After completing an undefeated four-game home stretch Saturday, the No. 21 MSU women’s basketball team now will face Temple on the road at 7 p.m. Tuesday to Philadelphia.
It’s been a dream for Kenny Kaminski to take the floor at a big college basketball program. Now, his dream is a reality. The redshirt freshman forward stepped onto the court at Breslin Center for the first time last Monday against Portland.
Madison Williams already has suffered three anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, tears. But something is telling her she isn’t done yet. The redshirt junior center and former McDonald’s All-American only played in three collegiate games prior to this season. On Saturday night, a Breslin Center crowd of nearly 6,000 witnessed her play in her first game since Nov. 15, 2011. To a standing ovation from the crowd, Williams entered the game with about 15 minutes left in the first half. In two stints — one in the first half and one in the second half — Williams played five minutes and showed a glimpse of her potential when she scored six points, and recorded one rebound, one block and one steal. “(It’s) such a huge weight off,” Williams said about playing in her first game in two years. “All I’m thinking right now is I’m so thankful. God is so good to me just that I can get out there and I’m safe. He kept me safe in that game.
A great run at the end of the first half was the difference for the second night in a row, as the No.
After leading by only two points at halftime, the No. 21 MSU women’s basketball team made a 13-0 run midway through the second half that powered the Spartans through to a win against Rice on Saturday night at Breslin Center. Early in the first half, the Spartans (4-1 overall) got into foul trouble, which saw senior forward Annalise Pickrel head to the bench for most of the first half after picking up two fouls in just two minutes. In the second half, Rice (3-3) tied it right off the bat when forward Megan Palmer hit a layup, but back-to-back 3-pointers by senior guard Klarissa Bell and junior guard Kiana Johnson gave MSU the lead back, and the Spartans wouldn’t lose it again. With less than 10 minutes left, the Owls cut the lead to only four off an Alyssa Lang 3-pointer.
In the final game of a four-game homestand, the No. 21 MSU women’s basketball team is in a back-and-forth matchup with Rice, leading 32-30.
It seemed like another close match for the No. 1 men’s basketball team, but Adreian Payne the Spartans finished the game blowing the doors off of Virginia Tech, 96-77.
For the first time ever, No. 1 Michigan State will be tipping off against Virginia Tech tonight at the Coaches vs. Cancer semifinals in Brooklyn, N.Y. (9:30 p.m., TruTV) Head coach Tom Izzo said after practice Wednesday that, even after looking at tape, there still are surprises within the Hokies’ team.
The No. 1 MSU men’s basketball team still is searching for the big man down low to best replace the force that was Derrick Nix. Redshirt junior forward Alex Gauna, sophomore forward Matt Costello and freshman forward Gavin Schilling are the three candidates that have been rotating in and out from below the basket.
The No. 21 MSU women’s basketball team had no trouble putting away Detroit-Mercy on Wednesday night as the Spartans rolled to an 80-41 victory. The outstanding play of redshirt freshman Branndais Agee as well as a pair of double-digit runs were key in helping the Spartans (3-1 overall) secure the 39-point victory against the Titans (1-4). After Detroit-Mercy guard Senee Shearer hit a 3-pointer to briefly tie the game at 11, MSU started to pull away with 3-pointers by freshman Tori Jankoska, senior guard Klarissa Bell, Agee and sophomore guard Cara Miller on four of the next six possessions to give MSU a 23-13 point lead.
It was the half of the jumpshot for both teams, but the No. 21 MSU women’s basketball team is leading Detroit-Mercy, 42-22, at Breslin Center. The Spartans started the game off with an opening jumper from the top of the key by redshirt freshman guard Aerial Powers, shortly followed by a corner 3-pointer by senior guard Klarissa Bell.
For a brief moment, it looked as though a time-honored tradition at the Breslin Center of giving all fans in attendance a free taco if the basketball team scored more than 70 points was in jeopardy. It appears the worry may be coming to an end. Taco Bell Corp. said in a statement that the company plans to continue the promotion at 10 local Taco Bell stores, the Associated Press reported.
The Breslin Center is known for its various traditions regarding MSU basketball. From the Izzone jumping whenever the Spartans are on defense to popping paper bags after the team’s first field goal, these traditions have become a part of experiencing a game at the Breslin Center. One of those traditions has officially been discontinued.
When the No. 21 MSU women’s basketball team returns to action Wednesday night, the Spartans will square off against Detroit Mercy at 7 p.m. at Breslin Center. MSU (2-1 overall) is coming off of an overtime victory against then-No. 21 Dayton, and Detroit Mercy (1-3) is off from back-to-back losses against Western Michigan and Michigan.
College sporting events can seem like a whole new world through the eyes of a young child, like something unreachable. An idea struck David Harns, the founder of Spartan Kids Ticket Exchange, when he saw the wonder in his son Elijah’s expression when they attended the 2010 MSU-Notre Dame football game at Spartan Stadium. This happened to be the game of the famous Little Giant play, named for the 1994 movie based around youth football. Harns watched his son, who was only eight years old at the time, as the Spartans worked their magic on the field and said that he felt the impact that seeing it made for his son.
Watching the Green and White his whole life, one of Carter Godfrey’s greatest memories was watching the 2000 Spartans win the national title. Now, 13 years later, the agribusiness management junior and the rest of the Izzone are watching their Spartans play as the top-ranked team in the nation. “It’s never been like this in the Izzone before, where there are 700 people waiting outside two hours before the game starts,” the Izzone section leader said. “This year, the upper bowl is way bigger than it ever has been and the campout was three times bigger than it was last year.” The Spartans grabbed the No. 1 ranking in the AP and coaches polls for the first time in nearly 13 years Monday, giving the MSU faithful high hopes as team football team wraps up an impressive season.
Spartan fans in their respective football, basketball and hockey student section seats will no longer be seeing individuals from outside of MSU filling the bleachers around them. Recent attention toward the revamped student section ticket policy, which allows student section ticket holders to transfer their tickets to the ID cards of other students without a fee, will make it much harder for non-students to attend games in student-specific seats.
After a stellar first week of her college basketball career, the Big Ten announced Monday redshirt freshman guard Aerial Powers was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week. It was the first time an MSU player was awarded the conference’s Freshman of the Week since junior forward Becca Mills did so on Nov.
Friday night was Adreian Payne’s time to shine — and on Monday night, it was Keith Appling’s turn to step into the spotlight. Led by the senior guard’s career-tying 25 points, MSU beat Portland in their Coaches vs.
The seniors stole the show for the No. 1 MSU men’s basketball team as they lead Portland 36-32 at the break. Senior guard Keith Appling led the way with 16 points, while senior center Adreian Payne chipped in with 10. Portland got off to a hot start when they stole the opening tip and rolled it in for the first lead of the game. The Pilots got another basket sandwiched in between 3-point baskets from sophomore guard Gary Harris and Appling. The lead went back and forth until there was 14 minutes left in the game and MSU forced back-to-back turnovers.