around after loose balls with reckless abandon to try and get the Badgers fired up.
   
   She never quite found the range from three (going 0-of-5) in this one, but Steele ended up with 11 important points, five boards, and scrappy defense on Weiss. She also got to the free throw line six times (tying a career high), making five, which showed an aggression to the rim that Wisconsin has often lacked all season.
   
   Getting Steele and Daniels back next year (obviously this isn’t a given due to transfer portal possibilities, but FWIW I haven’t heard anything suggesting either of them leaving) will be huge for Pingeton and the Badgers if they want to build on this year’s successes.

3. Rebounding is an effort stat. It doesn’t matter how tall or strong you are, nine times out of ten the player who wants the ball more will get it. On Monday afternoon, the Badgers got absolutely outworked by Columbia on the offensive and defensive glass. “They out-toughed us a lot in the game,” Porter said.
   
   It started from the jump as the Lions ended the first quarter with as many offensive rebounds (six) as the Badgers had total rebounds. Columbia ended up with 21 offensive rebounds, which came out to an off. rebounding rate of 51.2%, and 51 total rebounds, which was 19 more than Wisconsin had. I went back to check and, somehow, this wasn’t UW’s worst off. rebounding rate allowed for the year. That honor goes to Maryland who corralled an astonishing 62.5% of their missed shots in their demolition of the Badgers back at the end of December.
   
   “To me, the second-shot opportunities where they just really were really the aggressor -- we talk about you're either the hammer or the nail, the prey or the predator, and they were a lot more aggressive than we were tonight,” Pingeton bemoaned post-game.
   
   Columbia didn’t even necessarily kill Wisconsin with second chance points (they had 14 to UW’s eight), but the way they were able to extend possessions and tire Wisconsin out by making them play defense longer definitely had an effect in the fourth quarter. The Lions were quicker to missed shots and fought harder for 50/50 balls all game. “[They kicked] our butt on the boards,” Destiny Howell mentioned when recounting why UW couldn’t pull off one more comeback.
   
   I thought some of the choices Wisconsin made on defense, like trying to face guard players so UW’s players had their back to the basket and couldn’t see when a shot went up nor where it might go off the rim, resulted in Columbia having an easier time on the offensive glass, but overall it was an effort issue and I’m certain no one in Wisconsin’s locker room is happy about that.
   
   “They were relentless on their offensive boards, and I don't think we matched that aggressiveness on the boards,” Pingeton stated.

4. After three straight games in the WBIT where Wisconsin played, dare I say, pretty good defense, things reverted back to “normal” against Columbia. I’d imagine a main reason for this is the fact that Kyrah Daniels missed around 75% of the game, but there were still some of the old “communication issues” that cropped up and one player doesn’t fix/break that.
   
   There was one possession where it looked like Wisconsin was playing a “box and one” defense but nobody on the Badgers knew it. Lily Krahn was playing man (not even on Riley Weiss, who would be the “one” in the box and one in any sane world) while the rest of the team was in zone and everything looked…just awful.
   
   Columbia had more turnovers than Wisconsin, but I’d argue that a fair number of them weren’t “forced” by the Badgers more than they were mistakes by the Lions. I guess you could quibble with the definition of “forced” too, but UW’s defense wasn’t some swarming, turnover-producing machine in this game. Of that I’m sure.

5. QUICK THOUGHTS: after having not appeared at all in any of the first three WBIT games, freshman PG Nikki Kerstein played eight minutes in this one, picking up an offensive rebound and a steal; Breauna Ware was listed as out for Wisconsin once again; Fliss Henderson and Marija Avlijas, among others, were out for Columbia; Gift Uchenna was forcing it early, missing her first three shots including a jumper that caused Robin Pingeton to immediately call for Dorja Zaja off the bench; the Lions are a dreadful free throw shooting team and I shudder to think what happens to them in close games; Columbia outscored Wisconsin in the paint by 14 points, 38-24; UW had three fewer turnovers than Columbia, but the Lions turned Wisconsin’s mistakes into 15 points while the Badgers only scored eight points off of turnovers; the Lions held the lead for 38:05 of the game; I’ve rarely seen a player that was overall extremely effective (five rebounds, three assists, one steal, good defense overall) have such a poor shooting display like Nasi Simmons (1-of-6 FG, 0-of-3 FT) who missed multiple wide open layups; the announcers kept mentioning that they thought Destiny Howell was being too deferential with the ball early in the game and, while I think they were making a bigger deal out of it than it was, there was some truth to that…I don’t think Howell needed to be some unrepentant gunner, but there were certainly a few occasions where a “Howell field goal attempt, no matter how contested” was the better option than a “Howell pass to a worse scorer;” the Lions had 17 made baskets at the rim on 28 attempts compared to Wisconsin’s seven and 16 respectively…oof

Final Thought

I will have a lot more “final thoughts” on this season as we switch to Offseason Mode aka Transfer Portal Mode aka Summer Grassroots Tournament High School Scouting Mode, but I want to highlight one series of plays that seemed to be a microcosm of the year.

The Badgers entered the fourth quarter down 16 points and after trading points for the first couple of possessions they were down 15. At the 8:35 mark of the fourth, Mia Broom turned the ball over which was the first of SIX straight Columbia possessions that ended in a turnover. Wisconsin, on the other hand, started scoring at a clip they hadn’t done all game.

Gift Uchenna back-to-back buckets, a pair of Laci Steele free throws, and then a huge Lily Krahn three-pointer which pushed Wisconsin’s run to 9-0 and cut Columbia’s lead to eight with almost seven minutes still remaining in the game. Given how UW’s last game ended, that was more than enough time for the Badgers to mount a full comeback and force OT or win outright.

“We just got back to doing what we do, moving the ball, letting our defense speak for us. Our defense, getting defensive stops is the reason why we got the buckets in transition, were able to get that second wind on the offensive end,” Porter noted.

However, after that Krahn three and quick Columbia turnover Wisconsin crumbled. It started with Gift Uchenna receiving a pass and then trying to dribble towards the basket like she’s God damned Chelsea Gray or Arike Ogunbowale. Obviously Uchenna turned it over and Nasi Simmons got out on the break for a layup, on which she was also fouled.

The Lions ended up rebounding Simmons’ missed free throw, turning it into two more free throws (both of which Columbia missed lol), getting ANOTHER offensive rebound, and turning that into ANOTHER foul. In the span of 15 seconds Wisconsin committed three fouls and all of their nascent momentum was swept away like a sandcastle built too close to the water. The Lions scored seven quick points to push their advantage back to 15 and, with 5:11 to go, the game was over.

“Just playing together and just being gritty is exactly what we should have started with. Like Destiny said, we shot ourselves in the foot not rebounding, not making those hustle plays,” Porter said.

My notes from the game told a similar story: “UW can’t get out of their own way; every time they try and claw back into the game they turn it over” and “so many insanely bad passes by Wisconsin that didn’t end up in turnovers in first half, but in 3Q they are.”

This year was an undeniable success for the Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball program and I can’t wait to see what next season brings, but there is also a small part of me that wonders what could’ve happened if UW shot themselves in the foot one or two fewer times.

WBIT Bracket Update: Wisconsin’s run in the tournament is done, but Columbia will remain in Wichita to take on the BYU Cougars who mounted a fourth quarter comeback against Kansas (and then held on as KU tried to make comeback of their own) in the late game on Monday.

Former Badger Sania Copeland got the start for KU and had a wide-ranging stat line of two points, four boards, one assist, one steal, and two blocks. The Jayhawks were no match for BYU’s Olivia Hamlin, however, as she came off the bench and poured in a game-high 23 points. Lara Rohkohl added nine points, 14 rebounds, and six blocks for the Cougars.

::begrudgingly, through gritted teeth::

Should be a fun game on Wednesday!

Next Game: the 2026-2027 season opener!

UW went on the road and beat Oregon State, traveled across the country and outlasted Miami (Fla.), and then returned to the Kohl Center where they beat Harvard in one of the craziest games I’ve ever watched! Now they face another unfamiliar foe in the WBIT semifinals and will look to continue their magical run.

GAME INFORMATION

Opponent: Columbia Lions
Location: Charles Koch Arena; Wichita, Kan.
Date: Monday, March 30
Time: 1:30 p.m. CT
TV/Streaming: ESPNU
Official WBIT link: here
Winner plays: winner of BYU vs. Kansas in the WBIT final

The Lions have been playing D1 basketball since the 1986-87 season and have seen their program’s greatest success over the past five years. They made their first two NCAA Tournament appearances in program history in 2024 and 2025, as an at-large squad both times, and won the Ivy League Regular Season Championship for three straight seasons (2023-2025) too. Columbia has also made the postseason five seasons in a row, making it to the Great Eight of the 2022 WNIT and finishing as 2023 WNIT runners up after losing to Kansas.

The Lions played a solid non-conference schedule and beat South Dakota State at a neutral site and won at Seton Hall too. They lost to K-State and Richmond in close games and kept it respectable in a loss to North Carolina. In Ivy League play they beat conference champion Princeton twice but went 1-2 versus Harvard, with the two losses coming in their last regular season game and their first Ivy League Tournament game within a week of each other. They also had a pair of inexplicable losses at Penn and home against an awful Cornell team.

In the WBIT, Columbia has had a nice run. Their opening game was an absolute bloodbath as they held St. John’s to 26 points…total. The Johnnies went 1-of-20 from three and turned it over on 42 percent of their possessions. Woof. In round two they went on the road and whupped North Dakota State by 29 and then outlasted Cal on the road in the quarterfinals, 74-68.

You may see a stuffed turkey on their bench during the game and don’t worry, you aren’t hallucinating, it’s supposed to be there. When the Lions get three defensive stops in a row they call it a turkey (just like in bowling when you roll three strikes in a row) and if it happens during a game the bench does turkey calls so the players on the court are aware. I want to hate this but…it honestly rules.

