Aerial Powers has been accumulating fans all over the country this season.
C. Vivian Stringer, No. 20 Rutgers’ women’s basketball head coach, is one of those fans.
When the 2009 Basketball Hall of Fame inductee had her run-in with reporters inside the tunnel, the conversation quickly focused on the performance of Aerial Powers.
“Aerial Powers is an outstanding player. Just a great player,” Stringer said. “I think coach has done a great job utilizing her and (Tori) Jankoska. They complement each other very well, and she deserves all the credit.”
Stringer said that if she could go back and change her preparations for last season’s Big Ten regular-season champions, she would have shown less film on the conference’s leading scorer, knowing that her players would be less intimated and less fearful at Breslin Center.
Powers has had an outstanding year, and on Feb. 22 against Rutgers her outstanding year turned historic. She broke the school’s season scoring record.
The forward also broke former WNBA standout Liz Shimek’s single-season scoring record on the very same day by recording her 600th point after converting a free throw late in the second half.
Powers finished that afternoon with her 20th double-double of the season after posting 18 points and 18 rebounds, setting the program mark for the stat.
Along with Tori Jankoska, the one-two punch of Powers and the sophomore guard has carried the Spartans through the thick and thin of a season cluttered with setbacks.
Injuries and dismissed players have threatened head coach Suzy Merchant’s streak of seven straight NCAA tournament appearances since taking over the position after spending nine seasons with Eastern Michigan.
But the duo has provided the Spartans a sense of hope in making noise in the upcoming Big Ten tournament as a likely No. 9 seed, which will set up a rematch with the Michigan Wolverines, who are locked in as a No. 8 seed.
MSU improved to 14-14 overall and 6-11 in conference play following their win over Illinois on Wednesday. They’re currently 6-0 this season whenever Jankoska leads the team in scoring.
Powers also increased the program’s double-double record to 21 during a road victory against Illinois after finishing the evening with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
