This has been a season of considerable growth for Marsha Howard.
For starters, the junior forward for the University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team added two inches to her official height, reaching an even 6-feet.
“It’s good training table,” coach Jonathan Tsipis said.
Howard had a different version.
“I begged for it,” said Howard, who had previously been listed as 5-10 and admits her actual height is 5-10½.
That fact makes it even more remarkable that Howard has emerged as one of the better post players in the Big Ten Conference, as attested to by her earning All-Big Ten honorable mention. And she’s done it despite having to constantly go up against players who have several inches and multiple pounds on her.
While she may be overmatched physically, Howard has learned to embrace the challenge of taking on a bigger opponent each game.
“Literally, my first thought is, ‘Wow, she’s a big one. I’m going to have to fight. This game is going to be a long game of fighting,’” Howard said. “That’s definitely my mindset, to try to muscle with the best of them.
“I’m undersized, so trying to box them out and keep them from getting extra possessions is pretty much the main thing when going up against the biggest people. Offensively, it’s just finding a way to get around them.”
She has been doing just that this season as she ranks second on the team in scoring (12.4) while shooting 50.3 percent from the field. She also leads the team in rebounding (7.0).
And she has stepped things up in Big Ten play, leading the team in both scoring (13.1) and rebounding (6.3) and shooting 52.2 percent. She is coming off a career-high 28-point effort against Michigan State and has averaged 18.3 points over the past six games.
That’s a significant improvement from a year ago when she averaged 7.5 points and 4.9 rebounds.
Tsipis attributes that growth to a combination of smarts, quickness and determination.
“First and foremost she has a really good basketball IQ,” Tsipis said. “She sees what’s going on on the floor maybe a pass ahead.
“She does a great job of moving without the basketball to put herself in good positions. You’ve seen a maturity in her game that has allowed her to score the basketball in a lot of different ways.”
Howard brings one more attribute to every game — a tough, combative personality.
“I’ve always had the feisty nature,” she said. “I’m a strong-willed, wanting-to-win player, so losses tend to eat at me. So my aggressiveness, I try to bring it every game.”
That’s mostly a good thing, but there are times when her emotions have gotten the best of her.
Howar's otherwise stellar game against Michigan State was marred by a technical foul that quelled the Badgers’ momentum right after they had taken a six-point lead late in the third quarter. It was her second technical in the past three games for a confrontation with an opposing player.
“I think the challenge that we talk about is always making sure her emotional side is helping her take our team to another level, not taking away from her focus,” Tsipis said.
Howard will need to be at her best today when the No. 13 seed Badgers (9-20) face No. 12 Northwestern (11-19) in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis.
Howard will be matched up against 6-2 junior Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah, the leading rebounder in Big Ten games (13.3) who is coming off a 20-rebound effort in Sunday’s victory over Rutgers.
“Kudos to her,” Howard said. “She is a monster on the glass.”
Akpanah averaged 14.5 rebounds in two games against UW, grabbing 18 in the Wildcats’ 69-60 win at Evanston and 11 in the Badgers’ 58-46 victory at the Kohl Center.
“She goes and gets it,” Tsipis said. “She’s a great athlete and has great instincts. She’s kind of the Big Ten women’s basketball version of (former NBA rebounding champ) Dennis Rodman.”
Senior Cayla McMorris knows it will take a team effort to contain Akpanah, but she also has confidence that Howard can handle even the biggest of challenges.
“I always tell her she’s holding her own,” McMorris said. “She’s guarding these 6-5, 200-plus pound girls and for her to able to put up numbers against them, that’s something that’s catching everyone’s attention.”