Hey you, pay attention. Stop ogling pictures of Maurice Ager and take notice of the other Big Ten basketball team tearing it up at Breslin Center.
Although the No. 19 MSU men's basketball team climbed over Purdue on Tuesday, winning 71-64, the real show went down in Champaign, Ill., on Wednesday, where the No. 8 MSU women's basketball team rolled over Illinois, 62-42, and snatched up its fourth consecutive win.
The women's record: 16-2 overall, 5-1 in the Big Ten.
The men's: 11-3 overall, 3-1 in the Big Ten.
Senior Center Kelli Roehrig, who led her team with 13 points and 11 rebounds, should be your new hero.
In their last two games, the MSU women's basketball team has held No. 12 Minnesota and Illinois to 49 and 42 points, respectively. Not since MSU kept Ohio State to 47 points and Michigan to 33 points, in January of last season, had the women's basketball team consecutively kept their opponents under 50 points.
Meanwhile, the men floundered against Wisconsin, 62-59, although we acknowledge it was the end of a seven-game winning streak.
The women's awesome defense has been nothing short of fantastic. They must have picked up a few pointers from that NBA championship-winning team that was lauded for its amazing teamwork and intense defense; the same team (the Detroit Pistons, if you were living in a cave) that was, at the time, criticized as being boring to witness. Our team has its own fresh starting line, filled with leadership and personality that plays with compelling strategy.
One thing that is disturbing, however, is the amount of vacant seats there are when the women are playing at home. Ever have your mom miss your performance at a play or dad pass on your flute solo? These women are killing the competition, and their outstanding performance deserves an audience.
We understand people are free to choose what kind of sports and what gender of athletes they want to be entertained by. Although men may play with more intensity, flashy dunks and tricky moves, female basketball is a phenomenon all its own.
Give the women's team a chance. They are playing at a level that demands it. Given the dirt-cheap tickets prices for women's games - compared to the costs of seeing the guys - there is no excuse not to make it out.
At The State News, we are making a conscious effort to give female hoops bigger play in the paper. Although we know you will always enjoy seeing the men on the front page, we hope the women can find a similar place in preferred reading.
We don't mean to demean men's hoops. We are as hard-core about Izzo's squad as the next Spartan. It's just a shame to see so much talent go unnoticed.
If you are a basketball enthusiast, regardless of your feelings about the sport and what makes it fun to watch, you owe the women's team at least one look. If you are not swept off your feet with Spartan spirit at their performance, you can go back to polishing your Tom Izzo bobble head.
