March 16, 2002
GAME: No. 9 Arizona St. (24-8) vs. No. 8 Wisconsin (19-11).
REGIONAL: Midwest, First Round.
TIME: Saturday, 7:05 p.m. EST.
SITE: Memorial Gymnasium, Nashville, Tenn.
A less-than impressive end to its season has Wisconsin grateful for the chance to face Pac-10 tourney champion Arizona State in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Despite losing nine of their last 10 regular-season games - all but two by double digits - the Badgers received the No. 8 seed in the Midwest region.
"It's just a chance to prove what type of team this is," senior forward Tamara Moore said. "I don't think we go in there anxious or urgent or anything like that. We're just going to know that everybody's 0-0, and it's a chance to prove a little bit more."
Wisconsin needed wins over Northwestern and Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament just to ensure an invitation to the NCAA tournament.
"Last year was my first time there," said senior Jessie Stomski, the team leader in scoring and rebounding with 18.3 points and 8.9 boards a contest. "For a lot of people on the team, it was their first time in the tournament. So this time we know what to expect and we're ready to get a win in that environment."
In five previous tournament appearances, Wisconsin has never advanced past the second round.
Coming off their upset of second-ranked Stanford in the championship game of the inaugural Pac-10 conference tourney, Arizona State is searching for its first NCAA win since 1983.
The Sun Devils have turned in the team's first back-to-back 20-win seasons since 1981-82 and 1982-83 and notched the most victories in a season in 19 years.
Arizona State is led by the senior duo of guard Amanda Levens, the team's leading scorer at 17.1 points game, and center Melody Johnson, the team's leading rebounder at 6.7 a contest.
In the Pac-10 title game, Levens scored 17 of her 22 points in the second half as the Sun Devils ended second-ranked Stanford's 22-game winning streak.
Wisconsin coach Jane Albright knows all about Levens, even though the two schools haven't faced each other.
When Albright coached at Northern Illinois University from 1992 to 1995, Levens, was a regular at Albright's youth basketball camps.
"She's a great player," Albright said. "She's a fifth-year senior, who's very mature. She's a great inside-outside player and a very, very good guard."
PROBABLE STARTERS: Arizona St. - F Betsy Boardman (9.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg), F Cian Carvalho (8.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg), C Johnson (12.1 ppg, 6.7 rpg), G Levens (17.1 ppg, 4.7 apg), G Kylan Loney (4.7 ppg, 3.2 apg. Wisconsin - F Stomski (18.3 ppg, 8.9 rpg), F Kristi Seeger (3.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg), C Emily Ashbaugh (6.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg), G Moore (16.7 ppg, 6.1 apg), G Kyle Black (12.1 ppg).
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Arizona St. - Automatic bid, Pac-10 Conference champion. Wisconsin - At-large bid, Big Ten Conference.
ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT RECORD: Arizona St. - 2-4, 4 years. Wisconsin - 2-5, 5 years.