'I’m just happy to be out there': Sydney Hilliard returns in time to give Wisconsin women's basketball a boost

MADISON – Sydney Hilliard has limped off the court and come back. She’s been knocked to the floor, gotten up and continued to play.

The Wisconsin senior has passed the eye test we give players returning from injury before breathing a sigh of relief that they're going to be fine.

The 5-foot-11 guard from Monroe missed the first eight games of the basketball season, but her return might be just in the nick of time for the Badgers.

UW’s team is its youngest in 16 years. Its experience, leadership and depth have been weakened by the season-ending knee injury to junior Halle Douglass. And these days the Badgers are trying to work themselves off a six-game losing streak.

Wisconsin needs to lean on its veterans now. Hilliard’s return adds to those ranks.

“I’m really thankful to be out there in general,” she said. “I’m not really looking at stats or anything, just trying to play and do what I can for this team. And like I said, I’m just happy to be out there.”

Before her comeback, Hilliard had not played a game in 10 months. She took a leave of absence for the final nine games of last season and this year had to fully recover from off-season surgery on her right knee before seeing the floor.

“The injury, although mine wasn’t too bad, you had to be careful with it,” she said. “When I first came back to practice, I could feel that I wasn’t quite where I needed to be, but being able to step in and do the reps in practice and now being able to do it in games has helped me a lot.”

Regaining her aggressive edge

In two games, she is averaging nine points and four rebounds and getting about 20½ minutes of action.

She was the first player off the bench in those contests. In her debut she finished with seven points on 3-for-5 shooting and five rebounds in a 92-87 loss to Florida State last Thursday. Free throw shooting was an Achilles heel that night; she went 1 for 6 from the line.

In Sunday’s loss to Iowa, Hilliard played faster and more aggressively, be it in her ability to attack the basket or mix it up in the lane. She hit five of eight shots in 23 minutes.

That aggressiveness is a strength of her game.

“I think that is a major part of my game, just trying to get downhill as much as I can and if I don’t have a shot being able to kick it out to our shooters, just always looking to attack but being under control with that,” she said.

Hilliard's third game comes Wednesday night at Nebraska (7 p.m. tip-off, BTN+)

In addition to lacking experience, Wisconsin also doesn’t possess a lot of height. Coach Marisa Moseley has gotten creative to help the team compensate for that. Hilliard figures to be part of that solution.

“Sometimes she’s playing the four. Sometimes she’s playing the one, sometimes she’s playing the two,” Moseley said. “I think it’s a testament to Syd and how much she’s bought into what we’re trying to do.”

Different team, different role

That buy-in is key because Hilliard’s role could be different this year.

When she received honorable mention all-Big Ten honors as a sophomore that was under the charge of former coach Jonathan Tsipis. Last season she led the team in rebounding average (4.7) and ranked second in scoring (12.8), but that was a much different roster.

This year’s team is built to play faster with the hope of putting more points on the scoreboard.

How Hilliard fits into the dynamic is still evolving, but her presence on the floor figures to be valuable as UW navigates its final non-conference games and starts to exclusively play a Big Ten schedule.

“Syd is more than capable of doing what she’s done and I think her going from (seven) to 11 points is having another game under her belt and getting a little more game time,” Moseley said. “I just expect her to keep doing the things that she’s been doing really well.”

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Sydney Hilliard returns in time to give Wisconsin women's hoops boost