MADISON – The key, Kyrah Daniels says, is to stay together and stay in the moment.
The Wisconsin women’s basketball team hasn’t won since it upset Nebraska on Jan. 21. That’s a run of six games, an almost month of setbacks that have been a mix of non-competitive games on the road and a couple of oh-so-close contests at home that could have gone the Badgers’ way with a favorable bounce or two.
But the 2025-26 season has been as much about establishing the new coaching staff’s culture as it has been about winning games. What that culture looks like was shaped during a team retreat last June.
Tough times like this are when the Badgers must put those ideas into practice.
“I think really being present in the moment and coming alongside each other when we’re down. That’s really helpful,” said Daniels, a junior guard. “It’s way easier to do it when you have someone behind you besides you instead of by yourself.”
The losses have dropped Wisconsin to 13-13 overall and 5-10 in the Big Ten heading into a California road trip that begins at USC at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19, and then stops at No. 2 UCLA at 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Feb. 22.
After that the Badgers return home for the regular-season finale against Iowa on March 1.
That run is arguably Wisconsin’s toughest stretch of games this season. UCLA is ranked No. 2 in the USA Today coaches poll and has a No. 2 NET ranking. Iowa is No. 12 in both rankings. USC is No. 21 in the NET ranking and has won five straight.
“I think when you really are intentional about building that culture in the locker room, I think it shows up in times like this,” Wisconsin coach Robin Pingeton said. “The resiliency. We’ve got an incredible group of young ladies in that locker room.
“We talk a lot about living your life based on principles and not emotions in those moments where you’re frustrated, you’re mad, you’re disappointed, you’re angry, to just really show up and live in the standards that we’ve talked about in June.”
Signs of that resiliency have been on display all season.
The Badgers came back from double-digits to beat Rutgers on the road Jan. 1. They rallied from nine points down in the fourth quarter to beat Penn State by a point on Jan. 4. And they responded to disappointing losses at Michigan and Northwestern with wins over Oregon on Jan. 18 and Nebraska on Jan. 21.
And earlier in the year they defeated Michigan State, ranked No. 20 by the Associated Press, for their first ranked win in two seasons.
The Badgers’ resume is solid, especially considering only one of their players, senior point guard Ronnie Porter, had extensive experience playing in the Big Ten.
“We’ve had great games. We’ve had bad games, but just finishing this season knowing what we’re capable of going into every game like it’s the first game…,” Porter said. “Just have that dawg mentality. We’re very capable of it.”
That toughness has put Wisconsin in good position to gain a spot in the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament, the NCAA’s second-tier postseason tournament. Through Feb. 17, the Badgers’ NCAA NET ranking was 88th.
The team is also closing in on guaranteeing itself a spot in the Big Ten tournament. Only the top 15 teams will qualify. Wisconsin is 13th in the standings and looks in good shape with three games to go.
Two teams directly behind UW, Purdue (4-10) and Indiana (3-12) would gain the higher seed in the event of a tie with the Badgers. So would Northwestern (2-12), which is mathematically alive but unlikely to catch the Badgers given its remaining schedule.
The easiest path for that Big Ten tournament berth, however, will be for Wisconsin to score one more win. But even without it, the process building the program will continue.
“We don’t like to lose,” Pingeton said. “Losing is no fun, but it’s part of the journey that we have in building this program.
“Keeping things in perspective I think is really important. Right now it’s basketball. Later on it’s going to be life. It’s going to come a lot harder than that scoreboard does. How we can continue to put our shoulders up (and) our back, and soldier on and be the best version of ourselves for each other becomes really, really important.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin women’s basketball leans on its budding culture in tough times
Reporting by Mark Stewart, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