A final Fun Fact about Columbia: according to their pre-game notes the Lions are one of 12 schools in the nation with nine or more international players on the roster and one of only four to have nine or more countries represented! They feature players from:

• Spain (Almeria; Barcelona)

• Australia (North Curl Curl)

• Canada (Calgary)

• England (Ipswich)

• Estonia (Tallinn)

• Germany (Berlin)

• Greece (Kozani)

• Serbia (Belgrade)

• United States (Massachusetts x2; Idaho; New York; Pennsylvania; Washington)

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Better Know a WBIT Opponent: Columbia

Nickname: Lions
Conference: Ivy League
Record: 23-8 overall, 11-3 Ivy (2nd place)
Head coach: Megan Griffith (10th year at Columbia; 169-99 record)
Last NCAAT appearance: 2025
Record vs. Wisconsin all-time: 0-0

2025-2026 Accolades

• Riley Weiss: Ivy League Player of the Year; All-Ivy League First Team (unanimous)

• Perri Page: Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year; All-Ivy League First Team

• Fliss Henderson: Honorable Mention All-Ivy League

Columbia Starting Five

• Susie Rafiu, forward/center, 6-foot-1, senior, No. 00

• Perri Page, guard/forward, 5-foot-11, senior, No. 1

• Mia Broom, guard, 5-foot-9, sophomore, No. 5

• Hilke Feldrappe, forward, 6-foot-3, junior, No. 23

• Riley Weiss, guard, 5-foot-10, junior, No. 24

Columbia Player Statistics

• Riley Weiss, guard, 5-foot-10, JR

  • 31 GP/31 GS; 33.1 mpg

  • 20.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.8 spg, 0.3 bpg, 2.2 topg

  • 43.4% FG/37.4% 3P/83.8% FT

  • 25.8 PER, 4.8 win shares

  • best offensive player in the Ivy League; No. 18 scorer in the nation; broke Columbia’s single-season scoring record (621 points) in their last game; broke Columbia’s single-game scoring record (40 points) against Dartmouth back on Jan. 24; was named an AP All-America Honorable Mention this year; she is both a bucket and a problem

• Perri Page, guard/forward, 5-foot-11, SR

  • 31 GP/31 GS; 29.9 mpg

  • 14.9 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 2.3 apg, 2.5 spg, 0.3 bpg, 2.3 topg

  • 54.9% FG/26.8% 3P/70.3% FT

  • 28.9 PER, 4.7 win shares

  • top defender (96th percentile nationally in defensive win shares) in the Ivy League; 98th percentile in the nation in steal percentage; very efficient on offense with above average usage; excellent offensive rebounder, especially for her height; not a good shooter, but lethal around the rim

• Susie Rafiu, forward/center, 6-foot-1, SR

  • 29 GP/29 GS; 24.7 mpg

  • 9.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.3 spg, 0.6 bpg, 2.1 topg

  • 51.4% FG/30.3% 3P/68.2% FT

  • 20.4 PER, 2.4 win shares

  • has started her last 72 games for the Lions; another excellent offensive rebounder; she is a good facilitator from the post as well; has been known to get into foul trouble; can/will shoot threes, but it isn’t really her game and Wisconsin should consider it a win if she attempts more than two in the game

• Mia Broom, guard, 5-foot-9, SO

  • 31 GP/7 GS; 24.0 mpg

  • 7.6 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.6 spg, 0.3 bpg, 2.2 topg

  • 34.4% FG/35.0% 3P/74.5% FT

  • 16.0 PER, 2.0 win shares

  • had her offensive coming out party against North Dakota State in the WBIT second round, scoring a career-high 26 points on 10-of-20 FG, 5-of-9 3P (all career highs too); pesky perimeter defender; excels at getting to the free throw line and is also the most likely Lion to hoist up a three; susceptible to turnovers

• Hilke Feldrappe, forward, 6-foot-3, JR

  • 25 GP/5 GS; 11.8 mpg

  • 3.0 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 0.4 apg, 0.4 spg, 0.2 bpg, 0.8 topg

  • 47.8% FG/31.3% 3P/44.4% FT

  • 11.6 PER, 0.7 win shares

  • recruited by, and played under, Wisconsin head coach Robin Pingeton at Mizzou; has seen her playing time increase greatly during the WBIT, averaging 25.3 mpg in her last three contests; her usage is still incredibly low, but she shows signs of being a valuable stretch big

• Nasi Simmons, guard, 5-foot-9, SO

  • 31 GP/0 GS; 13.8 mpg

  • 3.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 0.5 apg, 1.5 spg, 0.3 bpg, 0.6 topg

  • 52.1% FG/0.0% 3P/59.3% FT

  • 19.9 PER, 1.5 win shares

  • is 0-of-20 from three this season; a very disciplined player (doesn’t foul much, barely turns it over) who is still an active defender that records steals at an insane rate (5.7%, 100th percentile nationally, 12th best nationally); named USBWA Player of the Week (Jan. 12-18, 2026) thanks in large part to a 10 point/10 steal double-double vs. Yale

• Blau Tor, guard/forward, 6-foot-0, JR

  • 19 GP/0 GS; 5.9 mpg

  • 1.1 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 0.4 apg, 0.3 spg, 0.2 bpg, 0.4 topg

  • 47.4% FG/0.0% 3P/33.3% FT

  • 16.3 PER, 0.3 win shares

  • has represented her home country, Spain, in international competitions since the U14 level and helped the Spanish U16 team win the FIBA Women’s European Basketball Championship; has only played double-digit minutes in three games this season and two of them have come in the WBIT; she’s a good rebounder

Note: Fliss Henderson (5-foot-11, JR, guard; 28 GP/26 GS, 29.0 mpg; team leader with 6.9 rpg and 3.7 apg) and Marija Avlijas (5-foot-10, JR, guard; 27 GP/26 GS, 24.7 mpg; 6.1 ppg, 2.7 apg) are both out injured (neither has played in WBIT yet) and, thanks to my pal Jenn Hatfield who is the Ivy League reporter for The IX Basketball, have both been seen with walking boots on their feet. Hatfield also told me that Columbia hasn’t officially said what the injuries are.

Columbia Team Statistics

• 71.6 ppg (71st)

• 58.8 oppg (44th)

• +12.8 margin (37th)

• 106.7 AdjOE (43rd)

• 83.4 AdjDE (42nd)

• 94.40 BARTHAG (40th)

• 106.4 HHS off. rating (42nd)

• 84.4 HHS def. rating (38th)

• 22.0 HHS Rating (41st)

Columbia Four Factors

• offense

  • eFG%: 50.2 (49th)

  • turnover %: 23.7 (213th)

  • off. rebounding %: 41.1 (7th)

  • free throw rate: 24.6 (289th)

• defense

  • eFG%: 45.5 (179th)

  • turnover %: 27.9 (25th)

  • off. rebounding %: 29.9 (126th)

  • free throw rate: 30.4 (239th)

The Lions are a team that knows exactly who they are and have found great success over the last five years due to each player knowing exactly what they’re supposed to be doing. “Understanding what is neded from us as a team and what our roles are is a big thing for us to collectively come together and understand what we need to do to come into this WBIT run,” senior co-captain Perri Page said at WBIT media availability over the weekend.

Similar to Harvard, Columbia’s defense forces a lot of turnovers and doesn’t allow a lot of three-point attempts. The Lions are a very good rebounding team too, with a total rebounding rate that ranks 30th in the nation.

Australian guard Fliss Henderson is their best defensive rebounder, but she has missed all of the WBIT with an injury so far. Filling in for Henderson has been junior wing Blau Tor who, in admittedly far more limited minutes, has an ever higher defensive rebounding rate than Henderson. Tor only notched three minutes against Cal, but grabbed six defensive boards in 29 minutes during Columbia’s first two WBIT contests. Senior co-captain Susie Rafiu is probably the best on the glass overall for the Lions and has been especially effective on the offensive side.

And that brings me to my next point…Columbia is an excellent offensive rebounding team. They average 14.5 offensive rebounds per game (33rd nationally) and they grab them at a 41.1% rate (8th nationally) which, again, is excellent. Rafiu is the best on the o-glass but Tor has the highest offensive rebound rate (again with the limited minutes caveat). Perri Page and Nasi Simmons are also ferocious rebounders on the offensive side of the floor and 6-foot-3 Hilke Feldrappe is above average too. Needless to say, Gift Uchenna and Dorja Zaja will have their hands full and all of Wisconsin’s guards are going to have to be boxing out hard all game.

A ton of Columbia’s points come thanks to second chance opportunities as the inimitable Hoop-Explorer dot com points out. The Lions average 1.15 points per possession on “rebound and scramble” plays which is in the 84.5th percentile nationally and they average 11.8 plays per 100 that fall under “R&S” which is in the 90th percentile. All of Page, Rafiu, and Ivy League POTY Riley Weiss average 1.10 points per play or better with Page averaging an absurd 1.38 PPP.

Getting this far into a preview on the Columbia Lions without discussing Riley Weiss seems odd, so let’s rectify that and talk about the Ivy League’s best player this season. Weiss is a demon on offense and while her numbers are worse against top-100 competition, it’s only slightly and the Badgers should not be any less prepared for her to try and drop 30 on their heads.

Weiss averages an even 20 points per game (18th most nationally) and sports the 95th highest usage of any player in the country to boot. While not insanely efficient, her eFG% of 51.8% is in the 65th percentile nationally and her points per play of 0.99 is in the 93rd percentile. She attempts over 7.5 threes per game and makes them at a 37.4% clip and although she doesn’t get to the free throw line super often, she makes her freebies at just under 84%.

She is a solid distributor and rarely turns the ball over given how often it is in her hands. Weiss is active on defense and doesn’t foul much either. The only area of her game that she isn’t a “plus” player is on the glass, but that isn’t her role and Columbia’s players are nothing if not Role Knowers. I’m not sure who will draw the short straw for Wisconsin and be forced to follow Weiss around all game, but I’d imagine it’ll be some semblance of a group effort from Kyrah Daniels, Laci Steele, and Destiny Howell. Hell, maybe even try Ronnie Porter on her for a bit and see if a smaller, quicker defender can’t force a few turnovers?

The Lions’ second option on offense is Perri Page and she is actually a more efficient scorer than Weiss but a much worse shooter. Page does most of her damage near the rim and then at the free throw line. She is, however, even more lethal on defense. Page’s steal rate is in the 98th percentile nationally and she was also named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year this season.

Weiss and Page, in tandem, form a transition offense all to themselves. The Lions average 1.20 PPP in transition, which is in the 79th percentile nationally, and they average nearly 20 fast break opportunities per 100 plays (77th percentile). Weiss (1.19 PPP) and Page (1.22 PPP) combine for right about Columbia’s average on the break, but Nasi Simmons, who has seen an uptick in playing time throughout the WBIT, is especially potent with 1.59 PPP in transition.

This will be Wisconsin’s fourth WBIT game and the third one in which they’ve been underdogs and if we’re looking at things a little more closely, they were only “favored” by 0.3 points against Harvard according to Torvik. While I’d definitely say that Columbia is the best team Wisconsin will have faced in this tournament, the Badgers are not exactly in unfamiliar territory.

UW has been an underdog, as a program, for well over a decade and I think it’s a role that this year’s team in particular has embraced. They have been playing for each other and for the Motion W and the results have come. This year, Wisconsin beat multiple ranked Big Ten teams, beat in-state rival Green Bay, and now are in the semifinals of the second best national tournament after ending the year on a 10-game losing streak.

That’s commitment. That’s an unbreakable bond between players and staff. That’s putting the team ahead of yourself whether this was your first year in Madison or you spent your whole college career at the Kohl Center. As she has begun to try and rebuild this program, head coach Robin Pingeton has preached patience all year. While it’s true that the Badgers aren’t where they ultimately want to be, and that journey WILL take patience, I think she may have changed her message a bit these past two weeks.

Now it is time to be impatient. Now the Badgers should be pushy. They, at absolute best, only have 80 minutes of basketball left this season and they should be playing with the urgency with which that entails.

“Any chance I get to play basketball again with the Wisconsin name on my jersey, I’ll do that over and over again — especially with the sisters I have and the coaching staff next to me,” senior point guard Ronnie Porter said ahead of what she hopes will be her second-to-last game.

This WBIT semifinal between Wisconsin and Columbia should be a banger. See you all on the other side!

The Badgers were down eight points with 45 seconds left in the game and they were down seven points with 30 seconds left. However, it only matters how many points you are down with zero seconds left and Wisconsin wasn’t down any when the final buzzer sounded.

