As the post-season playoffs near, the Madison College women’s basketball team has continued to show improvement.

While still unable to match the powerful inside play and quickness of the nation’s top-ranked team, Rock Valley College, the team has won five of its last seven games and is fourth in the conference standings with an 8-4 record.

Like the first

time they played, Rock Valley College (12-0 in conference and 26-2 overall) led throughout its Feb. 16 game against Madison College. But this time, Madison College was able to make it a much more competitive game.

The WolfPack trailed 38-21 at halftime before falling 68-46. Although still a 22-point loss, the game was much closer than the WolfPack’s 107-47 loss less than a month ago. In fact, it was only the second time since mid-December that the defending NJCAA Division III champs were held under 70 points.

Taylor Pfeuti led Madison College with 18 points and six rebounds, while Calli Dahl added 17 points and seven rebounds. Team leading scorer Courtney Spangler was held in check, scoring just three points in the game.

Madison College shot just 23% from the field in the game (10 of 44), scored only two second-chance points and had 12 more turnovers than Rock Valley.

Madison College now stands at 13-15 overall with two games left before the tournament. The WolfPack will travel to Triton College on Feb. 20 for a game against the College of DuPage and plays at Harper College on Feb. 23.

Madison College 67, Wilbur Wright College 39

Madison College was on the winning side of a route on Feb. 13, dominating visiting Wilbur Wright College, 67-39. Spangler and Pfeuti led the way for Madison College, both scoring 15 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Dahl added 11 points, six rebounds and three assists. The WolfPack took an early 38-13 lead by limiting Wilbur Wright to just 6 of 33 shooting in the first half and forcing 17 turnovers.

Robert Morris University JV 76, Madison College 57

Although a one-point game at halftime, Madison College was unable to keep pace in the second half and fell to Robert Morris JV, 76-57, on Feb. 11. Madison College struggled shooting in the second half, hitting only 24 percent of its shots, while Robert Morris got hot and hit 53 percent of its shots.

Spangler led Madison College with 17 points, while Pfeuti added 16 points and 11 rebounds. She also had a team-high three steals and the team’s lone blocked shot.

Madison College 66, Milwaukee Area Tech 59

In a sloppily played contest on Feb. 9 that saw a total of 78 turnovers, Madison College was able to pull out a road win by doing more to capitalize on Milwaukee’s mistakes. Madison College forced 46 turnovers and scored 23 points off those turnovers, while Milwaukee only scored 12 off of the WolfPack’s turnovers. The result, a 66-59 victory for Madison College.

Spangler led Madison College with 19 points, while Chelsey Schulenburg added 13 and Ellyn Hayden scored 10. Spangler also added seven rebounds and seven steals.

Madison College 66, Joliet Junior College 53

Free throws and a strong defense lifted Madison College over Joliet Junior College, 66-53, on Feb. 6. Madison College converted on 34 of 41 free throws compared to 6 of 9 for Joliet.  The WolfPack also forced 34 turnovers, while committing just 24.

Spanger led Madison College with 23 points, including 10 of 14 free throws. Alyssa Anding added 13 points, while Dahl scored 10 points.