The MSU women’s hoops team really needed Monday’s victory over Michigan. It needed it to maintain dominance over the Spartans’ arch rival.
The MSU women’s basketball team welcomed first-year Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico to the in-state rivalry in overwhelming fashion Monday night. Once the Spartans overcame a poor shooting stretch at the beginning the game, the rout was on. MSU (18-4 overall, 6-3 Big Ten) took advantage of an explosive run in the second half to down rival Michigan (16-6, 5-4) for the 12th consecutive time, 61-46. “I think Michigan State is the program that sets the bar, obviously, for the state of Michigan,” Barnes Arico said. “They have a great fan base.
It was supposed to be close. Identical conference records. Overall records separated by just a game. One of the mainstays of the Big Ten’s elite against a program on the rise, with a new head coach and coming off its first NCAA Tournament berth in 11 years. But when Kiana Johnson stood with the ball in her hands, arms crossed as the final seconds ticked off the clock, an authoritative message of dominance was sent. “Get off my court,” Johnson said was the thought on her mind as she stood near midcourt.
Pink jerseys, Breslin Center, arch rivals. The last time those three factors for the MSU women’s basketball team came together was Feb. 13, 2011, and culminated in a 69-56 victory against Michigan in front of the first sellout crowd in program history.
It wasn’t the dominating, confidence-boosting win the Spartans were hoping for, but they’ll take it. The MSU women’s basketball team (17-4 overall, 5-3 Big Ten) avoided a three-game skid by beating Northwestern 67-62 on the road tonight behind junior forward Annalise Pickrel’s career-high 21 points.
Before to the game at Illinois on Jan. 13, MSU women’s basketball coach Suzy Merchant held a meeting with her three primary guards: senior Jasmine Thomas, junior Klarissa Bell and sophomore Kiana Johnson to break down extra game film.
Looking back on a week marked by a pair of tough five-point losses, MSU women’s basketball coach Suzy Merchant is looking for a little more fire from her team.
One week after entering the Associated Press top-25 for the first time since 2011, the No. 25 MSU women’s basketball team might have played itself out of the rankings by dropping consecutive games for the first time this season.
The No. 25 MSU women’s basketball team has lost two consecutive contests for the first time this season after being downed by Purdue in overtime today, 67-62.
After being absent from the starting lineup for the first time this season, Becca Mills and Annalise Pickrel made their presence felt off the bench for the Spartans against No. 15 Purdue on Sunday.
Kiana Johnson did her best to carry the No. 25 MSU women’s basketball team to a win in its first-ever trip to Nebraska tonight. In their first game as a ranked team since the end of 2011, the Spartans fell to Nebraska 59-54.
As the No. 25 MSU women’s basketball program travels to play Nebraska tonight, it can only hope the second-ever meeting with the Cornhuskers goes as well as the first.
After hanging on the fringe for most of this season, the MSU women’s basketball team has cracked the Associated Press Top 25 poll this week. The No. 25 Spartans (16-2 overall, 4-1 Big Ten)are ranked for the first time since the final poll of the 2010-11 season.
The MSU women’s basketball team kicked off a challenging four-game stretch that features three road games with a 56-46 win on Sunday at Indiana behind sophomore guard Kiana Johnson’s15-point performance.
An impressive all-around outing from sophomore guard Kiana Johnson powered MSU to a 56-46 win at Indiana Sunday afternoon. Johnson paced MSU (16-2 overall, 4-1 Big Ten) with 15 points while adding five assists and four rebounds. The Spartans’ win begins a stretch that includes three road trips in the next four games.
Klarissa Bell announced her presence at Breslin Center in dramatic fashion Thursday night.
If Klarissa Bell, MSU’s leading scorer, didn’t have the attention of the visiting Hawkeyes when they got off the bus, they definitely did when her half court heave tied Thursday’s game at 25 at the halftime buzzer. Behind Bell’s career-high 25 points, the Spartans downed Iowa 65-54. Tied at 51 apiece with 3:37 left to play, MSU took advantage of a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to pull away — led by Bell and the outside shooting of junior forward Annalise Pickrel. Pickrel was fouled with 59 seconds left and hit one of two free throws to give the Spartans a 13-point lead at which point Iowa stopped fouling and let the time run out.
The Hawkeyes jumped out to an early 8-2 lead as MSU struggled shooting from the floor in the early going. The Spartans battled through a shooting slump that dipped to 21.4 percent at one point halfway through the first 20 minutes and kept the margin within five.
The Spartans hung on late to close out a win in their first road game of the Big Ten season Sunday evening, knocking off Illinois 79-75. Though the up-and-down pace favored the high-scoring Illini for most of the game, the balanced scoring and defensive disposition of the MSU women’s basketball team prevailed in Champaigne, Ill.
On Sunday the MSU women’s basketball team will hit the road for the first time in the young Big Ten season to take on a high-scoring Illinois squad. In a strength versus strength matchup, the defensive-minded Spartans (13-2 Big Ten, 1-1 Overall), who allow 45.6 points per game, will be tested by the Illini offense that averages 72.7 points per contest led star forward Karisma Penn. Four Illinois (9-6, 2-1) starters average 13 points or more, headlined by Penn’s 20-points and 10-plus rebounds per contest.