Here is my full recap and analysis:

Final Score (OT)

3-seed Wisconsin Badgers (16-17 overall, 5-13 Big Ten): 64
4-seed Harvard Crimson (20-12 overall, 10-4 Ivy League): 61

Four Factors

eFG%: 50.9%
Turnover%: 25.7%
Off. Rebound%: 30.3%
FTA/FGA: 14.0

Key Stats

FG%: 43.9 (25-of-57)
Opp. FG%: 32.8 (22-of-67)
3P%: 33.3 (8-of-24)
Opp. 3P%: 38.1 (8-of-21)
FT%: 75.0 (6-of-8)
Opp. FT%: 75.0 (9-of-12)
Points Per Possession: 0.914
Opponent Points Per Possession: 0.847
Rebounds: 36 (10 offensive)
Opponent Rebounds: 42 (19 offensive)
Turnovers: 18
Forced Turnovers: 18

Team Leaders

• Gift Uchenna: 17 points (8-of-13 FG, 0-of-1 3P), nine rebounds (four offensive), four blocks, three turnovers, even

• Destiny Howell: 13 points (5-of-11 FG, 1-of-4 3P), three rebounds (one offensive), one assist, one steal, three turnovers, +1

• Lily Krahn: 10 points (3-of-5 FG, 2-of-4 3P), two rebounds, one assist, +2

• Kyrah Daniels: 15 points (5-of-9 FG, 5-of-8 3P), four rebounds (one offensive), five assists, one steal, three turnovers, +2

Harvard Team Leaders

• Abigail Wright: 18 points (8-of-16 FG, 0-of-1 3P), 11 rebounds (six offensive), three assists, seven turnovers, +18

• Saniyah Glenn-Bello: nine points (3-of-8 FG, 2-of-5 3P), five rebounds (three offensive), two assists, one block, one steal, three turnovers, -6

• Olivia Jones: nine points (3-of-8 FG, 1-of-2 3P), seven rebounds (three offensive), two assists, one block, three steals, four turnovers, -10

Three-ish Thoughts

1. In a big game, especially against an unfamiliar opponent, you need someone to set the tone for you and that’s exactly what veteran big Gift Uchenna did for Wisconsin. After winning the tip, she scored the first two points of the game and the Badgers were off and running. She finished the first quarter with six points (on 3-of-3 shooting) and four rebounds, two on each end.
   
   She picked up another offensive rebound and six more points in the second quarter to finish the first half with 12 points and five boards while only missing one field goal. Her only offensive miscue in the first three quarters when she attempted a heat-check three-pointer which caromed off the backboard and then side of the rim like some sort of super bouncy ball.
   
   UW used Uchenna’s height advantage regularly and had several nice entry passes in which they lobbed the ball over the Harvard defender and into Uchenna who then took it right up for a layup. She had a few turnovers, including one where her hands suddenly turned into cinder blocks and she bobbled a beautiful Destiny Howell pass out of bounds, but overall she was dominant on offense.
   
   Uchenna didn’t score in the fourth quarter nor overtime, but she racked up four blocked shots in those periods, none of them more important than her fourth one (which will hopefully be queued up in the video below, but if not go to 37:28).

   With the Badgers clinging to their one-point lead and under 10 seconds remaining in OT, Harvard’s Katie Krupa drives on Uchenna from the top of the key. Ronnie Porter reaches her paws in there and disrupts Krupa a bit, but it’s Uchenna, who has stayed with Krupa step for step, that is there to completely erase the shot attempt.
   
   After swatting it out of bounds, Uchenna stomps on the floor and lets out a guttural roar before being engulfed by her teammates. From the opening tip to UW’s final defensive possession there was Uchenna, setting the tone.

2. One of three Badgers to play over 40 minutes in this game, Kyrah Daniels subbed back in with 1:32 left in the first quarter after a brief break and never came off the floor again. She had a quiet first half scoring the ball, only attempting (and making) one shot for three points, but contributed three assists to keep UW’s offense moving along.
   
   After missing her first three-pointer in the second half, Daniels connected on a long-range bomb with 1:05 to go in the third quarter which ended an almost four minute Wisconsin scoring drought and cut Harvard’s lead in half from six to three. I obviously can’t prove anything, but I think that shot may have saved the game, and thus the season, for the Badgers. It was a BIG momentum shifter.
   
   It was certainly a momentum shifter for herself as Daniels made a trio of threes in the fourth quarter, each one bigger than the last. Her first three of the final period ended an almost three-minute scoring drought for UW, but was answered by an insanely deep three from Saniyah Glenn-Bello as the shot clock expired, and then nobody scored until there were 46 seconds left. Harvard made a pair of free throws and was up eight and the game was over, right?
   
   Well, not for Daniels who made a three a mere three seconds later to cut the lead to five. Harvard made two more free throws and Daniels sank another three! Immediately after, the Badgers stole the ball and Daniels dished it to Dorja Zaja for a layup and all of a sudden Wisconsin was only down two. I’d continue on, but you know how things turned out and a HUGE reason for that is Kyrah Daniels.

3. I had written a number of, uh, constructive criticisms of Dorja Zaja’s performance through the first 39ish minutes of this game. To be fair to me though, she had played poorly! She couldn’t make a shot, was getting beat on defense routinely, set multiple illegal screens, and was basically unplayable.
   
   That all changed when she subbed in for the first time in the fourth quarter with 52 seconds left. She made a beeline to the basket after Wisconsin forced their first last-second turnover and made a layup to cut the lead to two and then she was majorly involved in forcing the jump ball that resulted in Wisconsin getting the ball back with a chance to tie and send it to OT.

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   Oh yeah, she was also the one who passed it to Destiny Howell for the game-tying layup! Zaja stayed hot in the extra frame, scoring a tough layup to tie the game at 58 and then scoring, what turned out to be, the game-winning layup to take a 62-61 lead with 1:13 to go.
   
   Despite being considerably older than your average freshman, Zaja has still had a fairly typical “up and down” first year in college. She went on the entire roller-coaster in this game, but kept playing hard and was eventually rewarded.

4. Ronnie Porter had a dreadful shooting night. She missed all five of her three-point attempts and only made one of her four two-point attempts. However, she still filled up the stat sheet with five rebounds, seven assists, and three steals in 41 minutes. Her best play, potentially of her Wisconsin career, however, came at the very end.
   
   Harvard’s Abigail Wright was barreling towards the basket with four seconds left in the game and her team down by one. If she scored, the Crimson probably win. Porter, in her last game at the Kohl Center, wasn’t going to let that happen though. Despite giving up over a foot in height, Porter stood her ground and took the full brunt of Wright’s attack.
   
   The refs blew the whistle and signaled a block, sending Wright to the free throw line, but then, as if God herself had seen the play and said “not on my watch,” the refs went to the monitor to review the call. Miraculously (and correctly I’d add, with only a little bit of bias) they overturned it and Porter drew a game-winning charge.
   
   The ESPN+ announcer deadpanned that the 5-foot-2 Porter “stood tall” on the play and dammit if he wasn’t 100% correct. She rules and I’m over the moon happy for her that this was her final play in Madison.

5. QUICK THOUGHTS: speaking of the refs, I thought they actually did a really good job in this game for both teams; the Crimson entering the game shooting 30.8% from three but making 38.1% vs. the Badgers was very unfortunate for UW; Harvard’s 15-0 run from the end of the first quarter until the middle of the second quarter could have been a death kneel for UW before halftime, but the Badgers responded with a 7-0 run of their own to keep things close; I thought Harvard’s defense was as good as advertised for most of the game; Crimson star Karlee White left the game in the fourth quarter with a leg/knee/ankle/something injury but was able to return after missing just four minutes of game time; Harvard going 7-of-21 on layups (White was 1-of-10 at the rim herself) is one of the more disgusting stats I’ve seen from any team this season; Badgers got dominated on the boards but evened things out by outscoring Harvard by eight points in the paint; there were 14 lead changes and six ties in this one; the Crimson bench contributed zero points; Wisconsin did a good job of not getting their shots blocked by Harvard’s active defense

Final Thought

This post has already been delayed a day because of travel for Spring Break, so I’ll keep this relatively short. This win over Harvard, and the two wins beforehand in the WBIT, completely shifted the narrative of the whole season. Wisconsin’s vibes are currently off the charts and they have some juice in the women’s basketball world.

While waiting in the TSA line at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport at 4 a.m. on Saturday morning, I heard a girl and her mom behind me TALKING ABOUT THE BADGERS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM AND THEIR WIN IN THE WBIT! I couldn’t have been more shocked and ecstatic.

Whatever happens in the WBIT semifinals, this team has already made Wisconsin fans and alumni proud. They’ve earned 40 more minutes this season and I, for one, can’t wait to see what they do out there.

WBIT Bracket Update: On Wisconsin’s side of the bracket, another Ivy League foe awaits. The Columbia Lions outlasted Cal, 74-68, to earn a trip to Wichita while the other two semifinalists will be the BYU Cougars and Kansas Jayhawks (who will have a bit of a home-crowd advantage). A pretty solid group of teams to be perfectly honest!

Next Game: Monday, Mar. 30; vs. Columbia Lions; 1:30 p.m. CT; ESPNU; Charles Koch Arena; Wichita, Kan.

UW went west in the first round and outlasted the Oregon State Beavers on Thursday before going to the literal other end of the country and beat the Miami (Fla.) Hurricanes thanks to a dynamite performance from beyond the arc. Now they finally get a home game and will welcome the Fartvard Stinkson (nailed it) to Madison. There’s a lot to get to so we can’t waste anymore time!

GAME INFORMATION

Opponent: Harvard Crimson
Location: Kohl Center; Madison, Wis.
Date: Thursday, March 26
Time: 6:30 p.m. CT
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Official WBIT link: here
Winner plays: winner of 3-seed Cal vs. 4-seed Columbia in semifinals

The Crimson entered this year as defending Ivy League Champions after going 11-3 in the regular season and then beating Princeton and Columbia in the Ivy League Tournament by a combined six points. They burst on to the national scene last year by winning at Indiana in their second game of the season and rode that momentum all the way to the NCAA Tournament.

As a 10-seed the Crimson lost to Michigan State in the first round but by all accounts it was a wildly successful season. However, their two best players (Harmoni Turner, drafted by Las Vegas Aces in 3rd round of 2025 WNBA Draft; Elena Rodriguez, exhausted eligibility) moved on and there was a bit of rebuilding to be done. Harvard was projected to finish third in the Ivy League this year and…that’s exactly what happened!

Their non-conference schedule was rough, featuring losses to bad UMass and Maine teams, and they entered conference play at 7-6 overall. Against the two teams which finished ahead of them in Ivy play, the Crimson went 2-1 vs. Columbia and 0-3 vs. league champ Princeton. Harvard has absolutely steamrolled their first two WBIT opponents, beating Navy by 21 and Eastern Kentucky by 29, while allowing neither team to score over 52 points.

Let’s dive in to what we know about these nerds!

