After struggling to make a major impact in the Badgers' first four regular season games, freshman Lin Zastrow finally showed off her natural playing ability last Friday in Wisconsin's 74-57 win over Ole Miss.

UW head coach Lisa Stone hinted after the performance that there is plenty more to come from the 6-foot-4-inch forward, who scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the win.

"She has a lot of skill, a lot of gifts, and the more confidence she gets, the better she’s going to be," Stone said in a statement after the game. "It’s just a matter of time before she gets loaded with confidence and can take over."

Though Zastrow received an abundance of playing time in the preseason, scoring 20 combined points over the two games, she did not score a single regular season point until breaking out against Ole Miss.

"Sometimes it's just a matter of matchups," senior Jolene Anderson said. "Lin was probably one of the best post players we had to match up against Ole Miss, so it's just a combination of Lin and coach Stone getting together, knowing what she can produce for us."

As a senior in high school, Zastrow averaged 20.4 points, 11 rebounds and four assists per game in leading Jefferson High School to a state championship. Though her collegiate statistics to date are not on level with her high school numbers, she feels that the game against Ole Miss was a huge confidence boost and that she is due for more playing time.

"The first few games I was very timid, and it was really frustrating for me and the coaches," Zastrow said. "But the last game really was like my breakout game. I just have to keep my aggressiveness up. The coaches always tell me that I can do way more than what I'm doing."

Struggling off the bench at the season's start, Zastrow has committed herself to the team, coming in for extra practice and constantly asking questions to improve her game.

"Lin is extremely smart. She learns really quickly and does a great job in practice," assistant coach Tasha McDowell said. "She asks questions, and I'm thinking to myself, 'How do you even know to ask that question?' She comes up to the office all the time and wants to watch film. … It's going to make her all the more better."

Zastrow cites consistency and confidence as the main keys to gaining playing time and becoming more effective. A performance like Friday's against Virginia could be what the coaches are looking for.

"I hope for this next game [against Virginia] I keep up like I did against Ole Miss," Zastrow said. "I want to be consistent, and I want to help the team over and over again, not just once."

For Zastrow, playing up to her abilities is vital to her success and significance on the court, and with the season just underway, she knows that she has plenty of room to improve.

"Life is about choices, and you choose whether or not you look at film and put in that extra work," Zastrow said. "Your attitude can change everything. You can be dog-tired, but if you say you're not, you can realize that you're not as tired as you think you are."

Zastrow, her teammates and the coaches agree that she can strengthen her game, but playing for Wisconsin also means playing up to the program's expectations.

"The first time you put on that uniform, even the practice uniform, you feel lucky and blessed that you're able to play here," Zastrow said. "Everyone here is so great, and I want to play well for this team."

When asked about her future with the team, everyone seemed enthusiastic and confident that Zastrow would continue to improve and could eventually become a force inside.

"It's about Lin getting comfortable, building up confidence, and I think Lin has done that so far," McDowell said. "She's going to be really, really good, and we need her to be. She does everything that we ask her to do, and that's hard to coach any better right there. We might be hanging her jersey from the rafters when she's done here."