Let's clarify one thing right away.

Yes, Teah Gant pulled an all-nighter the night before she made her first collegiate start for the University of Wisconsin women 's basketball team.

But the computer science exam she was studying for was at 7:45 in the morning -- giving her all day to sleep and still be ready to go for the Badgers ' Nov. 20 game against Wyoming.

"I wouldn't suggest anybody do that," the sophomore guard said with a smile. "I guess that's like a one-time thing. Luckily I was able to have a good game, but that was probably not smart."

Intelligence, though, is a quality Gant -- who had six points, two rebounds and two assists in UW's 67-66 overtime loss to the Cowgirls -- definitely possesses. She's an industrial engineering major and, for the record, did well on the exam in question.

Gant will likely once again be one of the first options off the Badgers' bench tonight, when UW (5-3) hosts UW-Green Bay (4-2) in a non-conference game at the Kohl Center.

Gant's statistics --2.9 points and 2.6 rebounds in 13.3 minutes per game -- aren 't flashy. But she is one of the Badgers' better defenders -- particularly on the ball -- rebounds well for a guard and can slash to the basket on the offensive end.

"After last year the phrase we coined with (Gant) was, 'You're the X-factor,' " Stone said. "And I think she wants that role and has had some early struggles in terms of how well she can do and what she's done. I've been very pleased. I think Teah has given us that spark that we've needed at the right time."

She gave the Badgers a spark in their 74-60 win over Air Force Sunday, chipping in seven points on 3-for-4 shooting, dishing out two assists and blocking a team-high two shots.

And four of Gant's six points against Wyoming came late in the second half, a spurt that included a mid-range jump shot -- the part of her game she's been working on the most since coming to UW.

Gant said repetition has been the biggest key, because in high school and AAU ball she was able to get away with mainly driving to the basket. She's tried to focus more on her arm extension and follow-through, though the results this season have been mixed. Gant is shooting just 34.8 percent from the field (8-for-23) and 50 percent from the free throw line (7-for-14).

But if she's looking for a blueprint on how to improve in that area, the player she generally replaces on the floor -- senior guard Janese Banks -- has already mapped one out. Banks, the Badgers' second-leading scorer, shot 37 percent from the field (24.6 from the 3-point line) as a freshman and 36.6 as a sophomore (20.4).

But as a junior, Banks connected at a 43.4 percent clip and made 37.3 percent of her 3s. And after a shaky start to this season, Banks is shooting 45.6 percent (26-for-57) over the last four games and has nailed seven of her 12 3-point tries during that span.

"I don't know how well (Gant) feels she's shooting individually, but I think even just taking the shot and making her be a threat, it makes defenses have to guard her," Banks said. "They can't just back off of her."