Better Know a WBIT Opponent: Harvard

Nickname: Crimson
Conference: Ivy League
Record: 20-11 overall, 10-4 Ivy (3rd place)
Head coach: Carrie Moore (4th year at Harvard; 80-40 record)
Last NCAAT appearance: 2025
Record vs. Wisconsin all-time: 0-1

2025-2026 Accolades

• Olivia Jones: Ivy League Rookie of the Year (unanimous)

• Karlee White: First Team All-Ivy League (unanimous)

• Abigail White: Second Team All-Ivy League

Harvard Starting Five

• Olivia Jones, guard, 5-foot-10, first year, No. 0

• Karlee White, guard, 5-foot-9, junior, No. 12

• Saniyah Glenn-Bello, guard, 6-foot-0, senior, No. 22

• Katie Krupa, forward, 6-foot-1, senior, No. 31

• Abigail Wright, forward, 6-foot-1, junior, No. 40

Harvard Player Statistics

• Katie Krupa, forward, 6-foot-1, SR

  • 31 GP/31 GS; 29.9 mpg

  • 7.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.0 apg, 0.6 spg, 1.0 bpg, 2.3 topg

  • 33.5% FG/23.2% 3P/78.2% FT

  • 10.5 PER, 1.6 win shares

  • the best distributor on the team; her 93 assists this season are almost as many as she had the previous three years combined (99); good shot blocker; attempted the most threes on the team despite her dreadful percentage

• Saniyah Glenn-Bello, guard, 6-foot-0, SR

  • 28 GP/28 GS; 29.1 mpg

  • 11.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.7 spg, 1.3 bpg, 2.9 topg

  • 36.3% FG/31.3% 3P/80.0% FT

  • 16.4 PER, 2.0 win shares

  • top defender (94th percentile nationally in defensive win shares) on a team full of good defenders; high usage/low efficiency player on offense

• Abigail Wright, forward, 6-foot-1, JR

  • 31 GP/31 GS; 27.9 mpg

  • 13.1 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.0 spg, 0.5 bpg, 2.4 topg

  • 46.1% FG/20.0% 3P/66.0% FT

  • 22.4 PER, 3.0 win shares

  • 99th percentile offensive rebounder nationally; a good shot blocker, like many of her teammates

• Olivia Jones, guard, 5-foot-10, FY

  • 28 GP/16 GS; 27.8 mpg

  • 6.0 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.6 spg, 0.3 bpg, 1.9 topg

  • 39.2% FG/37.8% 3P/78.3% FT

  • 17.6 PER, 2.5 win shares

  • won eight Ivy League Rookie of the Week awards this year; in the 95th percentile for offensive rebounding in the nation and 90th percentile for total rebounding; her steal rate of 3.0% is in the 88th percentile

• Karlee White, guard, 5-foot-9, JR

  • 26 GP/26 GS; 27.0 mpg

  • 14.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.8 apg, 2.3 spg, 0.2 bpg, 2.8 topg

  • 53.4% FG/44.8% 3P/81.7% FT

  • 29.7 PER, 3.6 win shares

  • a terror on defense, featuring a steal rate of 4.3% (98th percentile nationally); she’s also the team’s best shooter and scorer; high usage/high efficiency player

• Nina Emnace, guard, 5-foot-7, SO

  • 30 GP/7 GS; 16.4 mpg

  • 3.7 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 0.6 apg, 0.6 spg, 0.0 bpg, 0.9 topg

  • 34.2% FG/32.8% 3P/93.8% FT

  • 7.9 PER, 0.8 win shares

  • only missed one free throw this year but has also only attempted 16; has scored zero points in five of her last 10 games and has only scored in double-digits once; she’s gonna shoot threes (53.8% 3P rate, 84th percentile) and she’ll make…some of them

• Lydia Chatira, guard, 6-foot-0, SO

  • 20 GP/1 GS; 15.3 mpg

  • 1.5 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 1.0 apg, 0.5 spg, 0.2 bpg, 1.2 topg

  • 30.0% FG/30.0% 3P/50.0% FT

  • 3.1 PER, 0.1 win shares

  • 2022 team MVP for Greece at Eurobasket U16 tournament; started all 29 games as a first year player last season; she has had a weird season where she missed 11 games but is averaging double-digit minutes this year and 20.7 minutes per game over her last three; over those same three games she has scored five points, grabbed six rebounds, and dished out five assists…total; I don’t understand her whole deal lol

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Harvard Team Statistics

• 65.5 ppg (183rd)

• 56.4 oppg (15th)

• +9.0 margin (75th)

• 97.7 AdjOE (96th)

• 80.3 AdjDE (30th)

• 90.59 BARTHAG (55th)

• 99.3 HHS off. rating (97th)

• 83.2 HHS def. rating (31st)

• 16.1 HHS Rating (57th)

Harvard Four Factors

• offense

  • eFG%: 45.1 (180th)

  • turnover %: 23.1 (181st)

  • off. rebounding %: 39.6 (14th)

  • free throw rate: 21.8 (340th)

• defense

  • eFG%: 43.5 (62nd)

  • turnover %: 28.1 (22nd)

  • off. rebounding %: 30.0 (130th)

  • free throw rate: 32.1 (283rd)

The Harvard Crimson, since Carrie Moore took the reins in Cambridge four years ago, have been a top-90 team in Torvik’s rankings. They have won 20+ games in three of the last four seasons and have never finished below .500 overall nor in the Ivy League.

• 2023: No. 68 (Torvik); 20-12 overall, 9-5 Ivy League

• 2024: No. 90; 16-12 overall, 9-5 Ivy League

• 2025: No. 49; 24-5 overall, 11-3 Ivy League; Ivy League Tournament Champion; 10-seed NCAA Tournament (round of 64)

• 2026: No. 55; 20-11 overall, 10-4 Ivy League; quarterfinals WBIT (so far)

In an interesting set of trends, Harvard’s AdjOff rating has gone down (negatively) every year while their AdjDef rating has gone down (positively) consistently. Technically the AdjDef rating went up (negatively) from 2023 (91.1) to 2024 (91.3), but overall the trend has been good for the Crimson defense.

So, this year Harvard has hung their hat on the defensive end and it has paid off to the tune of an 80.5 AdjDef rating which currently ranks 30th in the nation and tops in the Ivy League. The Crimson force turnovers at an extremely high 28.1% rate (22nd nationally) and block a shit-load of shots at an 11.6% rate (31st nationally). In the WBIT they’ve only allowed 86 points total in their first two games which comes out to a 43.0 ppg average which is considerably lower than their already impressive points per game allowed average of 56.4 ppg.

The eFG% numbers of Harvard’s defense are, needless to say, pretty dang good. There is only one area of the court where the Crimson aren’t, at worst, slightly above average and that’s three-pointers from the left wing. While that looks like a prime area on which the Badgers should focus, Harvard only allows 6.9% of shots from there (D1 average: 9.3%) and their opponents’ eFG% of 56.5% is only a bit better than the D1 average of 50.4%.

Destiny Howell, you have your marching orders I guess!

Looking at some of the “value” stats, every player on Harvard that has played in 20 or more games has a defensive win shares of 0.3 or higher. Now, comparing them to Wisconsin (a bad defensive team) is a bit unfair but it is worth noting that the Badgers have one (1) player with a defensive win share above 0.0 and that’s Gift Uchenna at 0.4. If you look at the two teams’ player defensive ratings (this estimates the number of points allowed by a player per 100 individual defensive possessions) Harvard has no players in their rotation with a rating above 90.0 and Wisconsin has only one (1) player below 100.0, again shout-out to Uchenna who is at 93.0.

Like many mid-majors, Harvard’s numbers are worse against top-100 teams, but their AdjDef is still at 83.3 which ranks 56th nationally. They’ve only given up 70+ points to four teams: Michigan (duh), Alabama (a fringe top-25 team all year), Cal (also in the WBIT quarterfinals), and Princeton (won Ivy League) in OT. Of note, Wisconsin averages 68.4 points per game this season.

My second defensive area of interest for the Crimson is: blocked shots. They are good at doing that! Harvard blocks 4.1 shots per game (55th nationally) and their block rate of 11.6% is 32nd in the country.

(Side note: their steal rate of 11.5% is 81st in the country, so they are extremely active on defense to say the least.)

The most interesting part about Harvard’s shot-blocking prowess is that they don’t really have a tall rim-protector in their rotation this year. First year player Maya Nahar, who is 6-foot-4 and has only played 14 minutes across four games, could be one but she doesn’t play much yet. Here are the top-two Crimson block rate leaders:

• Saniyah Glenn, 6-foot-0: 5.1% block rate (93rd percentile), 1.3 blocks per game (97th percentile)

• Katie Krupa, 6-foot-1: 3.7% block rate (87th percentile), 1.0 blocks per game (92nd percentile)

There are then a handful of players between 2.1 and 1.0 in block rate who are all between 6-foot-1 and 5-foot-10 and it starts to make a little more sense. Harvard doesn’t have a rim protector because they made an entire lineup out of Big Guards and Small Forwards who have good positional (outside of center, obviously) size! These defenders do a good job at keeping opposing offenses out of the paint too, as they feature the 77th best 2P rim rate on defense in the nation.

Harvard also does a solid job at limiting three-point attempts too (80th best nationally at 31.1% 3P rate) which the Badgers will put to the test early and often I’d assume. The Crimson do foul a fair amount and will send you to the free throw line, but that’s not an area Wisconsin has excelled at this season. Moral of the story? Harvard’s defense is good…but so is Wisconsin’s offense. Should be a fun matchup!

On the other end of the court we also have an intriguing chess match but more so because Harvard’s offense is Just OK and Wisconsin’s defense is A Little Bit Worse Than OK. However, so far in the WBIT, UW’s defense has been good against Oregon State and teetered on being very good against Miami (Fla.) so something seems to have finally clicked on that end for Robin Pingeton’s squad.

Harvard’s offense, to be perfectly honest, looks like an absolute slog. They attack the rim often, but shoot poorly from there. Even if they stop before the rim and attempt a shot in the paint, which they also do more often than your average D1 team, their FG% is low. They aren’t a good shooting team from long range either, but they are a good free throw shooting team…on the rare occasions they attempt freebies. The Crimson’s free throw rate of 21.8% is 340th best in the nation and is still over two percentage points better than Wisconsin’s lol.

Karlee White is pretty easily Harvard’s best offensive player and the only player on the team who shoots over 38% from deep. Wisconsin has three (four if you count Gift Uchenna’s 60% shooting from three on five attempts!!!!) such players, although Breauna Ware missed their last game and had not been receiving minutes before that.

The Crimson are an excellent offensive rebounding team (14th best in off. rebounding rate) and every single Badger is going to have to know their assignment when a shot goes up, especially if UW plays some zone since they won’t have an automatic player to box out. There is nothing Harvard does offensively, outside of getting second-chance opportunities, that worries me (and THAT worries me lmao) heading into the game.

I think on both ends of the court, Gift Uchenna and Dorja Zaja have the potential to produce at a high level and could make the difference in what should be a close, low-scoring affair.

With another 2,300+ word preview in the books let’s end it with a statement to Wisconsin fans. Go to this game! Support this team!! They are fun and they play hard and they deserve a rowdy home crowd in their final Kohl Center appearance of the season!!!

See you in your inboxes after the game with a full recap!

UW made 13 three-pointers (56.5%!!!!) on the game and went 10-of-11 from beyond the arc in the second half as they pulled away (and subsequently held on) from The U. Wisconsin’s defense scraped and clawed and held the ‘Canes to five points under their season scoring average and 12 percentage points under their usual shooting numbers.

It was 35 minutes of Wisconsin dominance and a final five minutes of butt-clenching, stomach-churning terror. In other words, it was a March basketball game!

