Building depth is a work in progress for Wisconsin women's basketball

MADISON – By now, the news of Sydney Hilliard’s departure from the Wisconsin women’s basketball program is well known.

The question is who will take advantage of it?

Hilliard, a senior guard whose departure was announced Sunday, left the team to tend to her well-being. She was the team's first player off the bench and averaged 22 minutes per game.

As much as the Badgers will miss the experience Hilliard brought to the floor, the situation is a golden opportunity for some one of the team’s younger players to grab minutes and make an impact during the final half of the season.

This isn’t the first time this season Wisconsin needed to regroup after losing a key player. Junior guard Halle Douglass suffered a season-ending knee injury Nov. 20.

In that case, however, it was Hilliard, who made her season debut after knee surgery 10 days after Douglass’ injury, who absorbed those minutes.

We’ll get a better idea of how the situation could unfold at 6 p.m. Wednesday when the Badgers (5-11, 1-4 Big Ten) play at Michigan State (10-6, 2-3).

If UW’s game with Minnesota on Sunday is an indication, junior Natalie Leuzinger will be in the mix. The 5-8 junior played her second-most minutes of the season (24) in the 81-77 victory over the Gophers.

More time could be in store for freshman guard Ronnie Porter, a walk-on who played seven minutes and scored seven points Sunday. Lily Krahn, another freshman guard, was the first player off the bench. Sophomore guard Krystyna Ellew provided the team solid minutes late in the first half and played six minutes in all.

“We know that’s such a critical thing,” Wisconsin coach Marisa Moseley said of the bench. “And we talked about that you’re not just subs, you’re difference makers and when you come in, we need you to make a difference on the court.”

Leuzinger has solidified her place in the rotation over the last month with her versatility, IQ and consistency. Ellew’s minutes have dipped over the last month, but she averaged 21.8 minutes per game last season and started one game this year.

Another veteran player, senior center/forward Sara Stapleton, has been sidelined all season due to injury and is still at least a couple of weeks away from returning.

As a result of the lack of depth, Wisconsin has leaned heavily on seniors Julie Posipisilova and Avery LaBarbera, junior Brooke Schramek and redshirt freshman Maty Wilke. Each of those players average at least 30 minutes per game, making the Badgers the only Big Ten team that has four players playing that many minutes.

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The heavy workload worked Sunday. LaBarbera, Posipislova and Schamek, the team’s most experienced players, had big performances in the win over the Gophers.

“We know our margin for error is not very large, so everyone has to do their part and do their role very well and then we can be successful,” Moseley said. “But if we just rely only on these three guys or if they’re off we’re in trouble. No, it’s got to be (that) someone else has to be able to step up and pick up the slack.”

Wisconsin entered the season with eight true freshmen on the roster. That number is down to six after Tessa Towers’ personal leave and Savannah White’s departure from the program are taken into account.

That said, Moseley admits that she thought the freshmen class would be further in its development.

“But I also knew that we couldn’t rely on freshmen to come in and do it now,” she added.

So far among the true freshman, forward Serah Williams has been the biggest contributor. She has started every game and averages 11.1 points and 4.8 rebounds. Next is Krahn, a sharp-shooter in high school who is shooting 40% (6 for 15) from three-point range. Porter played heavy minutes while LaBarbera was sidelined with an ankle injury during the team’s trip to the Virgin Islands in November and could give the team another ball-handling option down the stretch.

More time could also be in store for 5-7 freshman Sania Copeland, who was slowed by injury early in the season.

“Ideally I would hope we’d be further along,” Moseley said, “but I think we’re starting to see as we get into January and February that we’re starting to click a little more that they’ll be able to get some more minutes here as we continue to move forward.”

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Badgers women's basketball works on building depth