Alabama Women’s Basketball to Take on Wisconsin

The Alabama women’s basketball team (5-0) will play its second road game of the season this weekend when the Crimson Tide travels to Wisconsin to take on the Badgers (3-3) on Saturday. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. CT in the Kohl Center.

 Saturday’s contest between Alabama and Wisconsin will be the first between the two programs. The Tide owns a 10-5 record all time vs. opponents from the Big Ten Conference. 

Alabama has gotten off to a hot start in 2012 as it is averaging 85.4 points per game, a mark that leads the Southeastern Conference and ranks fifth in the nation. The Tide’s 18.4 steals per game are also a league and NCAA best.

 Last time out, Alabama dominated Southeastern Louisiana in a 97-62 rout. The Tide had five players finish in double figures. Senior Meghan Perkins also added a game-high eight rebounds a career-best seven steals, while sophomore Daisha Simmons dished out game-high eight assists while recording five steals. As a team, Alabama shot 52.7 percent from the floor, its best effort of the season thus far, forced 31 Lady Lion turnovers and collected 25 assists.

 Junior Shafontaye Myers leads the Tide in scoring on the season with an average of 15.6 points. She is followed by junior Jasmine Robinson, who adds 15.2 points per contest. Sophomore Kaneisha Horn has been Alabama’s leader in rebounds with an average of 6.8 boards per game.

 Wisconsin enters Saturday’s game having lost two of its last three, including a 47-38 loss at Virginia Tech on Wednesday. The Badgers shot 30.0 percent from the floor overall and 10.5 percent from three-point range. Junior Morgan Paige led Wisconsin in scoring with 12 points, and senior Tiera Stephen collected a game-high seven rebounds. 

For the season, the Badgers are averaging 57.5 points while allowing only 54.0 per game. Paige leads the team in points, averaging 14.3 per game and is followed by senior Taylor Wurtz, who chips in 12.6 points per contest. Both Wurtz and sophomore AnnMarie Brown contribute 7.0 rebounds per game, while Stephen has handed out a team-high 4.5 assists per outing.