Alabama women’s basketball (5-0) will take on Wisconsin Saturday in its second road trip of the season.

Thus far the Tide has proven to be a force to be reckoned with, as it is just one of three teams in the Southeastern Conference to remain undefeated, behind Georgia and South Carolina.

But the Tide continues to hold its focus, not letting the excitement of a strong start distract from the long road still ahead.

The Tide is prepared for the new set of challenges it can and will face as it heads to Wisconsin, sophomore Briana Hutchen said.

“I know they are a Big Ten team so that would be an awesome win for us,” Hutchen said. “They have great shooters and they’re a very physical team. They’re definitely going to do a lot of back door cuts and a lot of things that I think we’re able to defend. They have a slower pace of game, so I think we’ll be able to speed it up a lot.”

The Tide has made defense a prime focus this year, hoping to keep up the pressure on every opponent.

“It puts us in a different environment from being at home,” Meghan Perkins said. “We’ve only played one road game and it was kind of a tough one.”

In its first road game this season, the Tide traveled to Houston, Texas, winning by just nine points.

“We were able to overcome some stuff [in Houston] but this will be another test for us to see where we’re at and what we need to work on and improve on,” Perkins said.

Last Sunday, Alabama defeated Southeastern Louisiana at home 97-62. Not only was the defensive effort solid, but the Tide was also able to execute with ease on offense.

Head coach Wendell Hudson has harped on taking the open and simple shot this season, and last weekend the team did just that.

“When you have 25 assists that means that everyone was making that extra pass, looking for a teammate and no one was forcing shots,” Hudson said. “How many times do you play in a game where you have 25 assists? We are not just trying to win games. We are trying to become a better basketball team.”

Now in his fifth season as head coach, Hudson believes this year belongs to the Tide.

The team has been taking it one game at a time and plans to continue that way.

“I think we can mainly improve on the little things,” Hutchen said. “I think we have tackled most of the big challenges most teams face.”

Hutchen and Perkins said rebounding has been an issue for the team that has not gone unnoticed.

Perkins said the team practices rebounds every day at practice in hopes of improvement.

The Tide is prepared to bring its own energy to Wisconsin as it hits the road this weekend. As for keeping up its spotless record and team chemistry, the team is confident in itself.

“We can only go up,” Perkins said. “We can’t go backward; we can only go up.”