The MSU women’s hoops team released its schedule for the upcoming season Thursday, and will open up with the 14th annual Spartan Chevrolet Classic on Nov. 16 and 17.
Other highlights include home games against UCLA, Georgia and Providence. The Spartans’ away contests include visits to Wisconsin-Green Bay and the Florida International Tournament, which features Florida International, Indiana State and Northwestern.
“I think we have a tremendous nonconference schedule,” head coach Joanne P. McCallie said in a released statement. “Our schedule gives us an excellent opportunity to take big steps forward.”
The women hoopsters also face a tough Big Ten schedule, battling Final Four attendee Purdue and NCAA Tournament teams Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan. MSU’s Big Ten season-opener is against Indiana Dec. 30 at the Breslin Student Events Center.
“The Big Ten Conference speaks for itself,” McCallie said in the statement. “Our team will have to learn their lessons, grow up and gel quickly.”
Some other highlights on the schedule include a Friday night home contest against Purdue on Feb. 1 and a neutral-site game against Marquette on Dec. 2 at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids.
Men’s basketball
Sophomore guard Marcus Taylor made the final cut for the 12-person USA Basketball Team that will compete later this month at the 2001 FIBA World Championships For Young Men in Saitama, Japan.
Taylor, who will be MSU’s leading returning scorer next season, joins an all-star lineup that includes some of college basketball’s top players. Boston College guard Troy Bell, UCLA’s forward Jason Kapono and Duke center Carlos Boozer are just a few of the players on the squad.
The team will be coached by Jim Boeheim, the longtime Syracuse head coach. His assistants are Ernie Kent of Oregon and St. Joseph’s Phil Martelli.
The tournament starts Friday and runs through Aug. 12 and features 12 national teams from around the world.
Football
Tickets for the upcoming MSU football season are going at a record pace. MSU fans have already purchased 61,990 season tickets for the 2001 season, according to the Athletics Department.
This year’s total marks the third consecutive year in which MSU has set a record for season-ticket sales. Last year, 61,479 tickets were sold. MSU has sold more than 60,000 tickets in four of the past five years.
Two games, Homecoming against Iowa on Oct. 13 and Michigan on Nov. 3, are already sold out.
A limited number of tickets are available for the remaining four home games. The single-game tickets go on sale Wednesday and are priced at $38 each.
Volleyball
Senior outside hitter Erin Hartley has been named to the 2001 Preseason All-Big Ten Volleyball Team.
The 6-foot-3 star was a unanimous choice for the squad. It marks her third straight year of making the team, which is determined by a vote of the conference’s 11 head coaches.
Hartley earned All-Big Ten Honorable Mention honors last year as she led the Spartans in both kills and digs.
MSU was also picked to finish fifth in the conference in the coaches’ preseason poll for the second straight years.
