Spartans shoot for clean sweep at U-M

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In her four years as a Spartan, senior guard Porsché Poole has never lost to Michigan, and with Sunday’s matchup likely serving as her last experience in the rivalry, she doesn’t want to start now.

On Sunday, the MSU women’s basketball team (13-9 overall, 5-4 Big Ten) will head to Ann Arbor to take on the Wolverines (16-6, 5-4) in the teams’ second meeting of the season.

In the previous game on Jan. 4, MSU beat the Wolverines 60-55, with Poole leading the team in scoring with 13 points.

The win extended the Spartans’ streak to 10 straight wins in the rivalry, and Poole said she is driven to extend the it.

“It’s definitely important — I want to be able to say I never lost to Michigan,” she said. “The senior class — we’ve been beating them all this time. We don’t want to lose to them now.”

Growing up in Canton, Ohio, Poole said she didn’t understand how personal the rivalry was until she arrived on campus.

Now, with this likely being her last chance to beat the Wolverines, she said she can’t stand the thought of losing to them.

“I think it just happens when you become a Spartan,” she said. “They hate us. We hate them. They don’t want to lose to us. We don’t want to lose to them. That’s just how it is here.”

Coming from Chicago, freshman guard Kiana Johnson said she didn’t fully understand the rivalry until she first stepped on the floor against the U-M in early January.

When she saw the 9,718 fans that packed Breslin Center on a Wednesday night with school not in session, Johnson said she was blown away by the intensity in the stands and now has the same feelings toward U-M as her teammates.

“Since it was over winter break … I was just surprised to see as many fans as we had,” she said. “After the first football game when we played them, then our game and the boys’ game, I really feel a sense of the rivalry now.”

One player who didn’t have to be educated about MSU’s rivalry with the Wolverines was Klarissa Bell.

The sophomore guard graduated from East Lansing High School and said she has dealt with family infighting about the rivalry her whole life.

“I had a stepbrother who was Maize and Blue, and we always used to go back and forth with each other,” she said.

“I remember last year’s (game) was crazy, (with) fans going back and forth, so that just gets everybody hyped up.”

This game will be very different from the early season matchup for Bell, who will start on Sunday, despite playing six minutes and attempting one shot in the teams’ previous meeting.

Bell is coming off her first career start against Penn State on Sunday, and with a week between games, head coach Suzy Merchant said she wasn’t sure if the extra time off will help the new starting five or take away from the momentum.

“Should we be playing more right now because we’re coming off a good win … or does this give us even more time to keep building and focusing on some different kids playing in positions?” Merchant said.

“I guess we’ll find out on Sunday when the game is over.”

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