Before every game, they're scrawled on a board in the locker room.

And how closely the University of Wisconsin women's basketball team's play on the court matches up to that series of numbers plays a large part in how the Badgers view their performance.

For instance, last week the numbers read something like this before UW opened its season at Cleveland State: 45, 25, 15 - as in 45 points allowed, 25 turnovers forced and a rebounding margin of plus-15.

''We know from the get-go what we have to hold them under,'' Badgers senior guard Jolene Anderson said.

What transpired on the Wolstein Center court didn't quite match, even though the Badgers beat the Vikings 82-62. UW reached its rebounding goal, with a 54-39 advantage, and forced 20 turnovers. But the Badgers gave up 62 points - 36 of which came in the first half - to a Cleveland State team that's expected to finish near the bottom of the Horizon League.

''I don't think our defense left the Kohl Center, going on the bus on the way to Cleveland,'' Anderson said.

So the 25th-ranked Badgers, who cracked The Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in nearly five years this week, have plenty of work to do heading into Saturday's game against Marquette at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

UW coach Lisa Stone was particularly disappointed with her team's on-ball defense. The undersized Vikings gave the Badgers trouble with their quickness and penetrating offense, at times using five guards on the floor at the same time. That left UW's post players trying to guard much smaller and faster adversaries.

''I think that they surprised us in their quickness and athleticism, yet at the same time I don't think we did anything that we wanted to defensively,'' said Badgers assistant coach Tasha McDowell, who is the team's defensive coordinator. ''We did have matchup problems with some of our big kids guarding smaller players that looked like guards, and we didn't handle their penetration very well.''

And while Marquette won't use such a drastically small lineup, the Golden Eagles have a quick group of guards headlined by junior point guard Krystal Ellis, an AP honorable mention All-American after averaging 18.0 points per game last season.

So the Badgers had better resolve their defensive problems quickly if they're going to reach the lofty goals they set before the year. After ranking fifth in the Big Ten Conference in scoring defense last season at 62.9 points per game, they're looking to shave that number down to around 58 per contest.

Purdue (54.6 per game), Ohio State (57.5) and Michigan State (58.7) were the top three teams in the Big Ten last year in scoring defense. All three made the NCAA tournament.

Of the 38 NCAA Division I teams that held their opponents to an average of less than 58 points per game last season, 13 were from the six power conferences. All 13 of those teams qualified for the NCAA tournament, with 11 of them winning at least one game and four of them - North Carolina, Tennessee, LSU and Rutgers - advancing to the Final Four.

But if they're going to fulfill that season-long target, the Badgers will need to start by hitting their game-by-game goals.

''I think it's good our kids target it, because if they do look at the scoreboard, I want them to see how many points we've given up,'' Stone said. ''We make it a focal point.''

Spencer to transfer

Stone announced Friday that redshirt sophomore guard Christine Spencer has been granted a release to transfer.

Spencer, who played in four games last season before taking a medical redshirt because of a hip injury, didn't play in UW's opening game because of an illness.

She will finish the fall semester at UW before transferring. A news release said Spencer's decision was for personal reasons.