This was no run-of-the-mill 67-point blowout. There was some real suspense in the University of Wisconsin women's basketball team's 106-39 exhibition rout of UW-Oshkosh at the Kohl Center on Sunday.

First, was the question of whether the Badgers could hold the Titans -- an NCAA Division III team -- without a field goal for the entire first half. That quest fell 6 minutes, 7 seconds short, as Oshkosh's Michelle Boeder ended the team's 0-for-10 shooting start by making a scoop shot from the lane.

That settled, the issue remained as to whether UW could hold Oshkosh to single digits for the half. That remained in doubt until the final 6.4 seconds when Megan Wenig missed two free throws, leaving the Titans stuck on 8 points.

Even with a 62-8 halftime lead -- one in which in which four Badgers each outscored the Titans -- those fans who passed up the chance to watch the Green Bay Packers lose to the Tampa Bay Bucs or, better yet, take a walk in the park, still had to wonder if UW would pass the century mark for the first time in nearly five years.

That suspense ended with 2:46 left when Jade Davis put back a missed shot by Catie O'Leary to put the Badgers up 100-34.

Of course, UW coach Lisa Stone had things other than statistical trivia on her mind as she watched her team perform. What she wanted to see was if the Badgers would maintain their intensity on defense and their discipline on offense through a game in which the outcome was determined before the first official timeout.

On that count, it was pretty much mission accomplished.

"Today was a fun day for us," said Stone, whose record is unblemished in five exhibitions against WIAC teams. "What we tried to do is execute both offensively and defensively. We talked about making sure that we abided by our defensive principles, that we had offensive efficiency and that we took care of the ball. I thought for the most part we did a pretty good job of that."

The numbers that best supported that contention in Stone's mind were her team's nine turnovers on offense and 22 steals on defense. There were other good numbers: 66.7 percent shooting in the first half and 62.5 percent for the game; 90 percent free throw shooting; and holding the opponent to 28.6 percent shooting.

The best numbers of the day were put up by junior forward Tara Steinbauer, who made 12 of 13 shots and scored 25 points in just 22 minutes, surpassing her career high of 18 points.

"I give all the credit to my teammates," said Steinbauer, who couldn't recall for certain if she'd ever made 12 of 13 shots in her driveway. "We've been working so hard every day in practice on post-guard passing and they've really improved, which was a big reason I was able to be so successful on the blocks today."

Senior guard Rae Lin D'Alie also bettered her career best with 19 points, hitting four of five 3-point attempts.

Alyssa Karel added 15 points, Anya Covington scored 12 and freshman Taylor Wurtz scored 10 points and didn't make a turnover in 21 minutes in her collegiate debut.

Freshman Katie Kitzke led Oshkosh with 15 points, all of them coming in the second half.

As a former Division III coach, Stone was sensitive about not appearing to run the score up on an overmatched opponent. But her priority was to get her team ready for next Sunday's regular season opener against North Dakota.

"We played everybody, but we also have to get used to the flow of the game," said Stone. "It's important that we treated it like (a regular game). We worried about us, making sure that we didn't look at the scoreboard. I don't know how many times I said that throughout the game, this is not about the scoreboard.

"I coached Division III for 15 years so I'm well aware of the difference of the level," Stone said. "But I think it's about competitive nature. Our players, regardless of who they're playing, whether it's an exhibition game or against each other every single day, we maintain the fact that we want to try to outwork people."

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