MONROE - The Monona Grove girls basketball team has been running roughshod on opponents all season, scoring 57 points per game with an average winning margin of 16 points in its first 10 games.
But as the Silver Eagles traveled to Monroe High School on Saturday, coach Eric Nelson had no illusions of his squad riddling the Cheesemakers' defense the way it has the rest of the Badger Conference.
The wry smile on Nelson's face said as much after Monona Grove's 38-27 victory. The state's fifth-ranked Division 2 team improved to 11-0, but it was far from easy.
"Hey, we got through it," Nelson said. "I wish in some ways we had played sharper, but we thought this would be a tough game. We've been beat down here pretty bad."
The Silver Eagles are gaining notoriety for their high-scoring ways, but Nelson said defense has been the key to MG's fast start.
"We're probably causing more problems on defense than I thought we would be," Nelson said. "That second half, we gave up 10 points, and we've been doing that pretty consistently to teams. Offensively, we were way below our average - way below - and that's a credit to Sam and those (Monroe) girls."
Coach Sam Mathiason's Cheesemakers stayed right with MG in the first half and trailed 18-17 at halftime before 0-for-8 shooting in the third quarter left Monroe with a 27-19 deficit.
Senior forward Brooke McBain's basket from the paint pulled Monroe (3-8, 1-4 Badger South) within 30-25 midway through the fourth quarter, but MG (11-0, 5-0) scored eight of the game's final 10 points.
"Defensively, for as many points as they've been scoring, I was real proud of the defensive effort," Mathiason said, pointing out the Silver Eagles averaged 63 points in their previous five games.
"Our defense was to the point where I was hoping we could play defensively all year.
"In the first half, the offense was pretty good."
Vanessa Studer was a big reason for that. The sophomore guard scored nine of her team-high 11 points before the break - including seven of the Cheesemakers' nine second-quarter points.
The 11 points matched Studer's season high, established Nov. 29 against Madison LaFollette.
"Just playing the game," said Studer, who shrugged when asked if it was her best performance of late.
"Scoring-wise I guess, but I don't know," Studer said. "Honestly, I just like winning. But we played super well as a team, which is always a win."
Studer's 3-pointer from the right wing late in the second quarter gave Monroe its last lead at 15-14, and she was 6 of 6 at the free throw line.
"Vanessa's role continues to be finding those opportunities to score, and she has the ability to get to the basket and either make it or get fouled," Mathiason said. "MG does a good job of making you feel uncomfortable with the way they run at you and throw different things at you, and Vanessa in that first half was very good and really kept us in it.
"As a sophomore, it's always about trying to find that comfort level. Hopefully this was another step toward finding that consistency and feeling comfortable."
Nelson wasn't surprised to see Studer play well against his squad.
"We've played against her since sixth grade and she's always been good against us," Nelson said. "We've had some good times against her and (sophomore forward) Taylor Barrett, and not a lot of success against them down here. That's why we knew it'd be tough to win in Monroe."
Forward Ashley Werner scored a game-high 14 points and Taylor Nelson added 10 for Monona Grove.
McBain added eight points and Barrett six for the Cheesemakers, who play Friday at Madison Edgewood.
But as the Silver Eagles traveled to Monroe High School on Saturday, coach Eric Nelson had no illusions of his squad riddling the Cheesemakers' defense the way it has the rest of the Badger Conference.
The wry smile on Nelson's face said as much after Monona Grove's 38-27 victory. The state's fifth-ranked Division 2 team improved to 11-0, but it was far from easy.
"Hey, we got through it," Nelson said. "I wish in some ways we had played sharper, but we thought this would be a tough game. We've been beat down here pretty bad."
The Silver Eagles are gaining notoriety for their high-scoring ways, but Nelson said defense has been the key to MG's fast start.
"We're probably causing more problems on defense than I thought we would be," Nelson said. "That second half, we gave up 10 points, and we've been doing that pretty consistently to teams. Offensively, we were way below our average - way below - and that's a credit to Sam and those (Monroe) girls."
Coach Sam Mathiason's Cheesemakers stayed right with MG in the first half and trailed 18-17 at halftime before 0-for-8 shooting in the third quarter left Monroe with a 27-19 deficit.
Senior forward Brooke McBain's basket from the paint pulled Monroe (3-8, 1-4 Badger South) within 30-25 midway through the fourth quarter, but MG (11-0, 5-0) scored eight of the game's final 10 points.
"Defensively, for as many points as they've been scoring, I was real proud of the defensive effort," Mathiason said, pointing out the Silver Eagles averaged 63 points in their previous five games.
"Our defense was to the point where I was hoping we could play defensively all year.
"In the first half, the offense was pretty good."
Vanessa Studer was a big reason for that. The sophomore guard scored nine of her team-high 11 points before the break - including seven of the Cheesemakers' nine second-quarter points.
The 11 points matched Studer's season high, established Nov. 29 against Madison LaFollette.
"Just playing the game," said Studer, who shrugged when asked if it was her best performance of late.
"Scoring-wise I guess, but I don't know," Studer said. "Honestly, I just like winning. But we played super well as a team, which is always a win."
Studer's 3-pointer from the right wing late in the second quarter gave Monroe its last lead at 15-14, and she was 6 of 6 at the free throw line.
"Vanessa's role continues to be finding those opportunities to score, and she has the ability to get to the basket and either make it or get fouled," Mathiason said. "MG does a good job of making you feel uncomfortable with the way they run at you and throw different things at you, and Vanessa in that first half was very good and really kept us in it.
"As a sophomore, it's always about trying to find that comfort level. Hopefully this was another step toward finding that consistency and feeling comfortable."
Nelson wasn't surprised to see Studer play well against his squad.
"We've played against her since sixth grade and she's always been good against us," Nelson said. "We've had some good times against her and (sophomore forward) Taylor Barrett, and not a lot of success against them down here. That's why we knew it'd be tough to win in Monroe."
Forward Ashley Werner scored a game-high 14 points and Taylor Nelson added 10 for Monona Grove.
McBain added eight points and Barrett six for the Cheesemakers, who play Friday at Madison Edgewood.