Here is my full recap and analysis:

Final Score

3-seed Wisconsin Badgers (15-17 overall, 5-13 Big Ten): 72
2-seed Miami (Fla.) Hurricanes (18-15 overall, 8-10 ACC): 65

Four Factors

eFG%: 54.9%
Turnover%: 28.8%
Off. Rebound%: 32.4%
FTA/FGA: 9.8

Key Stats

FG%: 44.3 (27-of-61)
Opp. FG%: 32.4 (23-of-71)
3P%: 56.5 (13-of-23)
Opp. 3P%: 42.3 (11-of-26)
FT%: 83.3 (5-of-6)
Opp. FT%: 61.5 (8-of-13)
Points Per Possession: 0.986
Opponent Points Per Possession: 0.844
Rebounds: 48 (11 offensive)
Opponent Rebounds: 38 (15 offensive)
Turnovers: 21
Forced Turnovers: 12

Team Leaders

• Gift Uchenna: 13 points (6-of-15 FG, 1-of-1 3P), 11 rebounds (two offensive), one assist, one steal, +8

• Destiny Howell: 23 points (8-of-16 FG, 6-of-10 3P), one rebound, seven assists (career high), one steal, six turnovers, +13

• Ronnie Porter: two points (1-of-6 FG, 0-of-1 3P), seven rebounds (one offensive), seven assists, one steal, three turnovers, +3

• Kyrah Daniels: 14 points (4-of-10 FG, 2-of-4 3P), 13 rebounds (six offensive), five assists, two steals, five turnovers, +4

Miami (Fla.) Team Leaders

• Gal Raviv: 20 points (8-of-25 FG, 3-of-8 3P), seven rebounds (one offensive), eight assists, three steals, three turnovers, -4

• Ra Shaya Kyle: nine points (2-of-11 FG), 12 rebounds (five offensive), one block, two steals, one turnover, -10

• Ahnay Adams: nine points (3-of-8 FG, 3-of-5 3P), three rebounds (one offensive), two assists, one steal, three turnovers, -9

Three-ish Thoughts

1. This was the best game I’ve seen Destiny Howell play. Yes it was better than the game against Oregon when she made 10 threes or the game against Green Bay when she scored 23 to lead the Badgers to victory over their in-state rivals or when she scored 29 against Ohio State or 28 against Washington. This game was the perfect iteration of what Destiny Howell can be as a basketball player.
   
   Howell was once again a scoring machine, dropping 23 points on Miami’s head via 6-of-10 shooting from deep (tied for second most made threes in a single game in WBIT history), but she was so much more than that. Whenever it looked like the Hurricanes were gaining momentum and about to bust out a double-digit scoring run, there was Howell to make a shot and settle the Badgers down.

   

   In a virtuoso third quarter display, Howell scored nine points (3-of-4 FG, 3-of-3 3P) in nine minutes but also dished out a trio of assists, two of which resulted in three-pointers. However, I want to talk about one of her assists in the fourth quarter which was easily the best pass of the game and, honestly, might have been the best pass of Howell’s season.
   
   With 8:29 left in the game, Gift Uchenna secures a defensive rebound and hands it off to Ronnie Porter who brings it up the floor quickly. Porter is cut off near the top of the key and passes off to a trailing Howell. Howell jabs her foot right to send defender Gal Raviv the wrong way and then she slices into the lane dribbling with her left hand.
   
   Howell has her hips in front of Raviv’s which forces Ra Shaya Kyle to slide over and cut off Howell before she gets an uncontested layup. With Raviv on her hip and Kyle’s 6-foot-6 frame in front of her, Howell underhand scoops a pinpoint pass between the two defenders to a never-been-more-wide-open-in-her-life Uchenna for two. It was Howell’s second straight possession with an assist and pushed Wisconsin’s lead to a game-high 16 points which forced a ‘Canes timeout.
   
   The way Howell peeled away from the play towards UW’s bench after the pass, knowing full well she just performed a magic trick, was so cold. I wish there were highlights I could embed because the pass took my breath away. Here is my note from during the game: “HOLY SHIT DESTINY HOWELL PASS.”
   
   I also want to note that Howell’s defense was good enough that the only time I noticed it was when she was CORRECTLY pushing her teammate towards their proper spot in the zone. If Howell keeps playing like this, the Badgers could easily win a couple more games in the WBIT.

2. Coming into this game, Miami (Fla.) star Ra Shaya Kyle was averaging 16.5 ppg and shooting 57.1% from the field. She was certainly at the top of Wisconsin’s scouting report and Badgers bigs Gift Uchenna and Dorja Zaja may have lost a little sleep this weekend thinking about trying to stop her.
   
   Well, whatever UW worked on in practice definitely worked. Uchenna had Kyle in The Device all game and held the Hurricanes’ center to nine points on 2-of-11 shooting. Kyle didn’t even make her first field goal until there was 2:50 left in the third quarter! Uchenna and Zaja (but mostly Uchenna) kept Kyle under wraps with stout one-on-one defense.
   
   The Badgers also busted out their zone again and, again, it worked pretty dang well. The ‘Canes aren’t a great three-point shooting team (shooting 30.1% entering the game) and UW’s zone flustered them in the first half (2-of-9 from deep). While the ‘Canes started hitting shots in the fourth quarter it ended up being too little, too late.
   
   (I obviously was not in attendance for this game, but the Miami Herald was and their reporter, C. Isaiah Smalls II, got some quotes afterwards.) “I thought their zone stifled us a little bit,” Hurricanes coach Tricia Cullop said. “I was disappointed because I thought we missed a lot of really easy shots in the first half.”

   Thanks for reading Badgers Ball Knower! This post is public so feel free to share it.

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   Back to Uchenna for a moment. She recorded her fifth double-double of the season and repeatedly proved she was not afraid of Kyle’s defensive ability. Hell, Uchenna also made a three! The announcer even said Uchenna was thinking “I’m tired of y’all leaving me open!”

3. Miami (Fla.) was a team that had no problems allowing three-point attempts and, as luck would have it, Wisconsin is a team that is happy to oblige you in attempting threes! The Badgers made their first three (Destiny Howell) but then missed four in a row before Lily Krahn made a pair to end the first quarter. In the second period, Wisconsin went 0-for-4 from beyond the arc. The first half in general was pretty brutal if you are into things like “points” or “making shots.”
   
   I am not sure what Robin Pingeton said at halftime, but whatever it was she should write it down and say it before every game because I’ve never seen the Badgers shoot threes like they did in the third and fourth quarters!
   
   A mere 29 seconds into the second half, Laci Steele sinks a three. It only got better from there, folks. Wisconsin ended up 7-of-7 from deep in the third and made their first two of the fourth quarter as well to start the second half a perfect 9-of-9 from beyond the arc. Sadly Krahn missed a three later in the fourth to end the streak, but UW still finished the half shooting 10-of-11 from distance.
   
   Wisconsin had five different players make a three-pointer and three of them make multiple (Howell made six, Krahn made three, and Kyrah Daniels made two). It was a clinic in long-range shooting and hopefully everyone’s hot hand carries over to the next game.

   

4. Sometimes when watching a game you get caught up in one play or one sequence and then anecdotally think something happened over the entire game. After this game ended I thought to myself “damn, Kyrah Daniels sure did clean up on the offensive glass,” but I wasn’t sure if I was remembering the whole game or just one specific o-board.
   
   Daniels had six offensive rebounds (the team had 11) and just about every one of them looked like an action scene from a superhero movie where the protagonist swoops in from off-screen and makes a grand entrance. Wisconsin didn’t score very many second-chance points (only five) but Daniels’ active rebounding, at worst, helped run some clock out in a close game.
   
   She didn’t have her most efficient shooting night, but she had her first career double-double and also chipped in five assists and two steals. Another box score stuffing performance for Daniels in a season of them.

5. QUICK THOUGHTS: after only playing one minute against Oregon State, Breauna Ware missed this game; Robin Pingeton was 2-0 on challenges in this game and showed a lot of trust in her players (namely Ronnie Porter) who told her to review an out of bounds call before Pingeton could even look at a replay; Dorja Zaja had her work cut out for her in defending Ra Shaya Kyle and, while she did pick up four fouls, she held her own on that end while also chipping in six points on offense; Wisconsin outscored Miami (Fla.) 24-14 in the paint; this was UW’s best three-point shooting game (percentage wise) of the year; Miami ran a full court defense, but it wasn’t really a trapping press until later in the game and, for once, I thought the Badgers did a solid job breaking it and getting some easy buckets; the amount of turnovers in the first half for both teams was nothing short of horrifying

Final Thought

This was an incredibly enjoyable game to watch. Sure the first half featured enough bricks to build a house and enough turnovers to open a bakery, but the Badgers were playing solid defense and were winning! The third quarter shooting bonanza, which resulted in 29 points (tied for fifth most in a quarter in WBIT history) was electric and then there were multiple times in the fourth quarter where I declared the game over in my head and Miami made me look like a dummy every time!

March basketball doesn’t get much better than that, friends.

Now there were certainly some things in this game that concerned me, for instance: Wisconsin’s complete inability to even get the ball inbounds near the end of the game and, when they did, immediately developing turntheballoveritis. I mean, halfway through the fourth quarter Wisconsin had a 14-point lead and Gift Uchenna had just hit a three!

That should’ve been the dagger!!

But the ‘Canes wouldn’t go away and after a timeout they went on a 9-0 run (which was ended by a Destiny Howell three-pointer) and then an 8-2 run which trimmed the lead down to a mere two points with 45 seconds left. UW’s defense on Miami’s last two possessions (which both ended in airballs) was superb though and the Badgers left Coral Gables with the win.

The way this team has overcome the awful ending to their regular season and turned the WBIT into their own Second Chance Saloon is admirable. Now, thanks to upsets in their bracket, Wisconsin gets to host their quarterfinal matchup with Harvard! I hope Badgers fans and the greater Madison community show up in large numbers to give this team a great send-off and a true home-court advantage.

WBIT Bracket Update: On the other side of the region, 4-seed Harvard held Eastern Kentucky to 11 first half points and ended up winning 63-34 on Sunday afternoon. Abigail Wright led the way for the Crimson was a 13 points and 10 rebound double-double while point guard Olivia Jones added a dozen points, nine boards, and five assists in the rout. Katie Krupa (15 points, six boards, three blocks) and Saniyah Glenn (12 points, eight boards, four blocks) joined their teammates in double-figures.

Thanks to EKU upsetting 1-seed Utah in the first round, the Badgers get a chance to host the quarterfinal round of the WBIT now! The winner in Madison will go on to the semifinals where they’ll play either Columbia (who upset 1-seed North Dakota State) or Cal at the Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kan.

Next Game: Thursday, Mar. 26; vs. 4-seed Harvard Crimson; 6:30 p.m. CT; ESPN+; Kohl Center; Madison, Wis.

“Wisconsin played, I thought, a really good game. Obviously big time battle tested. They were imposing at the rim and disruptive defensively. It was a clutch performance is how it felt to me,” Beavers head coach Scott Rueck said in his opening statement following the game.

Now UW is headed to the literal opposite corner of the country and will take on 2-seed Miami (Fla.) in the 305 where, I’ve been told, the party does not stop. The ‘Canes will provide a tough test and I’ve got another in-depth preview to get you ready for the early afternoon game on Sunday!

GAME INFORMATION

Opponent: Miami (Fla.) Hurriances
Location: Watsco Center; Coral Gables, Fla.
Date: Sunday, March 22
Time: 11 a.m. CT
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Official WBIT link: here
Winner plays: winner of Eastern Kentucky at No. 4 Harvard

The Hurricanes entered this season with only two players on the roster who played for them in the 2024-25 season and neither of them were starters. Miami brought in six players from the transfer portal and a highly-touted five woman recruiting class which included four players in the espnW top-100.

After finishing last season just below .500 (14-15 overall, 4-14 ACC) in Tricia Cullop’s first season in Coral Gables, the ‘Canes doubled their ACC wins this year and hold a 4-13 record in Quad 1+2 games while only suffering one Quad 3+4 loss (a somewhat difficult to explain blowout loss at Florida State). Wisconsin and Miami (Fla.) only had one similar opponent (Iowa) and, despite losing too, the ‘Canes fared far better versus the Hawkeyes (64-61 at a neutral site) than the Badgers usually do.

