No. 23 Spartans Finish Non-Conference Season at Hartford
12/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2007
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Live Stats
Streaming Video (pay-per-view through hartfordhawks.com)
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GAME 12 TIPOFF
No. 23/24 MICHIGAN STATE (8-3) at HARTFORD (9-2)
Game Information
When: Saturday, Dec. 22 • 2 p.m.
Where: Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion (3,997) • West Hartford, Conn.
Media Coverage
TV: Comcast Sports Net New England & Comcast Local
Radio: WVFN 730 AM and msuspartans.com (Rick Berkey: Play-by-Play)
Internet: Live stats at hartfordhawks.com; Live video available for purchase at hartfordhawks.com
Series History
Overall: MSU leads, 1-0
Last meeting: MSU 58, Hartford 45 (12/9/06)
Coaches
MSU: Suzy Merchant (Central Michigan, 1991)
Overall: 209-123 (13th year)
At MSU: 8-3 (first year)
HARTFORD: Jennifer Rizzoti (Connecticut, 1996)
Overall: 153-100 (ninth year)
At Hartford: same
SPARTANS FINISH NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE WITH TOUGH ROAD GAME AT HARTFORD
The No. 23/24 Michigan State women's basketball team, fresh off a dominating 73-35 win at Providence on Thursday, finishes the non-conference season with a difficult road game at Hartford Saturday at 2 p.m. The Spartans (8-3) will look to snap Hartford's 14-game home-court winning streak as they play their eighth game away from home this season.
Hartford (9-2) has won three games in a row, owns an RPI of 20 and is receiving votes in the Coaches' Poll. The Hawks have beaten the likes of BYU, Virginia, St. John's and Marist, while their only losses have come to Kansas and UMass. Michigan State defeated Hartford in the Spartan Clash last season at the Palace, 58-45. The Hawks are led by ninth-year head coach Jennifer Rizzotti, who is the school's all-time winningest coach at 153-100. She has won three America East tournament titles and two regular-season championships, and has led the Hawks to three NCAA Tournament appearances. Rizzotti won a national championship in 1995 while playing for the Connecticut Huskies.
In the first game of the East Coast road swing, Michigan State took care of Providence at Alumni Hall, 73-35. The 38-point margin of victory was the largest for the Spartans since a school-record 61-point rout over Northwestern on Feb. 3, 2005. Sophomore 6-9 center Allyssa DeHaan became the fastest player in NCAA Division I history to record 200 blocks as she swatted three shots in the game to give her 202 for her career in just 44 games. Brittney Thomas led the Spartans with a season-high 15 points while Kalisha Keane recorded her second career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
MSU-HARTFORD ONE OF TOP GAMES OVER HOLIDAY BREAK
ESPN.com's Charlie Creme has listed the MSU-Hartford matchup as one of the top games over holiday break in his latest column. "The nice part for the Spartans is that Hartford has established itself enough to make this a road win to point to," writes Creme. "It's far from the no-win proposition these games can sometimes be for the BCS schools."
DEHAAN MSU'S ALL-TIME BLOCKS LEADER
Allyssa DeHaan became MSU's all-time leader in blocked shots after recording five against Oklahoma last Sunday. She reached the mark in just 43 career games. Kristen Rasmussen previously held the record with 194 blocks in 118 career games.
DeHaan, who set the Big Ten single-season record with 145 blocked shots her freshman year, leads the nation with 57 blocks through 11 games (5.2 avg.). The NCAA single-season record for blocked shots is held by Amie Williams of Jackson State, who had 152 in 2003.
The NCAA career record is 480, set by TCU's Sandora Irvin from 2002-05. Jessica Davenport of Ohio State owns the Big Ten career record with 384.
With three blocks at Providence, DeHaan became the fastest player in NCAA Division I history to reach the 200-block milestone while playing in her freshman and sophomore seasons. DeHaan, currently with 202 career blocks, is one of just eight players in Big Ten history to collect more than 200 blocks. By comparison, Sandora Irvin, the NCAA's all-time blocks leader, had just 134 blocks in 43 contests, and Oklahoma's Courtney Paris needed 60 games to reach 200 blocks.
HATE TO BRING IT UP...BUT WORTH MENTIONING
Much like a no-hitter in baseball, it's hard to bring up a current streak without feeling the threat of jinxing it. That said, Allyssa DeHaan has made 29 consecutive free throws, bolstering her free-throw percentage to 91.3, which is the second-best mark in the Big Ten. Lindsay Bowen holds the MSU record with 37 straight free throws, which she set during the 2002-03 season. DeHaan's streak is currently the fourth best in MSU history.
MINNESOTA GAME TIME CHANGE: TIP WILL BE MOVED UP TO 2 P.M. ON FRIDAY, DEC. 28
With the Michigan State football team playing its first bowl game in four years on Friday, Dec. 28 at 5 p.m. vs. Boston College in the Champs Sports Bowl, the MSU Athletics Department has announced that the women's basketball game vs. Minnesota in the Breslin Center scheduled for 7 p.m. that same night has been moved up to 2 p.m.
