What to watch in the Big Ten as Wisconsin women’s basketball tries to build off its best start in 15 years

MADISON – The Wisconsin The women’s basketball team reached a minor milestone last week that speaks to the state of the Badgers’ hoops a third of the way into the season.

They received votes at USA Today Coaches Poll.

Yes, Wisconsin was playing so well that it inspired at least a few voters to include the team in their top 25 polls. UW received 15 points in the Dec. 17 poll, putting the Badgers at 31st.^st overall.

The attention was fleeting — the Badgers received no votes in this week’s poll — but the team’s success continued with a 69-59 victory over Albany on Dec. 20 to close out the non-conference portion of the schedule.

Wisconsin (10-2) is off to its best 12-game start since the 2009-10 season, the last time the Badgers made the NCAA Tournament.

The next challenge is to transfer this success to Big tenwhich has seven teams ranked in the coaches or Associated Press polls and two others receiving votes.

The conference season resumes at 1 p.m. Saturday at Indiana (9-3, 1-0 Big Ten).

Here are four keys for the Badgers to continue their winning streak against the Big Ten.

Serah Williams must continue to shine

First-team All-Big Ten player and reigning conference Defensive Player of the Year, junior forward Serah Williams posts career highs in points (20), rebounds (12.3), assists (2.8) and blocks (2.83). She ranked second in the nation in rebounds per game and fifth in blocks per game.

The combination of his increase in assists and decrease in turnovers (by one per game) has left him with an assist turnover ratio of about 1-to-1 after being negative in that category in his first two seasons.

She needs to continue to be the player counted on to produce consistently.

Continue to make good decisions with the ball

Williams isn’t the only Badger doing a better job eliminating turnovers. It’s a trend that runs through the entire team.

UW has nine players playing an average of 10 minutes per game. Three of those players have positive assist turnover ratios — Williams, junior point guard Ronnie Porter and graduate guard Halle Douglass — while senior Natalie Leuzinger and graduate Tess Myers are close to 1-to-1 while recording heavy minutes.

Douglass ranks fifth in the Big Ten at 3.2-to-1 and Porter is sixth at 3.18-to-1.

UW averages 13.6 turnovers per game, almost five fewer than last season. That’s five more chances to score and fewer chances for opponents to get the easy breakaway points that sometimes come from turnovers.

Carter McCray makes smooth transition to championship

Moving from the Horizon League to the Big Ten is a major jump, but sophomore Carter McCray’s transition has been smooth so far. The 6-foot-1 center who played at Northern Kentucky last season is second on the team in scoring (11.4 points per game) and rebounds (7.7 points per game) and shooting percentage. .683 shooting is by far the highest on the team.

There will be bigger bodies to compete against in Big Ten play, but she enters the resumption of league play with a momentum. Over the last five games, she has averaged 16 points and eight rebounds and made 79% (34 of 43) of her shots.

Continue playing at the end of the game

Wisconsin has been good in the clutch this season. The Badgers are 3-1 in games decided by five points or fewer and six of their victories have come by 10 points or fewer.

In last week’s win over Albany, UW outscored the Danes by nine in the final 4 ½ minutes. In a 66-64 victory against Rutgers On December 8, the Badgers blew an 11-point lead early in the fourth quarter and trailed by three with 94 seconds left before rallying to secure the victory.

VOTE: Who deserves the honor of Wisconsin Sports Team of the Year?

Between the Rutgers and Albany games, there was a double overtime victory against Butler on the road.

The first step for Wisconsin will be to have the lead or be within reach throughout games. But then his ability to make winning plays at the end of the game will have to continue to manifest itself.

The Badgers may be an improved team, but there probably won’t be many blowout wins in its Big Ten future.

This article originally appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 4 things to watch as Wisconsin women’s basketball returns to Big Ten play