The game against Oregon State was basically a toss-up according to Bart Torvik’s spread and he has the Badgers heading to Miami as 4-point underdogs on Sunday. However, Wisconsin has played teams like the Hurricanes before and on the road too, so they won’t be intimidated.

“They got better as the year went on and as they got better, their schedule got tougher. Just looking at the big picture, that’s a much better team than their record suggests that improved as the year went on and you have to give their staff a ton of credit for that,” OSU’s Rueck said on Thursday night.

Better Know a WBIT Opponent: Miami (Fla.)

Nickname: Hurricanes
Conference: Atlantic Coast (ACC)
Record: 18-14 overall, 8-10 ACC (13th place)
Head coach: Tricia Cullop (2nd year at Miami; 32-29 record)
Last NCAAT appearance: 2023
Record vs. Wisconsin all-time: 2-0

2025-2026 Accolades

• Ra Shaya Kyle: All-ACC First Team (media); All-ACC Second Team (coaches)

Miami (Fla.) Starting Five

• Ra Shaya Kyle, center, 6-foot-6, graduate, No. 0

• Ahnay Adams, guard, 5-foot-6, sophomore, No. 5

• Natalie Wetzel, forward, 6-foot-3, freshman, No. 12

• Gal Raviv, point guard, 5-foot-9, sophomore, No. 14

• Amarachi Kimpson, guard, 5-foot-8, junior, No. 33

Miami (Fla.) Player Statistics

• Ra Shaya Kyle, center, 6-foot-6, GR

  • 31 GP/31 GS; 29.4 mpg

  • 16.5 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 1.9 apg, 0.4 spg, 0.7 bpg, 3.2 topg

  • 57.1% FG/0.0% 3P/71.7% FT

  • 29.8 PER, 4.0 win shares

  • dominant rebounder, especially on the defensive end; has the 34th highest eFG% (57.1%) in the nation; pretty clearly The U’s go-to offensive player; recorded 21 double-doubles this year (led ACC); has played in Big Ten (Purdue), SEC (Florida), and now the ACC

• Gal Raviv, point guard, 5-foot-9, SO

  • 29 GP/29 GS; 32.6 mpg

  • 13.8 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 3.9 apg, 1.3 spg, 0.2 bpg, 3.9 topg

  • 41.3% FG/28.8% 3P/78.8% FT

  • 16.1 PER, 1.4 win shares

  • second highest usage on the team (behind Kyle) but extremely inefficient shooting the rock; in the 93rd percentile nationally for assist rate (24.2%); been playing internationally for Israel since she was 11; 2025 MAAC Rookie of the Year AND Player of the Year at Quinnipiac

• Amarachi Kimpson, guard, 5-foot-8, JR

  • 32 GP/32 GS; 31.3 mpg

  • 11.7 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.3 spg, 0.2 bpg, 1.1 topg

  • 42.1% FG/33.8% 3P/77.3% FT

  • 17.2 PER, 2.6 win shares

  • second best three-point shooter on the team; low usage/low mistake player; 2024 Mountain West Freshman of the Year at UNLV

• Ahnay Adams, guard, 5-foot-6, SO

  • 32 GP/32 GS; 29.3 mpg

  • 8.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.5 spg, 0.0 bpg, 1.8 topg

  • 43.1% FG/23.5% 3P/65.7% FT

  • 16.8 PER, 2.2 win shares

  • pesky perimeter defender and a much better rebounder than you’d assume for a player of her height; the Canes vocal/emotional leader

• Natalie Wetzel, forward, 6-foot-3, FR

  • 32 GP/22 GS; 17.7 mpg

  • 4.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 0.6 apg, 0.4 spg, 0.3 bpg, 0.5 topg

  • 44.2% FG/31.1% 3P/70.0% FT

  • 13.8 PER, 1.2 win shares

  • low usage/high efficiency big; does almost all of her damage near the basket but she CAN step out and make threes if needed; top-100 recruit coming out of high school

• Vittoria Blasigh, guard, 5-foot-9, JR

  • 30 GP/3 GS; 20.8 mpg

  • 6.8 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 1.2 apg, 0.6 spg, 0.6 bpg, 1.1 topg

  • 41.7% FG/38.7% 3P/75.0% FT

  • 13.8 PER, 1.1 win shares

  • best three-point shooter on the team; doesn’t foul; plays internationally for Italy; was named 2024 AAC Freshman of the Year at South Florida; scored her 1,000th career point on Thursday against Ga. Southern

• Danielle Osho, forward, 6-foot-1, FR

  • 28 GP/4 GS; 14.7 mpg

  • 2.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 0.5 apg, 0.5 spg, 0.2 bpg, 0.8 topg

  • 26.3% FG/16.3% 3P/47.8% FT

  • 5.5 PER, 0.1 win shares

  • solid rebounder; shoots too many threes for how bad she is at making them; No. 52 recruit in the nation in 2025 class

Miami (Fla.) Team Statistics

• 70.7 ppg (90th)

• 65.4 oppg (203rd)

• +5.3 margin (128th)

• 102.7 AdjOE (69th)

• 86.1 AdjDE (67th)

• 88.33 BARTHAG (60th)

• 104.4 HHS off. rating (55th)

• 88.9 HHS def. rating (89th)

• 15.5 HHS Rating (60th)

Miami (Fla.) Four Factors

• offense

  • eFG%: 48.7 (86th)

  • turnover %: 20.1 (73rd)

  • off. rebounding %: 32.8 (126th)

  • free throw rate: 28.4 (177th)

• defense

  • eFG%: 46.1 (215th)

  • turnover %: 20.4 (278th)

  • off. rebounding %: 27.5 (69th)

  • free throw rate: 22.3 (34th)

While I have followed Miami (Fla.) a little more closely than I had followed Oregon State, due to the fact that I am a big fan of Ra Shaya Kyle’s game, I still don’t have a ton of opinions on the ‘Canes that stem from detailed game-watching. Let’s dive into their statistical profile though and see what we can glean from that!

First things first, their offense goes how Kyle and point guard Gal Raviv go. They are the two leading scorers on the team and, by far, the two most used players on the team. Their styles of play are, however, quite different.

Kyle is very much a traditional post player (think similarly to Gift Uchenna) who does a majority of her damage within 4 feet of the basket. On the year, her rim rate (percentage of shots taken at the rim compared to all field goal attempts) is 79.5% which ranks in the top-50 of all players nationally. Her 61.2% shooting percentage at the rim is in the top-250 nationally. When you expand the range out a tiny bit more, Kyle is attempting 64.2% of her shots within 3.3 feet of the hoop (D1 averages is 32.6%) and she is converting them at a 61.7% rate, which is slightly above the D1 average of 61.1%.

So, it’s pretty clear that the 6-foot-6 grad student will be anchored in the paint on offense, but what about her perimeter running mate? Floor general Gal Raviv also plays a distinct style of ball, but it’s one that isn’t as popular anymore. The 5-foot-9 sophomore isn’t hunting threes or getting to the basket much…she’s taking on the challenge of bringing the mid-range back.

Raviv attempts 47.3% of her shots (top-170 in the nation) from the mid-range and, since she’s usually the one with the ball in her hands, very few of those are assisted attempts. Her primary area of attack is near the foul line where she has shot 30.9% of her total field goals (D1 average is 8.1%) making them at a 42.2% clip (D1 average is 37.8%). What’s extra strange about this shot diet is…she’s really good at finishing at the rim! She makes just under 64% of her shots there which is top-160 nationally.

As a team, the Hurricanes are quite good at scoring from the mid-range, averaging 0.82 points per play (92.5th percentile nationally) when shooting from there. Raviv is their most common mid-range maven, but guards Amarachi Kimpson and Ahnay Adams are right behind her and are both more efficient when shooting in the mid-range.

A different, but closely related, area for the Miami (Fla.) offense is iso jumpers off the dribble. They are in the 96.7th percentile nationally for shots like that but they only convert them into 0.65 points per play which is in the 35.9th percentile. Raviv is the No. 1 culprit of attempting these shots when she, uh, really shouldn’t be and Kimpson is only a tiny bit better, while Adams is WAY worse. Vittoria Blasigh is the one player on the roster that the Badgers should never go under a screen on, because she can make you pay from deep.

Going back to Kyle for a moment, the Hurricanes are well above average on most “post player play-types,” but do particularly well on second-chance opportunities and “scramble” situations. Miami plays faster than Oregon State and Wisconsin, but I wouldn’t call them a team that WANTS to get out and run all the time. That being said, they are efficient in transition, especially Kyle and Natalie Wetzel finishing plays, and Wisconsin will be wise to limit live-ball turnovers.

However the ‘Canes attack the Badgers, Wisconsin will have to account for multiple options. Four Miami (Fla.) players scored in double-figures in the first round of the WBIT and a fifth had nine points.

The thing about this matchup is Wisconsin’s offense is a bit better than Miami (Fla.)’s offense but Wisconsin’s defense is considerably worse than Miami’s. Because I’m a sap, I’m willing to believe that UW’s defense will play more like they did against Oregon State and less like they did, uh, the rest of the season…but that would still probably leave the Hurricanes with an advantage overall.

So the only path to victory might be for Wisconsin to try and hang 80 on the ‘Canes. Can they do that? Well, it’s easier said than done, but let’s take a look at some of the paths the Badgers could take to find offensive success in Coral Gables.

One path they won’t be taking? Getting to the free throw line. Much like Oregon State, the Hurricanes don’t foul much and don’t send their opposition to the line much either. Wisconsin? Well, they’re still literally the sixth worst team in the country at getting to the charity stripe sooooo, yeah. No free throws for UW in this one.

A potential primary path for the Badgers is a bit further away from the basket though. The ‘Canes are more than happy to let teams bomb away from three and Wisconsin, a team that has the 53rd highest three-point attempt rate in the nation, will oblige them. Miami (Fla.) allows teams to shoot 30.3% from deep which is…a bit above average defensively. UW makes threes at a 34.2% clip which is a top-50 mark in the country. I’d wager taking a look at Wisconsin’s three-point percentage at any point during the game will tell you exactly which team is winning.

Wisconsin’s best three-point shooter is Lily Krahn (44.6% from three) but she has been a bit streaky recently, scoring six, zero, six, 13, and zero in her last five games. Wisconsin’s most important three-point shooter, however, is Destiny Howell. She shoots 38.7% from three on 5.4 attempts a game and can swing a game in Wisconsin’s favor all by herself.

“She’s a special player,” Oregon State’s head coach after the game on Thursday. He went on to mention that he randomly watched Wisconsin play Oregon earlier in the season, which you may remember as the one where Howell scored 39 points on 10-of-16 shooting from beyond the arc. “This kid can really shoot, she needs no space,” Rueck recalled thinking after watching Howell torch the Ducks.

I don’t think Howell needs to go supernova like that for Wisconsin to beat the Hurricanes, but she has only made five three-pointers combined in her last five games and only made more than one in one game…and she’ll definitely have to do better than that.

As far as two-pointers go, Ra Shaya Kyle is a major deterrent to attempts at the rim although she isn’t necessarily a “shot blocker” in the mold of a Serah Williams. Freshman forward Soma Okolo (6-foot-1) plays limited minutes off the bench but she is more of a natural shot blocker than anyone else on the team. The Hurricanes play a number of guards, often as many as four, but Wisconsin’s guards/wings are all a bit taller than Miami’s so players like Howell or Kyrah Daniels could find success in the paint.

Lastly, the ‘Canes are not a team that forces a ton of turnovers so the Badgers, much like against OSU, have to try and limit their miscues since Miami won’t be pressuring them much.

