The women’s basketball team picked up a huge win on their three-game road trip by defeating then-No. 11 Maryland, 82-68, for the first time in program history, led by sophomore guard Taryn McCutcheon. 

McCutcheon dropped a career-high 25 and a career-high six 3-pointers in the victory. The team concluded its three-game road trip with a with over Illinois, 67-55. The team was led by redshirt senior guard Branndais Agee, who finished with 18 points. The Spartans improve to 14-5 on the season and 4-2 in the conference.

McCutcheon also received Big Ten Women’s Basketball Co-Player of the week.

Volleyball adds a new assistant coach

This upcoming season, the women’s volleyball team will add Arielle Wilson as a volunteer assistant coach, head coach Cathy George said. 

Wilson spent five years playing professional volleyball overseas in including stints in Italy, Poland, Azerbaijan and Indonesia. She also had trained with the US National Team. Wilson started her collegiate coaching career as an assistant at the University of DePaul, where she led the team to its first All-Big East First Team members. 

As a player, Wilson helped guide Penn State to four consecutive National Championships and Big Ten titles and is still the program’s all-time leader in hitting percentage with .468. Wilson was also named the 2007 Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

MSU’s swimming and diving teams fall to Purdue

This past Friday, both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams fell to Big Ten foe Purdue. The men lost, 188-105, and the women fell, 177-105. Racheal Bukowski racked up two first-place finishes in both the 50 and 100 free. This was her sixth-consecutive win in the 100 free event.

The Spartans' next event will be against Oakland on Jan. 20. This will also be senior day for the team.

Men’s tennis starts off spring season

On Saturday for the second-consecutive season, the men’s tennis team started out 2-0. The team picked up wins over UIC, 7-0, and IUPUI, 5-2. John Carlin, Josh Mukherjee, Jack Winkler and Davis Wong all picked up wins in either single or double matches.

MSU heads to Notre Dame at 5 p.m. on Jan. 19 in South Bend, Ind., followed by Vanderbilt at 1 p.m. on Jan. 21 in Nashville.

MSU’s track and field receive 24 first-place finishes at the Wolverine Invitational.

This past Saturday, the Spartans received 24 first-place finishes at the Wolverine Invitational.

Leading the way was senior Katelyn Daniels who had a first-place throw of 15.47 meters and finished first in the weight throw with a distance of 18.77 meters. Sophomore Nikole Sargent set a personal record in the shot put at 13.75 meters, which got her fifth.

Junior Will Agodu finished in first place in the 60-meter hurdle final at 8:10. Freshman Morgan Beadlescomb claimed first in his first-ever 3,000 meter at 8:17.92.

The Spartans will travel back to Ann Arbor Jan. 20 to attend the Simmons-Harvey Quad.

Spartan wrestling falls to No. 1 Penn State in home opener

The Spartans fell to No. 1 Penn State this past weekend, 48-3. The team now falls to 4-5 overall and 0-3 in the Big Ten. 

The team travels to Indiana at 6 p.m. on Jan. 19 and then returns home to face Wisconsin at 1 p.m. on Jan. 21. Both games will be broadcasted live on the Big Ten Network.

MSU gymnastics team barely beaten by Iowa

On Alumni Night this past Friday, the gymnastics team fell to Iowa, 193.375-192.900. The Spartans are now 0-2 on the season and 0-1 in the Big Ten. Freshman Lea Mitchell captured the all around title with a score of 38.950. On bars, senior Hailee Westney earned the victory with a season-high 9.875. 

The Spartans face Rutgers, Pittsburgh and Eastern Michigan at 7 p.m. on Jan. 27 at home for MSU’s Pink Night.