The numbers don't lie.

Take a peek at them and you can see why this weekend is such a crucial one for the University of Wisconsin women's basketball team.

The Badgers began the Big Ten Conference season -- one with higher expectations than any in coach Lisa Stone's five-year tenure -- with a trip to West Lafayette, Ind., for Friday's game with Purdue before busing to Champaign, Ill., for Sunday night's game against Illinois.

That's not an easy way to start the conference season, especially for a UW team that perennially has struggled on the road.

"I really don't know what it is," Badgers senior guard Janese Banks said after Wednesday's practice. "But I definitely know that that's what wins championships. You've got to win your games on the road. That's what you do to win any championship."

The last time UW posted a winning record on the road in Big Ten play was the 2000-01 season, when Jane Albright's team went 5-3.

The Badgers have won only two conference road games in the past three seasons. Those wins came last season against Northwestern and Michigan -- the Big Ten's worst teams.

In UW's first year under Stone, it won just one Big Ten road game.

The Badgers are 7-26 on the road in conference play under Stone, and 13-37 in all road games.

"It's a brand new year though," Stone said Wednesday. "That's what I told them. I said, 'Enough of that. I don't want to be in that position anymore. That's over with.' We've learned from that, it's a brand new year."

So far, though, the new has looked a lot like the old.

UW stumbled its way to a 65-48 loss to Purdue Friday night.

The Badgers opened the season Nov. 9 with an 82-62 victory at Cleveland State -- a game that was much closer than the final score indicated -- before losing at Marquette 67-53 eight days later.

UW's only other road game before Friday was an 84-60 loss at Virginia Nov. 30.

Those results are somewhat surprising given the factors the Badgers have working in their favor. UW has three senior starters in Banks, guard Jolene Anderson and forward Danielle Ward.

The Badgers also have more depth than they've ever had under Stone.

Friday, though, Anderson shot just 3-for-13 for six points -- snapping her streak of consecutive games in double figures at 39 -- although she did grab eight rebounds and had four assists and three steals. Banks was 3-for-9 for nine points.

And UW's bench combined for just four points on 2-for-15 shooting.

The good news for the Badgers (7-4 overall, 0-1 Big Ten) is they've fared well against the Illini (9-3, 1-0) in Champaign of late, winning two of the three games in Stone's tenure.

"This is going to prove our toughness right now," Stone said. "We've got to be tough on the road. You have to flex your muscles, roll up your sleeves and go to work all the time, but especially on the road. You've got to come ready to play. You can't not be ready. It's too exciting, there's too much there."