Monday, March 25
South Bend, Ind.
7 p.m.
Michigan State University
at
Notre Dame
MSU faces on No. 1 Seed Notre Dame Monday In NCAA Tournament Action
3/24/2019 2:05:00 PM | Women's Basketball
This is the first NCAA Tournament meeting between the Spartans and the Irish
EAST LANSING, Mich. - No. 9-seeded Michigan State women's basketball will take on No. 1-seeded Notre Dame in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in the Chicago Region on Monday, March 25 at 7 p.m. (ET) at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, Indiana. This is the 20th overall meeting between the Spartans and the Irish.
• MSU (21-11) defeated in-state foe and No. 9 seed Central Michigan in the first round in a 88-87 thriller after a last second shot by Shay Colley. Notre Dame (31-3) dominated No. 16 Bethune Cookman, 92-50 in its first-round action.
• The Spartans' 88 points against CMU were third-most scored in NCAA Tournament history. In 1991, Michigan State scored 94 points in a triple overtime loss to Oklahoma State. The 19 assists were the fourth-most in NCAA Tournament history. MSU shot 52.2 percent from the field (35-for-37), which was the third-most in the in tourney history for the Spartans.
• Sophomore Sidney Cooks entered the record books with her 21-point performance against CMU. Her 10 made field goals were tied for third in the MSU NCAA Tournament record books and her 71.4 shooting percentage was tied for second.
• The Spartans have now reached the 20-win plateau for the 10th time during Suzy Merchant's 12-year tenure.
MSU IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
This is the second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and the fourth time overall that the Spartans have been the No. 9 seed, also doing so in 1996 and 2009, along with 2017. MSU is 3-1 in the first round as a No. 9 seed and 3-3 overall. In 1996, Michigan State beat eighth-seeded Massachusetts, 60-57 (OT) in Storrs, Connecticut before going on to lose to No. 1 seed UConn, 88-68, in the second round. In 2009, MSU was the host site and beat No. 8 seed Middle Tennessee State, 60-59, then upset top-seeded Duke, 63-49, in the second round, losing to No. 4 seed Iowa State, 69-68, in the regional semifinals. In their last NCAA Tournament in 2017, ninth-seeded Michigan State lost to eighth-seeded Arizona State, 73-61.
SPARTANS VS THE FIELD OF 64
Heading into the NCAA Tournament, MSU had played eight teams that reached the NCAA Tournament, including five from the Big Ten. The Spartans have gone 7-5 against those teams. Michigan State has wins against No. 2- seeds Oregon, Iowa and No. 3-seeded Maryland. MSU has wins against No. 10 Indiana, No. 13 Wright State and a pair of wins against No. 8 Michigan.
ABOUT TOP-SEEDED NOTRE DAME
Notre Dame (31-3) earned a No. 1 seed in its 24th-consecutive berth in the NCAA Tournament and defeated 16th-seeded Bethune Cookman in the First Round. This season marks the ninth overall time Notre Dame has been a No. 1 seed and a nation's best eighth-straight year. Notre Dame holds a 37-6 all-time record as a top seed in the tournament and holds the fifth-most overall tournament wins in the country with 62. Eight ACC teams advanced to the NCAA Tournament, which ties the league record for the fourth time and second-straight year. The defending national champions captured the ACC Tournament crown with a 99-79 win over Louisville with Jackie Young earning ACC Tournament MVP honors. The stacked Irish lineup feature a familiar face in senior forward Jessica Shepard who played two season at Nebraska, earning first-team All-Big Ten honors, as well as B1G Freshman of the Year. Notre Dame is led by a pair of Wooden Award candidates in Shepard (16.6 ppg) and Arike Ogunbowale (21.1 ppg).
SPARTANS AGAINST NOTRE DAME
The Spartans and the Irish are familiar opponents, playing twice in the last two seasons. Notre Dame leads the overall series 10-9, but have dominated the series of late winning the last six games. In the last meeting in South Bend, the Irish stopped the Spartans, 90-59 on Dec. 6, 2017 with senior center Jenna Allen scoring a career-high 28 points. The two teams have not met in the NCAA Tournament. Arike Ogunbowale led the Irish in scoring with 23 points.
NOTRE DAME vs. THE FIELD OF 64
Notre Dame has played 15 teams in the tournament field, posting a 15-3 record in those games. The Irish have seven wins over top-four seed team, including going 2-0 against top-seeded Louisville. Notre Dame defeated No. 2-seed Iowa and a pair of wins over No. 2-seed Syracuse.
