Categories
Sports

Women's Basketball: Keeping the Trajectory Arrow Straight Up

  • Post Author
    by Sports director
  • Post Date
    Mon Oct 28 2024

By: Krissy Birdsall (@KrissyBirdsall)

Serah Williams celebrates a made-basket with Natalie Leuzinger during exhibition game against UW-Whitewater (photo by Krissy Birdsall)

Wisconsin women's basketball is looking to build something special at the Kohl Center.

The Badgers return to the court on Oct. 29 for their first game of the season – an exhibition match against UW-Stevens Point. Year 51 of Wisconsin women's basketball looks to build upon the success of the last year, returning key players and adding new stars amidst a new era of college women's basketball.

“I think the progress so far has been just trying to do it brick by brick,” Wisconsin head coach Marisa Moseley said during women's basketball Big Ten Media Day on Oct. 2. “Going into this year… knowing that we're building something really special, in order to do that we need to have a strong foundation.” 

Looking ahead to opening tipoff, here are the top storylines for Wisconsin women's basketball as they enter the 2024-25 season:

Wisconsin looking to build off WNIT success in 2024-25

The Wisconsin women's basketball team enters the year coming off another historic season for the program. The Badgers finished the season with a record of 15-17 and 6-12 in Big Ten play, which included wins over NCAA Tournament team South Dakota State, WBIT champion Illinois and WBIT semifinalist Penn State. The cardinal and white earned a bid to the WNIT – their first postseason tournament appearance since 2011. 

In the WNIT, Wisconsin made the most of their postseason appearance by advancing to the Great Eight before falling to St. Louis 65-60 at the Kohl Center.

For Wisconsin head coach Marisa Moseley, yearly improvement is all part of the plan to rebuild this Badgers program.

“By the end of the year we want to be playing our best basketball, and we were able to do that,” Moseley said during women's basketball Big Ten Media Day. “Each year we know that we want to take a step forward. We want to have an upper trajectory.”

Wisconsin returns three starters for 2024-25

The Badgers return a core of players from last year's squad, headlined by Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Serah Williams. Amongst the returning starters include junior guard Ronnie Porter and fifth-year Natalie Leuzinger.

Serah Williams enters year three with the Badgers coming off a monumental 2023-24 campaign. The junior forward averaged 17.4 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game her sophomore season. William's 84 total blocks last year led the Big Ten conference and helped her earn Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-Big Ten honors. Williams comes into the 2024-25 season after spending a summer in Mexico City representing Team USA as part of the 3×3 Nations League team. 

Ronnie Porter will look to build upon her success in 2023-24 as she enters her second year as the starting point guard for the Badgers. The Big Ten Honorable Mention guard played the second most minutes per game in the Big Ten (35) last season,  averaging 10.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game. 

Wisconsin's returning starters round out with graduate senior Natalie Leuzinger, who opted to play for the Badgers in her fifth and final year. Leuzinger has increased her role year-by-year, earning her place in the starting five in 2023-24. Last season, the 5-foot-8 guard played 32 games, starting 29, and averaged 7.7 points, 3 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.

Wisconsin's other returning players include Halle Douglass, D'Yanis Jimenez, Tessa Grady, Lily Krahn and Leena Patibandla. 

The Badgers will look to fill in the gaps of two starting positions vacated by Brooke Schrameck, who graduated from Wisconsin this spring, and Sania Copeland, who transferred from Wisconsin to Kansas this offseason.

Wisconsin adds five freshman, two transfers to roster

Seven new players join Wisconsin's squad for the 2024-25 season. Amongst the incoming Badgers, two transfers will be looking to make a splash in Madison: Carter McCray from Northern Kentucky and Tess Myers from Duquesne.

McCray, a 6-foot-1 center, joins the cardinal and white after playing one year for the Norse. In her freshman season, McCray earned Horizon League Freshman of the Year honors, leading the team with 17.1 points and 11.2 rebounds per game. Additionally, she led all freshmen in the nation in total rebounds (346) and double-doubles (17). 

Tess Myers signed with the Badgers this spring after spending four years at Duquesne. The 5-foot-9 guard averaged 10 points and 3.5 rebounds per game throughout her career for the Dukes. In her senior season, she averaged 7.9 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.

Wisconsin's incoming freshman class includes Alie Bisballe, Gracie Grzesk, Alba Martín Mesa, Jovana Spasovski and Reese Jaramillo.

Assistant coach Forenza Jerro joins Badgers' coaching staff

Marisa Moseley added a new assistant coach to her staff  this spring, bringing in Frozena Jerro from Cleveland State on May 28. Jerro spent six years as an assistant coach at Cleveland State, winning the Horizon League regulation season championship in 2024, and the Horizon League tournament in 2023.

Jerro's career prior to Cleveland state included coast-to-coast assistant coaching stints at UIC, NJIT, UNLV, Cal-State Northridge and the University of Houston.

Jerro joins assistant coaches Marget McKeon and Jaime Gluesing for the 2024-25 season.

Matchups of note:

  • Oct. 29 – Wisconsin vs. UW-Stevens Point (exhibition)
  • Nov. 5 – Wisconsin vs. Wright State (season opener)
  • Nov. 28-30 – Wisconsin vs. San Diego State, Providence & VCU in Cancun (Cancun Challenge)
  • Dec. 8 – Wisconsin vs. Rutgers (Big Ten opener)
  • Feb. 26 – Wisconsin vs. UCLA (regular season home finale)
  • March 2 – Wisconsin at Iowa (regular season finale)
  • March 5-9 – Wisconsin at Gainbridge Fieldhouse (Big Ten Tournament)

TAGS

BADGERS BASKETBALL SERAH WILLIAMS WISCONSIN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

-