I think the Badgers have a solid chance at pulling the upset here but it will be tough. If UW is shooting well and play defense as hard as they did against Oregon State they could find themselves earning another 40 minutes to play this season.

UW, technically the home team despite having to play in Corvallis due to the WIAA Boys State Basketball Tournament being at the Kohl Center, will now travel to the opposite corner of the country and face 2-seed Miami (Fla.) on Sunday afternoon. No rest for the weary in March, baby!

Here is my full recap and analysis:

Final Score

3-seed Wisconsin Badgers (14-17 overall, 5-13 Big Ten): 62
Oregon State Beavers (23-12 overall, 13-5 WCC): 58

Four Factors

eFG%: 53.6%
Turnover%: 24.6%
Off. Rebound%: 39.3%
FTA/FGA: 24.1

Key Stats

FG%: 49.1 (27-of-55)
Opp. FG%: 40.4 (23-of-57)
3P%: 26.3 (5-of-19)
Opp. 3P%: 31.6 (6-of-19)
FT%: 100.0 (3-of-3)
Opp. FT%: 75.0 (6-of-8)
Points Per Possession: 1.016
Opponent Points Per Possession: 0.983
Rebounds: 36 (11 offensive)
Opponent Rebounds: 28 (11 offensive)
Turnovers: 15
Forced Turnovers: eight

Team Leaders

• Dorja Zaja: career-high 18 points (8-of-10 FG), four rebounds, one assist, two blocks, two steals, two turnovers, +13

• Destiny Howell: 13 points (6-of-11 FG, 1-of-2 3P), two rebounds, one steal, three turnovers, +4

• Ronnie Porter: five points (2-of-7 FG, 1-of-5 3P), four rebounds (one offensive), six assists, one steal, three turnovers, +3

• Kyrah Daniels: 11 points (5-of-13 FG, 1-of-4 3P), seven rebounds (three offensive), three assists, one steal, +5

Oregon State Team Leaders

• Tiara Bolden: 23 points (8-of-18 FG, 3-of-8 3P), six rebounds (two offensive), four assists, three steals, one turnover, -2

• Jenna Villa: 11 points (5-of-8 FG, 1-of-3 3P), three rebounds, one assist, one steal, two turnovers, -3

• Nene Sow: four points (2-of-4 FG), four rebounds (two offensive), one block, +12

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Three-ish Thoughts

1. Freshman big Dorja Zaja has been slowly, but steadily, improving throughout this season. While this is her first year in college, she is 21 years old so her learning curve has been considerably less steep than other freshmen post players. All four of her double-digit scoring games this year have come in her last seven contests and on Thursday night in Corvallis she set a new career-high with 18 points.
   
   Zaja subbed in about halfway through the first quarter and was immediately a difference maker on defense. She blocked a shot and recorded two steals in her first couple of minutes on the court to help the Badgers extend their early lead. In the second and third quarters Zaja showed off her offensive arsenal with a variety of post moves while scoring 14 of her 18 points.
   
   I loved the energy and hustle Zaja brought to the court too. One of her best buckets was off an Oregon State miss when she sprinted down the court to beat her defender and Laci Steele found her with a beautiful pass. Zaja made the catch in the paint and streaked to the rim for a layup. Wonderful hoops.

2. I am as surprised as the next person that I am going to be typing the next sentence but…Wisconsin’s defense was pretty solid against the Beavers! They didn’t force a ton of turnovers, but they were active on defense and deflected a couple of passes and knocked some balls out of bounds to disrupt OSU’s offensive flow. UW held Oregon State below their usual eFG% and below their usual three-point percentage.
   
   What I liked most about Wisconsin’s defense, however, was that for the first time in a long time they were playing as a cohesive unit. There was (mostly) good communication on switches, there were players in their appropriate spots on inbounds plays, and everyone appeared to be giving A+ effort at all times. It was the kind of defensive game you are prone to see from a team that knows they were given a second chance to write a new ending for their season.

3. Wisconsin’s offensive rebounding rate of 39.3% was their best since they grabbed a board on 45.2% of their misses vs. Nebraska back on Jan. 21…which also happens to be the last game UW won. We will never know if there is a correlation between securing more scoring chances and wins, sadly.
   
   The Badgers had 11 offensive rebounds against the Beavers and turned those into 11 second chance points, which was one more than Oregon State scored and every point matters in March when games are often the closest. Kyrah Daniels and Laci Steele led the team in o-boards with three and two respectively.

4. In my preview article about this game I mentioned that Oregon State didn’t allow opponents to attempt many shots at the rim and on the rare chance a shot was attempted close to the basket, it usually didn’t go in. The Beavers were able to limit Wisconsin’s attempts at the rim to just 21.8% of their shots (D1 average is 32.6%) but what they weren’t able to do was stop Wisconsin from making them.
   
   According to Hoop-Explorer, the Badgers scored 18 points at the rim and shot a scorching 75.0% which is well above the D1 average of 61.1% and blows OSU’s season average of 48.1% out of the water. On a night when Wisconsin couldn’t get it going from deep, scoring at the rim that efficiently was a major reason they were able to nab a victory.
   
   Wisconsin also outscored Oregon State by eight (32-24) on points in the paint with Zaja leading the way and Gift Uchenna and Destiny Howell chipping in as well.

5. Kyrah Daniels probably didn’t have the shooting performance she was hoping for on Thursday night (5-of-13 FG, 1-of-4 3P) but, per usual, she filled up the box score in other areas. Her seven rebounds led the team and her three assists were the second most behind Ronnie Porter. She was also the only player on Wisconsin (who played more than one minute) to record zero turnovers!

   

   She also was able to provide a big shot exactly when the Badgers needed it the most. With just under seven minutes to play in the game and the shot clock winding down, Shay Bollin hit a wild jumper and got fouled for a three-point play to push Wisconsin’s lead to 10. Those would be the last points the Badgers scored for five minutes.
   
   Baylor methodically chipped away at the lead until it was only one point with two minutes left when Daniels forced an OSU turnover. She got out in the open court and Porter found her in rhythm for three, her first and only three-point make of the game, to give Wisconsin the four-point lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Veteran stuff from Daniels.

6. QUICK THOUGHTS: while they didn’t start every game together this year, Oregon State’s starting five on Thursday night played in every game this season which is some incredible durability; great hustle by Ronnie Porter to force a steal and then dive on the floor to get the ball to help UW score their first points of the game which set the tone for the Badgers; Destiny Howell hit her first four shots; OSU only committed three fouls in first half and nine overall; their excellence in not fouling actually came back to haunt them as they were nowhere near having Wisconsin in the bonus at the end of the game, so Wisconsin didn’t have to shoot free throws; Badgers struggled with shot-clock awareness and had multiple shot clock violations where it looked like no one knew how much time was left; I have been unable to find any information on this, but Oregon State’s starting forward Lizzy Williamson only played eight minutes, six in the first quarter and two in the third; Breauna Ware appeared for 54 seconds in this game, her first playing time since the Southern Cal game on Feb. 19; Lily Krahn hauled in a career-high four rebounds; apparently the NCAA is experimenting with coaches challenges in women’s basketball during the WBIT this year and Oregon State got a foul overturned that resulted in Wisconsin getting the ball out of bounds and having to try and get a shot off with one second on the shot clock…which they did! Shoutout to Laci Steele!

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Final Thought

This game was many things. It was a palette cleanser for a team that had lost 10 games in a row. It was a proof of concept for a first-year coaching staff earning a postseason win. It was one more chance for Wisconsin’s seniors to play a college basketball game and because they played so well they now get another chance too!

It is a bummer that the Badgers were unable to host this game at the Kohl Center, but a road win in the WBIT is an incredible feather in the cap of the 2025-2026 Wisconsin women’s basketball team. I thought these two teams were evenly matched and they proved it for four closely contested quarters.

Wisconsin held on for the win and now they get to play another 40 minutes in a season I thought was already over. These kind of high-stakes environments are impossible to replicate in practice and the experience that Wisconsin’s younger players are gaining during the WBIT will prove invaluable for their learning curve into next season.

Quite frankly, I’m just pumped I get to write about another game this year!

WBIT Bracket Update: Eastern Kentucky upset 1-seed Utah, and former Badger Maty Wilke, by 14 points at the top of Wisconsin’s bracket; 2-seed Miami (Fla.) blew out Georgia Southern, 82-56, and 4-seed Harvard took care of The Troops (Aquatic Division) by 21 in the other contests.

As mentioned, both above and below, Wisconsin will take on the Hurricanes in one game and Harvard will host Eastern Kentucky in the other, with the winners moving on to the WBIT Quarterfinals.

Next Game: Sunday, Mar. 22; vs. 2-seed Miami (Fla.) Hurricanes; 11:00 a.m. CT; ESPN+; Watsco Center; Coral Gables, Fla.

But much like Mark McGwire testifying in front of Congress, we aren’t hear to talk about the past. We are here to talk about the exciting, possibly limitless, future! Here is the main info you need to know about the game if you can’t be asked to read a potentially painfully in-depth preview:

GAME INFORMATION

Opponent: Oregon State Beavers
Location: Gill Coliseum; Corvallis, Ore.
Date: Thursday, March 19
Time: 8 p.m. CT
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Official WBIT link: here
Winner plays: winner of No. 2 Miami (Fla.) vs. Georgia Southern

Wisconsin is one of the seeded teams in their region of the tournament, but since the 2026 WIAA Boys State Basketball Tournament is at the Kohl Center from Thursday-Saturday UW will start their WBIT campaign on the road. While that is a bummer for the fans, a postseason road game in a hostile environment should be fun and could help jump-start the team next season as a “learning experience” regardless of result.

“Postseason is postseason. Who doesn’t want to play in March,” Pingeton asked reporters, hypothetically, on Monday afternoon during a Zoom press conference. “We’re disappointed because this isn’t the tournament we want to be in,” she noted, but added that UW was excited to accept the WBIT bid even if that isn’t their ultimate goal. Outside of her usual platitudes about program building and team culture, Pingeton also said she expects her full complement of players to be available for the tourney, which isn’t always a given now to be fair.

You may be asking yourself “how the hell did Wisconsin even get invited to play in this tournament at all when their record was 13-17 on the season” because I definitely was. Friend of the program Ari Levin (who writes the newsletter on B1G WBB mostly but also other B1G women’s sports) noted on Bluesky that Indiana was probably the WBIT’s first choice, but the Hoosiers preemptively declined all postseason invites. Purdue and Wisconsin were the next two teams on the list and, I mean, who are you gonna choose there? Come on, be serious.

So, here we are! Wisconsin vs. Oregon State in the WBIT…let’s do that March Madness!

I’m going to keep it a buck with you…I have not watched one (1) possession of Oregon State basketball (men’s or women’s) this, uh, decade so let’s start with some basics and then we’ll move on to stats and scouting reports and whatever else I come across.

