It wasn't as if Jolene Anderson didn't have an inkling of what was coming as she walked into the locker room.

She knew she had just turned in a passive first half, one of the worst of her career, to start the University of Wisconsin women's basketball team's Jan. 31 game at Indiana.

She'd endured stretches where her shot wasn't falling — that was one thing. But on this night in Bloomington, Ind., she had only attempted two shots — making neither — and already had reached her season average with two turnovers.

Not exactly the sort of play Badgers coach Lisa Stone — or anyone, for that matter — had come to expect from the senior guard. And with her team staring at a 42-25 halftime deficit in an arena in which UW was about to fall to 2-25 all-time, Stone called out the Badgers' three senior starters: Anderson, guard Janese Banks and forward Danielle Ward.

Banks had been the only one to score in the first half, making two of her six shots for five points. Ward hadn't attempted a shot.

So while the message wasn't unexpected, it still motivated Anderson.

"She pointed us all out, all three of us," Anderson said. "It was just something that just kind of hit me right then and there. She called me out individually, too. It just wasn't her talking to me (like she does) every day. It was just kind of her yelling at me, really like my mother. … I think I kind of took it personally."

Certainly, Anderson has since played like someone with something to prove.

She's scored 53 points in her past 60 minutes of action, and while her 23 second-half points weren't enough to salvage a win against the Hoosiers, she led a 77-59 win three days later at Penn State with 30 points, 14 rebounds and five assists.

UW (11-10, 4-7 Big Ten), which hosts No. 19 Ohio State (17-6, 8-4) today at the Kohl Center, likely will need another big outing from Anderson to have a chance to knock off the Buckeyes for the first time since Feb. 25, 2001.

The Badgers can't ask for much more. She's leading the Big Ten in scoring (20.5 points per game) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.79) and is fifth in rebounding (8.0). She also ranks first in minutes per game at 37.4, having played 40 minutes or more in five games this season.

"Playing 40 minutes every basketball game is kind of wear and tear on your body," Anderson said. "But I think overall I'm in the best shape I've been in four years. And so you've just got to roll with it. If Coach Stone makes you play 40 minutes, you can't complain. You've just got to do it."

Still, while Anderson was grateful UW had two days off last week, she said she wasn't planning on talking to Stone about scaling back her workload in practice during the season's final stretch. Case in point: During Wednesday's practice, Anderson's team won a game, and she still ran with the losing team.

"I don't want to run her into the ground," Stone said. "I've got to keep an equal balance. She's got to take care of herself and it's her last hurrah. Why would you not lay it out there? And she's doing that for me in practice and the games. You hope and pray that she can finish this year off at the highest level she's ever been at."

Badgers vs. No. 19 Buckeyes

When, where: 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Kohl Center.

TV: ESPN2.

Radio: 1310 AM.