One day after a game where No. 11 MSU women’s basketball team sold out Breslin Center for the first time in women’s basketball history, MSU head coach Suzy Merchant took the podium for her weekly Monday morning press conference, all smiles.
With the entire season built toward the Big Ten Championships, the MSU women’s swimming and diving team is filled with anticipation and enthusiasm going into the meet this weekend.
Following one of the worst weekends of the season, the MSU hockey team can’t be blamed if it’s trying to seek the answers to its inconsistencies. The Spartans dropped back-to-back games against Northern Michigan, the first of which prevented a 52-shot game from being a winning effort, and the second of which erased a 4-1 lead. Now the Spartans (12-16-4 overall, 8-14-2 CCHA) remain in 10th place in the CCHA standings and likely will need to sweep this weekend’s series at Alaska in order to have a chance at home-ice advantage in the first round of the CCHA Tournament. MSU is five points out of ninth place in the CCHA standings making it necessary to win at least three and possibly all four of its remaining games to just to have a chance at home ice. The Spartans’ offense broke its six-game streak of producing two goals or fewer in each game Saturday but suffered uncharacteristic defensive breakdowns that helped sixth-place Northern Michigan erase a 4-1 deficit and win, 6-5.
After beating Penn State last Thursday, junior forward Draymond Green and other members of the MSU men’s basketball team said they were looking forward to taking on undefeated and No. 1-ranked Ohio State Tuesday.
Ohio State and MSU matchup broken down.
The MSU softball team kicked off its season in winning fashion, going 3-2 in its first five games this weekend at the Lead-off Classic in Deland, Fla.
In its first away dual meet in more than a month, the MSU wrestling team lost to Indiana, 22-9. The Hoosiers got off to a quick start and an early 10-0 lead by winning the first three matches.
The MSU women’s basketball team felt the impact of the first sell-out crowd in the history of the program long before the opening tip Sunday.
Following the MSU women’s basketball team’s 69-56 win over Michigan on Sunday afternoon at Breslin Center, U-M head coach Kevin Borseth said there was one glaring difference between the two teams. “We could not contend with their strength,” Borseth said.
The MSU gymnastics team notched a season-high score of 193.425 at the UNH Invitational hosted by New Hampshire on Saturday. The score earned the Spartans second place in the four-team competition.
Uncharacteristic mistakes and late miscues marred the MSU hockey team’s improved offensive performance and allowed Northern Michigan to earn a sweep this weekend at Munn Ice Arena.
For the second time this season, the No. 11 MSU women’s basketball team beat Michigan, 69-56, in front of a sold-out crowd at Breslin Center.
Leading 4-1 in the second period, the MSU hockey team looked as though it had solved its offensive troubles and would earn a much-needed victory against Northern Michigan Saturday.
The MSU hockey team did everything it needed to Friday night to break out of a scoring slump: it put a season-high number of shots to the net, created quality scoring chances and fed off each other offensively, but the result was the same.
If recent late-season games between MSU and Northern Michigan serve as any indication, the Spartans should be in for a thrilling series when Northern Michigan visits Munn Ice Arena tonight and Saturday. The Wildcats toppled the Spartans in a three-game CCHA playoff series in March 2008, and did the same the following year to take a 6-1 lead against MSU in games played in February or later in the past three seasons, but plenty will be on the line when the teams meet this weekend. The Spartans (12-14-4 overall, 8-12-2 CCHA) are one place behind the Wildcats (11-15-4, 9-11-2) in the conference standings and could climb as high as seventh if they’re able to earn their first series sweep of the season.
Looking to steal its first road win this season, the MSU gymnastics team needs a big performance this weekend at the New Hampshire Invitational against New Hampshire, Brown and Alaska in Durham, N.H. Despite the three opponents not always being known for their gymnastics programs, head coach Kathie Klages said each team has received quality scores in recent meets, giving the Spartans another challenge while on the road. With recent struggles — such as failing to finish meets well and having more mistakes in meets than in practice — the Spartans hope to see their season improve with injured gymnasts returning to the lineup.
The MSU wrestling team is looking to rebound this weekend with a trip to the Hoosier State following a tumultuous home loss to No.
For the last three weeks, nothing about the MSU men’s basketball team jumped out at you and said, “Now that is Spartan basketball.” Quite the opposite, fans were leaving games or turning off the TV wondering what happened to a program that has developed a reputation for running teams to death while also physically beating the living daylights out of them just for good measure.
A triple-double from junior forward Draymond Green led the MSU men’s basketball team to a 75-57 defeat of Penn State on Thursday night at Breslin Center.
After holding No. 23 Penn State without a basket for nearly 8 minutes, the No. 11 MSU women’s basketball team cruised to a victory and in the process, took sole control of first place in the Big Ten. The Spartans(21-3 overall, 9-2 Big Ten) defeated the Lady Lions(20-6, 9-3), 60-49, not allowing Penn State to even approach the 80-point mark they have been averaging this season and proving again great defense trumps great offense. With 6:20 remaining in the first half, the score was 19-18 with MSU holding the one-point advantage.