The No. 25 MSU women's basketball team gets back into Big Ten play tonight at Ohio State.
The Spartans (11-3 overall, 1-2 Big Ten) know it will be another test in the tough Big Ten conference, but a welcome one for MSU after two consecutive conference losses to No. 8 Penn State and No. 9 Purdue.
"Road games in the Big Ten are tough, but we have to be road warriors and just play as hard as we can," sophomore guard Lindsay Bowen said. "If we play defense and rebound, it will all come together."
If things don't come together, the Spartans will fall to 1-3 in the conference and possibly three losses behind No. 6 Minnesota (14-0, 3-0) and Penn State (11-3, 4-0).
But MSU is focused and ready to go down and give the Buckeyes (10-4, 2-1) all they can handle.
"Our games with Ohio State are always a battle, they're a great team," MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "They've got some nice freshman and they're not as top-heavy as they were last year. It will be important for us to do our team thing."
The "team thing" includes trying to shut down Ohio State junior forward Caity Matter, and trying to make other Buckeyes beat the Spartans.
"Caity Matter is a first team All-Big Ten contender and she is a pretty prolific shooter," McCallie said. "But with LaToya Turner as a senior that is kind of the X-factor for them. She's quite a player."
The team that comes out on top will give itself an edge in trying to run down the top of the conference in the second half of the season.
"They're a good team, an up-and-coming team just like us," Bowen said. "We just need to stay focused."
Still ranked
The Spartans fell from No. 23 to No. 25 after losing to Penn State and Purdue (12-2, 2-1) the previous week. The team bounced back on Monday to grab a nonconference victory over Detroit Mercy.
50 is the magic number
When the Spartans hold their opponents to 50 or less points, they're undefeated (7-0) this season.
On the other hand, when the Spartans give up more than 50 points, they're just 4-3.
"We really have to buckle down and move in our defense. Once we stop people consistently, then our offense will come," Bowen said. "We need to stay focused and communicate."
Boarding School
MSU ranks second in the conference in rebounding, collecting an average of 39 rebounds per game.
"More or less, it's the tougher you are, the more rebounds you're going to get," senior forward Julie Pagel said. "Take Liz (Shimek), for example, one of the toughest kids. As a sophomore, she gets all the rebounds because of her toughness."
A sophomore forward, Shimek ranks third in the Big Ten and leads the team, averaging 9.1 rebounds per game. Pagel is second on the team, grabbing 4.6 rebounds per game.
MSU also is second in the Big Ten in rebounding defense, surrendering 30.9 boards per game.
