On Dec. 20, Wisconsin Women's Basketball stood at 10-2 -- its best start through 12 games since the 2009-2010 season -- and looked to be on pace to improve its record for a fourth consecutive season. Just two months later, the conversation surrounding Coach Marisa Moseley and her program has capsized.
A 3-12 conference record leaves the Badgers as one of five teams yet to clinch a spot in the Big 10 Tournament, which boasts a new format that excludes the league's bottom three teams. While Wisconsin ranks 14th in the conference, just one game separates it from the cut line, with three games remaining on the Badgers' schedule.
The first of the three remaining contests will come Sunday at the Kohl Center against Northwestern (9-16 ovr., 2-12 conf.), who is merely 0.5 games behind Wisconsin in the Big 10 Standings. The Wildcats only play one game after Sunday due to their matchups against USC and UCLA being postponed earlier in the season.
Northwestern and Wisconsin are fighting for a spot in the Big Ten Tournament
If Wisconsin were to lose Sunday, they would drop below Northwestern and be merely 0.5 games back of the 16th-placed Purdue Boilermakers, who own the head-to-head tiebreaker.
The Badgers will have to look past their recent history against the Wildcats, as Northwestern has prevailed in nine of the last 10 matchups -- including both meetings in 2023-24.
While Northwestern returns two of their top three scorers from a season ago in Caileigh Walsh and Melannie Daley to pair with Michigan transfer Taylor Williams, there are reasons to believe 2024-25 will yield a different result.
Wisconsin combined to shoot 11-for-51 (21.6 percent) on three-pointers against Northwestern last season, but the addition of Tess Myers and the emergence of Lily Krahn -- who appeared in just one of the two matchups and played four minutes -- could make a significant difference Sunday.
Northwestern also exploited the Badgers on the interior, as the Wildcats scored a combined 36 second-chance points compared to Wisconsin's 22. Carter McCray, who's averaging 3.0 offensive rebounds per game, could swing that category back in favor of the Cardinal and White.
If the Badgers can perform better in those two categories, they'd be in good shape to pull out a second straight victory. Wisconsin against Northwestern tips off at 2:00 pm on Sunday and will be broadcast on B1G+.