In so many situations, she'd be the one receiving the loudest ovation on Sunday.

Her career numbers and her place among some of the best players in program history would be celebrated.

And yes, Janese Banks will get her share of praise on Sunday afternoon.

But when the University of Wisconsin women's basketball team (16-11, 9-8 Big Ten Conference) plays host to Iowa (19-9, 12-5) on Senior Day, most of the attention will be focused on her classmate, Jolene Anderson.

And rightly so. Anderson holds six school records and will likely find herself in the top five on the Big Ten's career scoring list at season's end. She's the most decorated player in program history and arguably the best ever to play for the Badgers.

Banks has been there to witness every milestone.

For four seasons, she's been option No. 2, a player whose skills have complemented Anderson's many talents. UW coach Lisa Stone calls Banks, who has been the Badgers' second-leading scorer in each of her four seasons, Anderson's wingman.

That's a role Banks has no problem playing, though she'll admit it took some adjusting to.

She was an accomplished scorer in her own right at Indianapolis' Ben Davis High School before coming to UW, averaging 25.3 points per game as a senior, and certainly wasn't used to taking a backseat to anybody.

"I just think it's definitely just growth and maturing and knowing that every team needs stars, every team needs role players," said Banks, who with seven points will become the 10th player in program history to reach 1,500 for her career. "One game, I might be the star; one game, I may be that role player."

Her role has evolved over her career. Early on she was a slasher, but countless hours in the gym honing her jump shot have yielded impressive results — Banks is shooting 41 percent from 3-point range this season.

For a reference point, she shot just 24.6 percent for 3 as a freshman and 20.4 as a sophomore.

"She's spent more time working on her game than anybody," Stone said.

The stats don't tell the whole story, though.

"Janese does little things that people don't notice," Anderson said.

Like taking a charge or drawing the defensive assignment on an opponent's top scorer. And it goes beyond the court. Banks is the one who pulls freshmen aside to explain defensive alignments.

She'll organize team shootarounds and make sure everyone stays on task. Her willingness to speak up has allowed Anderson — the two are co-captains — to focus on leading by example.

"I've had to be the one to say the hard things, say the things people don't want to hear, hurt people's feelings, things like that," Banks said.

She enjoys teaching the game, and — to no one's surprise — wants to go into coaching. Earlier this month she was picked for Nike's "So You Want To Be A Coach" program, a workshop in April that's geared to helped minority women learn about the profession.

"You can just tell that she's going to be very good at it if she chooses to stay with it," said Badgers assistant coach Tasha McDowell, one of Banks' inspirations for wanting to go into the field.

Banks would like to play professionally first, though she's not sure she'd be willing to go overseas if she can't make the WNBA — Stone thinks Banks has an outside chance to play in the league.

An NCAA tournament berth would give Banks more opportunities to be seen by scouts, and a win against the Hawkeyes would definitely improve the Badgers' chances.

"After this it's going to kind of just be wait and see," said Banks, who will graduate in May with a legal studies degree. "Wait and see what the future for basketball has for me. I definitely want to just keep playing because college basketball is great. It doesn't get much better than this."

Badgers vs. Iowa

What: Regular-season finale.

When, where: Noon Sunday, Kohl Center.

TV: No live TV; tape-delayed at 11 p.m. Sunday on Ch. 21.

Radio: 1310 AM.