The second to last college basketball championship was decided yesterday. In front of a school record 15,462 fans (including several enthusiastic UW football players) Wyoming topped Wisconsin 72-56 to claim the WNIT post-season title.
"I’m so proud, and for us to come and play our game and be able to win is just the best feeling I've ever felt playing basketball," said Zavecz.
Wisconsin struggled to overcome the early loss of point guard Rae Lin D'Alie to injury. The Badgers committed 14 turnovers and had only seven assists as, versus Wyoming’s 20 assists and 10 turnovers. Jolene Anderson scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and broke the WNIT individual scoring record with 129 points, topping the mark of 116 set by Southwest Missouri State's Jenny Lingor in 2005.
The win -- and the enormous crowd -- caps a long journey for coach Legerski.
"I have friends that drove six hours one way to witness this game and they’ll turn around and go six hours home tonight," said Wyoming coach Joe Legerski. "That’s just living in Wyoming and sharing in the success of this university."Jodi Bolerjack scored 16 points, tournament MVP Hanna Zavecz scored 12 points, and Justyna Podziemska added 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists to lead a balanced attack against the Badgers.
"I’m so proud, and for us to come and play our game and be able to win is just the best feeling I've ever felt playing basketball," said Zavecz.
Wisconsin struggled to overcome the early loss of point guard Rae Lin D'Alie to injury. The Badgers committed 14 turnovers and had only seven assists as, versus Wyoming’s 20 assists and 10 turnovers. Jolene Anderson scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and broke the WNIT individual scoring record with 129 points, topping the mark of 116 set by Southwest Missouri State's Jenny Lingor in 2005.
The win -- and the enormous crowd -- caps a long journey for coach Legerski.
"There's no way you could envision what is happening with this WNIT run," he said. "We hoped to build our fan base to where we could get 2,500 on a given night. We did that this year. It's a big part of what we want to get accomplished.
"But this has become an event and is truly something special. I've been talking to the players, telling them they need to enjoy this run while it's happening."