MSU women's basketball team picked up its first road win of 2003 on Sunday by defeating Indiana 64-53 at Assembly Hall.
Prior to the victory, the Spartans had posted a 3-4 record away from East Lansing, dropping their last three road games - all conference games.
But MSU (11-7 overall, 4-3 Big Ten) is not alone. Coaches across the Big Ten are expressing how difficult it is to pick up wins away from home.
Not unlike the Spartans, the Hoosiers (9-8, 2-5) have struggled on the road, compiling a 3-6 away record this season and have dropped its last three road contests.
"There just are so many good teams, everybody is good this year," Hoosier head coach Kathi Bennett said. "I think when you get on your home court you have that support, and I think that's what makes it harder to win on the road."
Illinois (12-5, 4-3) has had its share of road worries as well, posting a 4-6 record outside of Champaign, Ill. Head coach Theresa Grentz gives most of the credit to the number of fans at women's basketball games, which she said is steadily on the rise.
"It's been very, very difficult because of the crowds and the atmospheres that have been created at home-court situations," Grentz said. "You have to convince your team to embrace that atmosphere and that hostility and take it and make the most of it. And if you can do that, you can win on the road. But it's very, very difficult."
All told, only three teams have winning records when playing away from their home court - Purdue (7-3), Ohio State (5-3) and Minnesota (8-3).
Minnesota head coach Pam Borton was happy with her team's performance while traveling, and last week she said she expects the winning trend to continue.
"I don't think it's been a problem so far," Borton said. "If you want to be optimistic about it, out of 11 of our nonconference games eight of them were on the road, so I think we've been on the road a lot."
But Borton may have lost some optimism due to recent events. After winning eight in a row on the road, the Gophers (15-3, 4-3) lost to Penn State (16-5, 6-1) on Jan. 6 by 30 points. Minnesota followed it up with another loss to MSU on Thursday. The Gophers then finished up the week with a 14-point loss to the Fighting lllini.
Defense
MSU's has done a good job of shutting down opponent's leading scorers this season.
Minnesota guard Lindsay Whalen tops the Big Ten in offense, averaging 24.4 points per contest. But the Spartans held Whalen to a season-low seven points in its 74-71 victory over the Golden Gophers.
She wasn't the only explosive scorer to be stifled by the Spartans' defense.
Penn State guard Kelly Mazzante is averaging 23.7 points a game. But she only scored 14 points in MSU's 75-70 loss to the Lady Lions on Jan. 19.
MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie said her team's defensive flexibility allows them to hold top scorers down.
"With Mazzante, you've got to know where she is at all times," McCallie said. "But we do different things with different players, and our staff and our team have done a really good job adjusting to those players."
Earlier this season, the Spartan defense stopped forward Sara Crum dead in her tracks. Crum heads the Detroit-Mercy offense, however, did not score a single bucket in MSU's 72-49 stomping of the Titans on Jan 12.
