It was a season plagued with injury, offensive inefficiency and inexperience for the MSU women’s soccer team that ended by failing to reach the Big Ten Tournament for the second straight year.
With legendary MSU running back Lorenzo White in the house, the Spartan men’s basketball team ran all over the Indiana University of Pennsylvania and lead 47-26 at the half. MSU lived from behind the three-point line as 19 of their 31 attempted field goals were three-pointers. An alley-oop from senior guard Keith Appling to junior forward Brandon Dawson just five seconds into the game got the IZZONE on their feet early. Two three-pointers from sophomore guard Gary Harris and one that senior center Adreian Payne rattled home pushed the Spartan lead to five points with 15 minutes left. Eight of the Spartans first ten shots were from behind the arch. MSU didn’t start to pull away until there was ten minutes left in the half when two more three-balls from Harris and a huge dunk by Dawson gave MSU a 12-point lead. Not to be outdone, Dawson lobbed a pass high into the Breslin Center sky the next time down the floor, that a flying Pyane hammered home with authority to put MSU up 14. Freshman forward Gavin Schilling skied for a put back slam after a missed three by junior guard Travis Trice. IUP had some success getting the ball low, and were led on the score sheet by Uruguay native Marcel Souberbielle with 10 points. Harris led all scorers with 14 points, and went 4-6 from the floor, all three-pointers, while Payne led the way on the boards by snatching 4 rebounds.
The honors are rolling in for the MSU defense following a historic 29-6 pounding of Michigan in which the Wolverines were held to a record-low -48 rushing yards and their lowest point total against the Spartans since 1967.
On Sunday night, junior forward Becca Mills enjoyed the fruits of her labor. A summer spent on developing a post game was shown in Sunday’s 91-47 win over Grand Valley State, where Mills posted 18 points, five rebounds and two blocks in just 24 minutes.
In the minutes separating the end of Saturday’s game and the start of the press conference, it was interesting to speculate what MSU coaches and players would say when they took the podium.
The MSU women’s cross country team placed first overall in the Big Ten Championship on Sunday in West Lafayette, Ind. The women finished the race with 43 points and five Spartans placing in the top 15. Leah O’Connor took second place overall, crossing the finish line at 20:56. MSU’s Katie Landwehr, Lindsey Clark, Rachele Schulist, and Megan Rodgers finished shortly after O’Connor taking fifth, ninth, 12th, and 15th place, respectively.
Grand Valley State was no match for the No. 18 MSU women’s basketball team on Sunday afternoon at Breslin Center, with MSU picking up its second preseason win, 91-47. It was the final tune-up match before MSU faces No.
Mackenzie MacEachern tallied two goals as the MSU hockey team finished the weekend sweep of American International with a 4-0 win Sunday afternoon at Munn Ice Arena. Freshman forward Joe Cox netted his second career goal, and senior forward Greg Wolfe scored his team leading fifth in the Spartans (3-3-0 overall) third win in a row. “A more complete game tonight certainly makes us feel a little better,” head coach Tom Anastos said.
After one half of play at Breslin Center, the No. 18 women’s basketball team leads Grand Valley State, 43-26. GVSU kept the game within a couple of points for much of the half, but the Spartans started to take control of the game nearing halftime. MSU shot the ball well from behind the arc, going 5-for-10 on 3-pointers. MSU was led by senior forward Annalise Pickrel’s eight points, six rebounds and two assists.
Senior midfielder Katherine Jamieson waited until the end to her biggest performance of the season. Jamieson’s hat trick led the Spartans (9-9 overall, 4-2 Big Ten) to a 4-3 win over Iowa to close regular season.
After MSU began Big Ten season with a stunning upset over then-No. 1 Penn State at home, it’s a safe assumption the Nittany Lions had their rematch against the Spartans circled on the calender.
The difference between Connor Cook and Devin Gardner is a few seconds. Count slowly or it’ll pass you by. It’s the blink of an eye, a flash. Nothing more and nothing less than a brief moment in time.
It was dirty. It was sloppy. And unlike the last time MSU and Michigan clashed in East Lansing, that only described the playing surface at Spartan Stadium. Between the lines, the on-field action was brutal and hard-hitting, similar in that regard to MSU’s dominant defensive performance of 2011 that was marred by some dirty play on both sides. The Spartans (8-1 overall, 5-0 Big Ten) outmatched the Wolverines physically, bullying their way to a 29-6 win – MSU’s fifth victory in the rivalry’s last six meetings.
Each team settled for field goals on their opening drives before failing to capitalize on multiple opportunities to take over the game, resulting in a 13-6 lead for MSU against rival Michigan at halftime. Sophomore quarterback Connor Cook’s accuracy was shaky until the last drive, when he took the Spartans 75 yards in 10 plays, capped with an impressive 14-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Bennie Fowler in the back corner of the end zone.
While most of East Lansing is dressed up and asking for free candy, the MSU hockey team is focused on winning, and that’s what they did Friday night against American International. The Spartans (2-3-0 overall) beat the Yellow Jackets (1-2-0 overall, 1-0-0 Atlantic Hockey) 5-4 in the first game of a two game set.
A swift fall followed a historic season start for the MSU volleyball team, but they regained their footing against another sliding Big Ten team.
In the final game of the season, the MSU women’s soccer team was unable to upset No. 22 Penn State, as the Nittany Lions came away with the 3-0 victory on the back of Maya Hayes’ two goals. Penn State (13-5-1 overall, 7-4 Big Ten) derailed the Spartans (9-8-2 overall, 3-8 Big Ten) on senior day at DeMartin Stadium when they honored lone senior and MSU defender Kelsey Mullen. Mullen injured her knee in early October and missed four games prior to Friday, but head coach Tom Saxton was determined Mullen would play her final game in a Spartan game.
Let’s begin with a stroll down memory lane. That’s not too much to ask for a university and fanbase obsessed with the past, right? In fact, many of you never left. I understand most of you have simply gone along with the elitist, holier-than-thou rhetoric you’ve heard from Michigan fans and supporters all your life. The sense of superiority and arrogance has been passed along for generations. For those of you that picked it up from a real alumnus instead of in the Wal-Mart clearance section, good for you! That’s a rare feat. Slide those blue-and-yellow tinted glasses off and take a look at the real world, where quarterbacks don’t wear No. 98 and people don’t act like they reinvented the wheel for playing night games. Like the females in Ann Arbor, the past isn’t as glamorous when you take a longer look.
One of my earliest interactions with Michigan State started with a female Spartan screaming at me to suck a part of her body that she categorically cannot possess. This was during my sophomore year two years ago during the “touch” football game The Michigan Daily and The State News play every Friday before the real football players battle on Saturday. I grew up in California not knowing a thing about Michigan State or why there is such animosity (for MSU fans reading this, that means “bad blood” ) between these two schools. I’m not like a lot of my classmates, the ones that grew up with or knowing Spartan fans, or the ones who applied to both schools, just in case they don’t get into Michigan. Everything I know about Michigan State comes from personal experience — there were no preconceived ideas or stereotypes that come with growing up in this area.
The MSU cross country team is preparing for one of its biggest meets of the season on Nov.