Better Know a WBIT Opponent: Oregon State

Nickname: Beavers
Conference: West Coast (WCC)
Record: 23-11 overall, 13-5 WCC (4th place)
Head coach: Scott Rueck (16th year at OSU; 320-165 record)
Last NCAAT appearance: 2025
Record vs. Wisconsin all-time: 0-0

2025-2026 Accolades

• Kennedie Shuler: WCC Defensive Player of the Year; All-WCC First Team

• Jenna Villa: All-WCC First Team

• Tiara Bolden: All-WCC Second Team

Oregon State Starting Five

• Jenna Villa, guard, 6-foot-1, junior, No. 3

• Kennedie Shuler, point guard, 5-foot-10, junior, No. 1

• Tiara Bolden, guard, 5-foot-11, senior, No. 0

• Ally Schimel, guard, 5-foot-10, sophomore, No. 4

• Lizzy Williamson, forward, 6-foot-5, senior, No. 15

Oregon State Player Statistics

• Jenna Villa, guard, 6-foot-1, JR

  • 34 GP/34 GS; 33.0 mpg

  • 15.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.8 apg, 0.7 spg, 0.3 bpg, 2.0 topg

  • 40.8% FG/37.6% 3P/88.1% FT

  • 22.3 PER, 4.1 win shares

  • excellent at getting to the free throw line (94th percentile nationally) and converting once there (95th percentile nationally)

• Kennedie Shuler, point guard, 5-foot-10, JR

  • 34 GP/34 GS; 32.0 mpg

  • 12.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 5.2 apg, 2.0 spg, 0.9 bpg, 3.3 topg

  • 47.8% FG/11.4% 3P/56.9% FT

  • 23.2 PER, 3.3 win shares

  • assist rate of 36.0% (18th best nationally); DPOY in the WCC

• Tiara Bolden, guard, 5-foot-11, SR

  • 34 GP/34 GS; 29.3 mpg

  • 13.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.2 spg, 0.2 bpg, 2.0 topg

  • 42.3% FG/29.8% 3P/87.5% FT

  • 20.9 PER, 3.0 win shares

  • has the highest usage on the team (26.0%) but middling efficiency numbers

• Ally Schimel, guard, 5-foot-10, SO

  • 34 GP/34 GS; 28.6 mpg

  • 6.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.1 apg, 0.6 spg, 0.2 bpg, 1.0 topg

  • 37.9% FG/43.0% 3P/55.6% FT

  • 10.0 PER, 1.3 win shares

  • she is the best 3P shooter on the team, but doesn’t attempt a ton; barely ever fouls on defense

• Lizzy Williamson, forward, 6-foot-5, RS SR

  • 34 GP/26 GS; 19.0 mpg

  • 6.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 0.6 apg, 0.4 spg, 1.0 bpg, 0.9 topg

  • 52.6% FG/— 3P/55.0% FT

  • 23.3 PER, 2.2 win shares

  • she is a rim protector (92nd percentile in block percentage) and a rebounding machine (95th percentile in total rebound percentage)

  • she was a freshman in college in 2019 (!) and this is her seventh season (fourth team) thanks to a redshirt season (2019-2020), a medical redshirt (2024-2025), and the bonus COVID year which is not something I thought I’d still be referencing in 2026 lol; was teammates with Wisconsin’s Laci Steele at N.C. State

• Lara Alonso, forward, 6-foot-3, FR

  • 34 GP/0 GS; 15.9 mpg

  • 4.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 0.4 apg, 0.3 spg, 0.6 bpg, 1.2 topg

  • 47.7% FG/28.0% 3P/50.0% FT

  • 17.3 PER, 1.2 win shares

  • best offensive rebounder on the team; gets fouled a lot…makes half of ‘em

• Nene Sow, center, 6-foot-8, RS SR

  • 34 GP/8 GS; 11.8 mpg

  • 3.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 0.1 apg, 0.2 spg, 0.8 bpg, 1.0 topg

  • 60.5% FG/— 3P/36.4% FT

  • 19.3 PER, 1.0 win shares

  • 9th best total rebounding rate (22.0%) in the nation; 118th best block percentage (6.3%) in the nation

  • started first eight game of the season

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Oregon State Team Statistics

• 67.3 ppg (154th)

• 61.0 oppg (104th)

• +6.3 margin (113th)

• 99.7 AdjOE (85th)

• 87.4 AdjDE (87th)

• 82.00 BARTHAG (79th)

• 100.6 HHS off. rating (82nd)

• 89.0 HHS def. rating (91st)

• 11.6 HHS Rating (83rd)

Oregon State Four Factors

• offense

  • eFG%: 49.1 (75th)

  • turnover %: 21.7 (119th)

  • off. rebounding %: 32.4 (145th)

  • free throw rate: 31.1 (98th)

• defense

  • eFG%: 42.5 (44th)

  • turnover %: 16.3 (361st)

  • off. rebounding %: 28.0 (81st)

  • free throw rate: 17.1 (3rd)

So, what I’ve gathered from OSU’s statistical profile on defense is that they play tough, conservative, and technically sound. They are one of the worst teams in the country at forcing turnovers, but one of the best at limiting fouls/free throw attempts. I think Kennedie Shuler’s perimeter peskiness is a factor here, she is the WCC DPOY after all, but I also noticed something else.

The Beavers have a trio of post players that stand 6-foot-3, 6-foot-5, and 6-foot-8 and none of the players in their rotation are shorter than 5-foot-10. That height and length serve as a major deterrent for their opposition to attempt shots close to the basket. Not only do the Beavers not allow many shots at the rim, they also force their opponents to shoot tough mid-range jumpers that are often low efficiency efforts.

Get a load of these numbers from the invaluable Hoop-Explorer:

• on the season, Oregon State’s defense allowed 20.8% of their opponents’ total shot attempts at the rim and their opposition made 48.1% of those attempts

• the D1 averages for those two stats are 32.6% and 61.1% respectively

• that means the Beavers allow 11.8% fewer attempts at the rim and teams shoot 13% worse on those attempts than the average team!

• on the other hand, OSU forces opponents to take 23.6% of their total shots from the mid-range area around the foul line (see image below for better idea) and their opponents shoot 37.2% on them

• the D1 averages for those two stats are 8.1% and 37.8% respectively

• while the field goal percentage differential is only 0.6%, still in OSU’s favor, the fact that they are making teams shoot from this area 15.5% more often than average more than makes up for the slight discrepancy in FG%

Obviously Oregon State’s numbers look worse on defense when you only look at them versus top-100 teams (of which Wisconsin is one), but they are still a solid defensive team and the Badgers will have to work hard to score on them. Pingeton mentioned OSU’s height in the post as well as how disciplined the Beavers are in her press conference so I feel at least somewhat vindicated in my observations.

When we take a look at the other end of the court, Oregon State is also a solid offensive team. They play at an exceedingly slow pace (329th fastest nationally) and are an above average shooting team (87th nationally in eFG%) too. OSU has a balanced scoring attack with three players averaging between 12.6 and 15.1 ppg and then three more between 4.9 and 6.6 ppg.

While Oregon State plays “slow” they are an effective team in transition on the rare times they get out and run. They average 1.27 points per possession (90th percentile) when they’re in transition but only do it on 12.2% (7th percentile) of possible possessions. Those numbers are worse (1.24 PPP, 85th percentile; 11.%, 4th percentile) against top-100 competition.

Another area that the Wisconsin defense will have to be aware of is OSU’s post players setting screens and rolling to the rim. Per Hoop-Explorer, the Beavers are in the 96.7th percentile nationally for “big cut and rolls” and against top-100 teams that goes up to the 98.3rd percentile. The main instigators of this on offense are exactly who you’d expect…the star point guard and the imposing post player.

When playing against all teams, here are the numbers for Kennedie Shuler and Lizzy Williamson:

• Shuler (pick and roll passer): 2.4% of team’s plays; 1.00 adjusted points per possession

• Williamson (cut and roll big): 4.5% of team’s plays; 1.05 adjusted points per possession

Against top-100 competition, the Beavers go to this action even more often…and it is even more successful:

• Shuler (pick and roll passer): 2.9% of team’s plays; 1.00 adjusted points per possession

• Williamson (cut and roll big): 5.3% of team’s plays; 1.11 adjusted points per possession

If I’m the Badgers, I’m also keeping an eye on freshman forward Lara Alonso in these situations. While her usage on pick and rolls is considerably lower than Williamson’s, Alonso is more efficient. Gift Uchenna and Dorja Zaja are going to need to be extremely disciplined on defense to stop OSU’s bigs.

The one thing which gives me pause about some of these statistics: Oregon State’s schedule was considerably easier than Wisconsin’s, especially in conference play. The Beavers only played seven Quad 1+2 games and won only one of them (against an Illinois team that beat Wisconsin twice to be fair) while racking up 17 Quad 4 victories. The “average NET ranking” of teams OSU beat was 185th while Wisconsin’s was 170th.

OSU did have a tougher non-conference schedule than the Badgers, featuring tilts against:

• Vanderbilt (NET 7th) and Va. Tech (NET 40th) at a neutral site

• Oregon (NET 24th) on the road

• and the aforementioned Illini (NET 30th), along with Arizona State (NET 51st), at home

• a neutral site game with Montana State (NET 69th), while a Quad 3 game, was a nice win for the Beavers too

In the WCC there aren’t too many chances for marquee, resume-boosting games, but Oregon State did beat Gonzaga (NET 61st) at home in one of their three matchups and won at Pepperdine (NET 127th). Wisconsin’s non-conference schedule only featured three games against Quad 1 or 2 teams and UW lost all three (although they took Marquette to OT on the road).

However, as you may already know, the Big Ten is rife with Quality Win Opportunities and Wisconsin picked up a trio of them. The Badgers beat Michigan State (NET 17th), Oregon (NET 24th), and Nebraska (NET 28th) all at the Kohl Center but lost their other 15 top-tier games. Sheesh, that’s a lot.

The Beavers, like the Badgers, appear to play much better on their home court, racking up an 11-4 record in Corvallis this year. Away from Madison this season, UW went a dreadful 2-12 and those two wins came against Rutgers (NET 170th) and Illinos-Chicago (NET 203rd) who aren’t exactly titans of the sport.

Well, that was over 2,000 words previewing the Beavers so maybe we touch a little bit on what the Badgers need to do in order to win this one. I think Wisconsin will be able to score against Oregon State as there is only one WCC team with a higher AdjOE than the Badgers and that team (Gonzaga) beat OSU twice this year.

Badgers Ball Knower National Freshman of the Year Lauren Whittaker torched the Beavers all three times they played this year, averaging 26.0 ppg and 11.7 rpg. Whittaker is way more of a stretch big than Gift Uchenna and Dorja Zaja, but I still think there is room for Wisconsin’s two post players to do some damage. If Zaja (especially) hits a couple of elbow jumpers early in this one, the Badgers could be primed for a big scoring day.

This is something that every coach has told every team before every game in the history of basketball (probably), but I think it’s even more salient to this game and it’s: take care of the basketball. Oregon State doesn’t try and force turnovers and they, uh, succeed at that goal. Wisconsin can’t be committing unforced errors and taking away scoring opportunities, especially in a game that will most likely result in fewer possessions than they’re used to.

Zaja, and to a lesser extent Ronnie Porter and Shay Bollin, need to take this message to heart due to her insane turnover rate for a player that doesn’t dribble or pass much. Porter and Bollin both have high turnover rates but they more than make up for it on the other end of the court with their higher assist rates.

Wisconsin should also be able to find some success by hitting cutters from the perimeter against Oregon State. Destiny Howell and Kyrah Daniels, in particular, should be looking to get to the rim and I also think that Lily Krahn could surprise OSU by using pump fakes beyond the arc to open up driving lanes and attack closeouts.

On defense Wisconsin just, I don’t even know. They NEED to communicate better because that’s a key component of defense that you learn in 2nd grade and also because the Beavers will be screening a lot and that (incredibly basic and simple action) has proven to be confusing to Wisconsin this season even as we are now in the middle of God damned March.

Anyways, those are my thoughts on this game! It should be a good one and I’ll have a recap up after it’s over and hopefully another preview post to write too!