The statistics haven’t been pretty, but the MSU women’s basketball team has put together a winning record early in its season.
The Spartans (4-1) look to continue their success as they take on Detroit (1-1) at 7 p.m. today in Detroit.
With many young players on the roster, the team has depended on defense to carry it through games, and therefore hasn’t consistently shown impressive offensive numbers.
“There’s definitely room for improvement,” freshman guard Kristin Haynie said.
“But that’s just where practice comes in - we have to practice hard and we have to keep the ball in our hands and control the tempo.”
But in their two games so far this season, the Titans have shown they too are in a situation like the Spartans.
The two teams’ average points per game are nearly identical - 60.6 for MSU and 59.5 for Detroit.
The turnover statistics look similar as well - 18.6 for MSU and 19 for Detroit.
With similar numbers such as those, the game should be close, and Detroit will make it tough for MSU to record its fifth win, Haynie said.
“They’re going to be really scrappy,” she said.
“They’re not going to give up. They’re just going to be working hard the whole time. We just have to keep the ball in our hands at all times.”
Three Titans average in double digits. And MSU has seen multiple individuals emerge as scoring threats recently as well.
In the last three games, three different Spartans have contributed 20 points or more.
“It’s nice when a lot of different people step up,” Haynie said. “That’s what we want. We want different people stepping up all the time. That’s just how the team plays.”
But the lack of major offensive contributions throughout the bench are causing frustrations.
While a couple of players have stood out and tallied high-scoring games, the team as a whole has averaged just 39.6 percent in field goal percentage.
But Detroit could give the offense a chance to get away from a reliance on individuals to step up, junior guard Vnemina Reese said.
“We always look to penetrate and... create for one of our teammates to get a good shot at the basket,” Reese said. “Basically, we’re looking for more ball movement from us and more penetration.”
Tonight’s game at Detroit begins the Spartans’ three-game stint with Michigan opponents - MSU takes on Marquette on Sunday in Grand Rapids and Oakland on Dec. 5 at home.
