Michigan State Heads For ESPN2 February Frenzy At Purdue

Feb. 10, 2007

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EAST LANSING, Mich. - Riding a three-game win streak, the Michigan State women's basketball team heads into West Lafayette, Ind., looking for some retribution for a 70-60 loss at the hands of No. 13 Purdue on Jan. 11.

The Sunday 3:10 p.m. game will be part of ESPN2's February Frenzy and could go a long way to determining seeding in the Big Ten playoffs.

Sophomore Mia Johnson comes into Mackey Arena having led the Spartans in scoring in the past two games, including scoring a gutsy 15 points in a 55-48 win at Northwestern on Thursday. Johnson drained 5-of-7 free-throw attempts in the final 2:02 to ice the win, helping the Spartans improve to a perfect 5-0 when she leads the squad in scoring.

Johnson is one of five Spartans that is averaging 10 or more points in the conference season, as the balanced Spartans have rolled out to a 9-2 conference record.

Purdue, at 10-1 in the Big Ten, features one of the most dynamic teams in the conference, with the team allowing a Big Ten best 52.3 points per game and scoring a second-best 70.6 points per game. Senior Katie Gearlds has led the team, averaging 17.0 points and 4.6 rebounds per game and junior Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton adds 14.5 points per game.

Spartan Notables

• Today's game is part of ESPN2's February Frenzy, with four matchups being regionally-televised on ESPN2 and the rest of the nation receiving whip-around coverage. Michigan and Indiana will see the Michigan State-Purdue game in full.

• The senior class of Myisha Bannister, Katrina Grantham, Rene Haynes and Victoria Lucas-Perry became the winningest senior class in MSU history when they won their 97th career game at Northwestern.

• Five Spartans average in double figures in conference games (Victoria Lucas-Perry, 12.7; Allyssa DeHaan, 11.7; Mia Johnson, 11.3; Rene Haynes, 10.5; Aisha Jefferson, 10.0).

• Sophomore Mia Johnson has converted on 56 of her last 65 (86 percent) free throw attempts.

• Senior Victoria Lucas-Perry has been selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 4 Second Team. She is the third player in Coach P's tenure to earn the honor.

• The Spartans held Northwestern to 21.9 percent shooting from the floor, a season-low.

• Sophomore Aisha Jefferson has scored in double figures in three straight games and five of the past six, as she had 10 points at Northwestern.