roster, schedule, stats, awards

1997 opened with one of the most memorable moments in Wisconsin Women's Basketball history.  The Badgers beat Stanford.  The traditionally lowly Badgers beat the mighty Cardinal.  Jane Albright beat Tara Vandeveer.  It was a moment that long-time Badger fans relished.  Unfortunately, it was also the highlight of the season.

With guard Katie Voigt returning after missing a season with an acl tear, the expectations were high when the season opened.  But 6'5 Amy Wiersma suffered a severe hand injury before the season got underway and missed the first half of the year.  It was a team dominated by seniors Voigt and Ann Klapperich.  The two put up huge numbers, but they were both emotional players who were not always able to control those emotions.  Rather than being able to use their emotions to lead their teammates, the two both allowed the emotions to control them.  The result was uneven performances and results.

The 97 version of the Badgers could score.  But they did not always defend well.  They were a slow team.  Team leaders Klapperich and Voigt were slow and slower.  They struggled against more athletic teams.  The team also frequently lacked poise.  They lost several games because they either totally collapsed under or were not able to execute plays in the closing moments.

After beating what turned out to be a down Stanford team, the Badgers ran off eight more wins before running into powerhouse Tennessee at the Northern Lights Tournament in Anchorage.  The Lady Vols exposed Wisconsin lack of poise and lack of ballhandling and easily beat Bucky.  

The Badgers continued to stumble when the conference season started, as they started out 0-3.  But the team did right itself and won 9 or their last 13 Big 10 games.  A real key was the development of freshman LaTonya Sims.  Sims gave the team a third consistent scorer and provided much needed athleticism.  On her way to being named the league's top freshman, Sims became more and more important to the team.  It could be easily argued that she was the squad's top player by year's end.  

The highlight of the conference season was the game against Illinois.  In a game that kept the Illini from tying Iowa for the league championship, the Badgers rallied to win by 4.  It was a game that highlighted the best and worst of the seniors.  Both Voigt and Klapperich lost control of themselves emotionally and struggled badly early in the game.  But both were able to get themselves under control and they led the team to the year's most exciting win.  When the team followed that up with a win over down-but-never out, they put themselves in a position to secure a NCAA bid.  A first round win over Minnesota in the Big 10 tournament, guaranteed that the Badgers would go dancing.  

But the Badgers did not acquit themselves well.  They played a talented, hard-working Virginia Tech team.  Wisconsin simply did not compete.  Voigt and Klapperich tried to carry the team, but neither was performing well enough to accomplish that.  Freshman Sims, who was performing well, went long stretches without touching the ball.  As the game got later, the seniors pressed more, performed less and the freshman was not allowed to get enough shots.  The season, which had started out on such a high note, ended with a thud.  

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* Dead River Classic Orono, Maine
^ Northern Lights Tournament, Anchorage, Alaska
** Big 10 Tournament
& NCAA Tournament

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