Amanda Giesen has scored in double figures nine times in UW-Stout's current 11-game win streak. Photo by Doug Sasse, d3photography.com

By Brian Lester
D3sports.com

It wasn’t exactly a warm welcome into 2024 for UW-Stout’s women’s basketball team.

After winning its first game of January, beating then No. 25 UW-Stevens Point by 29 points (82-53), the Blue Devils dropped their next five games.

“We got shook,” head coach Hannah Iverson said. “We started questioning things rather than trusting the process and believing we were a great team.”

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Iverson calls that stretch ‘without a doubt the hardest part of the season’ but she also points out it was the part of the season that helped build this team for March and the opportunity to play in a Sweet 16 Friday against reigning national champion Transylvania (29-0), the No. 2 team in the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.

Then again, there were times during the losing streak where everyone on the team wondered what the future held, especially after starting the year 11-1.

“There were moments of asking who is this team? This isn’t us. We got away from what we were and who we were,” Iverson said. “We got away from that sense of confidence, that sense of edge, being that competitor that doesn’t back down. We had moments where we lacked confidence, we did back down and we did shy away from a challenge. It was as uncomfortable for us as it was for the people watching it.”

There came a point where the No. 23 Blue Devils (23-7) had to be real with themselves.

“It’s something we tackled head on rather than avoid the conversation,” senior guard Anna Mutch said. “We talked about the losses and how we can learn and grow from them. I really truly think it prepared us for the tournament. We got back to who we were as a team.”

Senior forward Amanda Giesen recalls the way the team fought through the challenges it faced while in the grip of disappointment, finding a way to overcome them.

UW-Stout has lost only one game since, rattling off 11 consecutive wins, and is two wins from a trip to the final four.

“A five-game losing streak, no one wants to go through that, and obviously that wasn’t the plan, especially with the hot start we had and the expectations around our team,” Giesen said. “We learned about playing with confidence, playing together and playing through adversity.

“The biggest thing that came out of it was confidence. That stretch was scary. We kept losing games. But once we got our confidence back, we were a better team.”

And the Blue Devils just kept getting better.

They snapped the streak with a 75-65 win over UW-River Falls, stubbed their toe three days later against then No. 18 UW-Oshkosh in a 58-47 loss, and then got the ball rolling with their current streak. It's a streak, interestingly enough, that included a 77-65 win over Oshkosh for the WIAC tournament championship.

“We had to stop looking at what we thought things would look like at that point in the season and look at the reality of where we were,” Iverson said. “We decided as a team to make tiny decisions to get one percent better every day. And when enough people focused on that, and with our leaders leading us, things changed.”

Giesen and Mutch have played a big part in that. Giesen is the second-leading scorer at 12.4 points per game, and is averaging 5.8 rebounds per outing.

Mutch ranks fourth in scoring (11.1) and is pulling down 5.5 rebounds per game.

Both players have been All-WIAC each year of their careers, but the funny thing is that both players almost didn’t play college basketball.

“I wasn’t sure I wanted to play after high school. But I was thankful I was recruited by Stout. I knew when I visited it was the right place for me,” Mutch said. “Basketball meant a lot to me but not as much as the people in the game did. These players are all my friends. We are all working towards the same goal. It’s made me a better player and human.”

Mutch made an immediate impact as a freshman, earning newcomer of the year honors in the WIAC.

“Being newcomer of the year was completely unexpected,” Mutch said. “In high school, I was that role player, that kid who works hard and does what the team needs. In college, I was expected to be a scorer, a rebounder and guard the best player on the other team. It helped me grow.”

Like Mutch, Giesen was sold on playing college ball after her campus visit.

“I didn’t think I was going to play after high school, but when I came here senior year, it became more real. Seeing the program and what it was like, I realized I didn’t want my career to end. I’m so thankful for where I am today and the team I am on now. I can’t imagine my life without it.”

Iverson said Mutch and Giesen are like a lot of players at this level, those #whyd3 kind of players.

“I think really good players sometimes feel like to have success at the college level, they have to have the word scholarship in front of player in their name. It’s one of the biggest mistakes kids can make,” Iverson said. You want to find a place where you feel valued, where you are seen, heard and appreciated, and that you can do anything. Anna and Amanda are a testament to it, and so is the rest of our roster. To be part of a culture where you can reach your full potential is special.”

The Blue Devils go into this weekend believing they still have potential to reach.

“We’re playing a phenomenal team, the reigning champs, and that can be scary going in, but the one thing we realize is that we are also a great basketball team,” Giesen said. “We’ve beaten ranked teams, we’re on an 11-game winning streak. If we show up to play, it can be a phenomenal game.”

Iverson said the team is approaching this one like any other game.

“Our record is 0-0. Their record is 0-0. Everyone has new life this weekend,” Iverson said. “We’ve done a lot to get us here and we have to trust in those things and put together a great game plan but not make the opponent or game bigger than it has to be. We have to play the game we are comfortable playing.”

Mutch is ready.

“We believe we are completely prepared for this moment," Mutch said. "We’ve been battle-tested and we just have to maintain confidence in each other and in our system. If we do that, we can go a long way.”