The Wisconsin women's basketball team is now two games into the season, and while the first game was a bit of a "grind it out" to get the win, the second was about as easy as they come. Robin Pingeton really seems to have a squad that will be able to compete with any of the big programs and maybe even have the juice to do more than just compete.
After two games, these are the four thoughts that are sticking out about the Lady Badgers.
1. Teagan Mallegni is an absolute star
If you haven't noticed what Iowa transfer Teagan Mallegni is up to, you need to tune in. She's turning into an absolute star at Wisconsin. Against Bradley, she stuffed the box score with all sorts of stats and then did it again against Oakland. She was the leading scorer in both games. Here's what she put up in each game:
Against Bradley, Game 1:
17 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block
Against Oakland, Game 2:
24 points, 11 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block
2. Wisconsin needs to get healthy
Wisconsin was missing five players in the very first game against Bradley, including pretty much all their primary bigs. Pingeton mentioned in the post-game presser that she was worried about where the rebounds would be coming from with so many bigs missing.
Shay Bollin came back in game two against Oakland and came off the bench. She was great in her return with 13 points and 6 rebounds. Wisconsin is still missing Kyrah Daniels, Kadidia Toure, Dorja Zaja, and Alba Martin Mesa for various reasons. This team will look different when even just a few of them come back.
3. Rebounding may be a problem until the bigs come back
It may feel weird to say this is a problem after Wisconsin outrebounded Oakland 46-24. However, the Badgers have a ton of height on Oakland. The Golden Grizzlies only have one starter over 6'0, and their leading rebounder is 5'11 (Layla Gold).
The first game against Bradley was terrible for the Badgers' rebounding. Wisconsin was outrebounded 39-33. So, seeing the noticeable improvement from the Badgers between games one and two is huge. Now it needs to continue against Grambling in a couple of days.
The big improvement will come when Wisconsin gets the injured bigs back, specifically Kadidia Toure and Dorja Zaja. There hasn't been a timetable mentioned for when they will come back, but that will help tremendously. Until then, it's a full team effort, and Pingeton has mentioned it's been a big emphasis this week.
4. Turnovers need to be cleaned up
You can't love all the turnovers; while some will happen, it's not good to tie your opponent in turnovers. Against Bradley, it was fine with only eight turnovers, but against Oakland things got sloppy despite the big lead. Wisconsin had 17 turnovers, which was equal to what Oakland had. That's not ideal and will be something you want to see cleaned up as the non-conference schedule is headed towards harder games in a couple of weeks.
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