When the Wisconsin women’s basketball team returned from its California trip Feb. 22, its losing streak was up to eight games and its ticket to the Big Ten tournament still had not been punched.
But chalk up Dorja Zaja’s continued emergence during the two-game trip as a win for the program.
The Badgers’ 6-foot-3 freshman center heads into the regular-season finale against Iowa on March 1 averaging 13 points during the last four games. Before that the native of Zagreb, Croatia, never scored in double figures.
The additional production is much needed by a team that has scored 60 points or fewer six times during its losing streak.
“Doria’s playing with such great pace, being a lot more aggressive and physical offensively,” UW coach Robin Pingeton said on the Badgers’ postgame radio show after the USC game Feb. 19.
Zaja’s promise was on display during the Badgers’ 80-60 loss to No. 2 UCLA at Pauley Pavillion in Los Angeles on Feb. 22.
She finished with 16 points in a career-high 21 minutes. She made 7 of 12 shots, including her first 3-pointer, grabbed four rebounds that included three off the offensive glass and dished out two assists.
That performance came immediately after Zaja finished with 13 points on 7-for-10 shooting in a seven-point loss to USC on Feb. 19. Her production in those games came in a variety of ways.
In addition to creating chances for herself by moving without the ball, Zaja showed patience in the paint that helped her finish effectively.
At UCLA she also attacked the basket with her dribble, on one occasion going from the 3-point line all the way to the hoop for a layup. That game followed an effort at USC where she confidently shot from the top of the key and showed off a fallaway jumper that she hit twice.
Her play came in two games when UW trailed throughout but was competitive. At UCLA, it was an 11-point game with 3 minutes to go.
In both cases Wisconsin stayed competitive without big performances from its top scorers. On Sunday senior Destiny Howell and junior Kyrah Daniels, who entered play combining for 27 of the Badgers’ 69.4 points per game, hit 4 of 20 shots and went 2 for 12 from 3-point range.
Howell entered the week averaging 13.8 points with Daniels averaging 12.5. In the last four games, however, no Badger has scored more than Zaja, who has hit 62% of her shots (23 of 37) in those games.
“Doria’s got a really unique skill set,” Pingeton said. “I think she’s a really good passer, has the ability to play with her back to the basket and the part that you haven’t seen that we continue to just really challenge her on is she’s got the ability to shoot the 3 ball.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Promising freshman Dorja Zaja gives Wisconsin glimpse of the future
Reporting by Mark Stewart, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
