Wisconsin senior guard Jolene Anderson's basketball resume reads something like this: Three time member of the USA Basketball U21 Pan American team; member of the 2007 All-Big Ten First Team; fastest UW female player to score 1,500 career points; and, among other things, 2007 Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year.

But one feat that Anderson has yet to accomplish is beating the Marquette Golden Eagles.

Anderson's 37-point performance in the Badgers' season opener against Cleveland State on Nov. 9 fueled the buildup to Saturday's match-up between Wisconsin and Marquette. While the performance turned out to be fairly one-sided—Marquette won 67-53—it was no less entertaining than it was billed to be.

"It was really exciting," said Golden Eagles' junior guard Krystal Ellis. Wisconsin was "ranked No. 25 so we just had to keep going. We were excited to play them."

It showed. The Golden Eagles came out firing on all cylinders on both ends of the court. With 7:14 left in the first half Ellis hit three straight shots from behind the arc and ended the half with 21 of Marquette's 37 points.

"Krystal understands that of everyone on the team, she has the most game experience," said head coach Terri Mitchell. "Where Marissa (Thrower) and Erin (Monfre) and Svetlana (Kovalenko) played support roles to all of those great seniors that we had, Krystal was with them every minute of the day."

Ellis was the team's leading scorer last season, but this year teams are game planning just for her.

"What we told Krystal is just work hard everyday at practice," Mitchell said. "You're the one that is being exposed. ESPN is talking about you. Your name is floating out there. You can never take a day off."

In the team's season opener against Concordia, Ellis put up 12 points while four other players reached double digits. But against Wisconsin, Ellis was fueled by the hype of her Wisconsin counterpart, Anderson.

"She did make the Pan Am teams and I didn't, so it was a big deal," Ellis said. "I knew (Anderson) came in being the prolific player she is, the scorer, the Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year, so I was like I know what I have to do. Luckily I was on the entire first half."

Anderson's performance—21 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals—was not enough to keep the Badgers' No. 25 rank intact. Ellis, on the other hand, has the Golden Eagles heading in that direction.

"Krystal is a great player," said Badgers head coach Lisa Stone. "She's All-Big East for a reason. The fact that she got hot from three right away in the first half was frightening for us."

While Mitchell is pleased to see her team leader step up, she will continue to stress balance while going on the road for the first time this season. The Golden Eagles will play Oregon today then Gonzaga on Friday.

"The great thing about our team is when somebody is on they're going to get them the ball," Mitchell said. "On Monday night Ellis got everybody else involved and we had five players in double figures. That was leadership."