It was really a pretty simple play.

Tara Steinbauer flashed into the lane, took a pass from Janese Banks and converted the layup while absorbing some contact.

But sequences like that one — just a snippet from Steinbauer's first start for the University of Wisconsin women's basketball team — have been absent from a good percentage of the Badgers' first six games.

No, there wasn't anything too flashy about Steinbauer's game against Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne. But her 16-point, six-rebound performance in UW's 85-69 win Sunday contained the sort of grit and efficiency that the Badgers (3-3) have lacked down low.

Steinbauer converted on seven of her nine field-goal attempts, and most were like the aforementioned play, which capped a run of seven straight points by the freshman forward to open the game.

"I just try to make hard cuts, get open, flash," said Steinbauer, who's averaging seven points per game heading into Tuesday night's non-conference matchup against UW-Milwaukee (2-3) at the Kohl Center.

"She catches the ball and she finishes," UW coach Lisa Stone said. "It's pretty simple."

And yet the Badgers have struggled up to this point to find a consistent threat in the post. But if Sunday afternoon was an indication of things to come, then Steinbauer might be capable of alleviating that problem.

She's shooting 62.5 percent from the field on the season, and is averaging a point every two minutes of action.

"She finishes," said Banks, a senior guard. "Not that our other post players don't, but I think Tara's very aggressive, and she'll go after it. Even if she misses, she's going to miss going hard. She'll sacrifice her body to get the ball on the block."

Steinbauer began the year with a nine-point, eight-rebound game against Cleveland State in UW's opener. But she slipped into what she called a funk and struggled in limited action against Marquette, didn't play in the Badgers' 67-66 overtime loss to Wyoming, and missed her only shot against Mississippi.

But after getting some helpful advice from UW freshman point guard Alyssa Karel, Steinbauer's AAU teammate, who told her to "play the way you (did) in high school, that's who they recruited," Steinbauer responded by scoring 10 points against Virginia.

"Last week in practice, something switched and I just got all fired up," she said.

That's a common occurrence for Steinbauer, who has what Stone calls a "bubbly" personality.

"But when she gets on the court, she'll knock your head off," Stone said.

Karel, when asked about Steinbauer's aggressiveness, recalled a preseason scrimmage. Karel was bringing the ball up against sophomore point guard Rae Lin D'Alie, and ran off a Steinbauer screen.

"All of a sudden I hear just, 'Bam,' on the ground," Karel said. "We all stop and Rae Lin is just flat on the ground and Tara is just standing above her."

Now Steinbauer, who at 6-foot-1 is slightly undersized for a post player, is trying to use that aggressive approach to improve her rebounding. After she grabbed only one rebound in the first half against IPFW, Badgers assistant coach Donna Freitag pulled her aside and challenged her to do more.

Steinbauer's response? She pulled down five in the second half.

"Tara's definitely one of those people who, no matter what she has going against her, if she has a bad game, she's going to get it done," Karel said. "In all the years I've played with her, she's gone through obstacles, and in the end, she just knows how to score and she knows how to play, and regardless of what anybody tells her, she will be able to do it. I knew it was going to happen. It was just a matter of time."