MSU AND NOTRE DAME COMMON OPPONENTS
Michigan State and Notre Dame have three common opponents with the Spartans going 2-2 against those teams, while the Irish went 3-0. MSU went 1-1 against Iowa, while Notre Dame defeated the Hawkeyes, 105-71. Michigan State defeated Virginia in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, 91-66.
IRISH NOTES
The Irish have been piling up the awards this postseason. Notre Dame placed all five of its starters on All-ACC teams. This marks the most selections the Fighting Irish have ever received for end of the year all-conference teams. Arike Ogunbowale and Jessica Shepard both earned first-team honors. Ogunbowale is also a AAU Sullivan Award Semifinalist as well as being named to the Wooden Award National Ballot. Carol Owens was named the WBCA Division I Assistant Coach of the Year.
WINNING AGAINST NO. 1
The Spartans are looking for their third win against a top seed. Overall, MSU is 2-4 against the No. 1 seed with the last win coming against Duke in the second round in 2009. This is the first-ever meeting between the Spartans and Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament.
AGAINST THE GREAT LAKES STATE
Michigan State has had great success against other collegiate programs in the state of Michigan over the past 16 seasons. Since the beginning of the 2002-03 season, the Spartans are 59-5 (.922) against in-state rivals, including a 44-5 (.898) mark under Coach Merchant. All-time, Michigan State is 192-60 (.762) against other Michigan schools.
RECORD-SETTING DAY
The Spartans entered the postseason record book several times in the 88-87 win over Central Michigan on Saturday.
• The Spartans' 88 points were third-most scored in NCAA Tournament history. In 1991, Michigan State scored 94 points in a triple overtime loss to Oklahoma State. The 19 assists were the fourth-most in NCAA Tournament history. MSU shot 52.2 percent from the field (35-for-37), which was the third-most in the in tourney history for the Spartans.
• Taryn McCutcheon's four 3-pointers were one shy of the MSU record in NCAA Tournament games, marking the eight time that a Spartan has hit four treys. Lindsay Bowen holds the record with five made 3-pointers against USC in 2005.
• Michigan State made its 17th all-time appearance in the NCAA Championship as the ninth seed in the Chicago Regional. The Spartans reached the NCAA tournament for the 10th time in the past 12 seasons, dating back to 2007-08.
• Michigan State earned its fourth win ever as a nine-seed in the NCAA tournament, and its first as a lower seed since a 63-49 victory over No. 1 Duke on March 24, 2009 in East Lansing as part of the Berkley Regional.-Michigan State finished the game with a 33-30 rebounding advantage over Central Michigan. The Spartans improved to 17-2 when out-rebounding the opposition thus far this season.
• A total of five Michigan State players scored in double figures, led by the career-high 21 points of sophomore forward Sidney Cooks. The Spartans are now 7-0 when at least five players reach double digits in scoring this season.
B1G IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Six Big Ten schools received berths into the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State and Rutgers earned their way into this year's tournament, with Iowa and Maryland receiving top-four seeds and the right to host first- and second-round games this weekend. This marks the second-straight year, as well as the 15th time in the past 19 years and 22nd time in Big Ten history that at least six current conference members have been selected to compete in the NCAA Tournament.
INDIANA CONNECTION
Michigan State has a duo of players from the state of Indiana in senior center Jenna Allen and redshirt-junior forward Victoria Gaines. Allen hails from Bedford and her sister will be attending Indiana University next season. Gaines come to MSU from Merrillville. MSU is 0-1 in Indiana this season with a loss at IU on Jan. 6.
MAGIC NUMBERS
In head coach Suzy Merchant's tenure, when two numbers on the scoreboard were achieved it typically has been a sign of a MSU win. Overall, MSU has scored at least 70 points in 23 of 31 games this season. MSU has won 137 of its last 154 games when scoring at least 70 points, and MSU is 155-27 under head coach Suzy Merchant when hanging at least 70 points on the scoreboard. This year, MSU is 19-4 when scoring at least 70 with a loss to No. 13 NC State on Nov. 22 and a loss to No. 16 Iowa on Feb. 7. The Spartans also fell to Nebraska 82-71 on Feb. 17 and Ohio State on Feb. 21.
ALLEN CLIMBING UP THE CHARTS
With 13 points on Feb. 21 against Nebraska, senior center Jenna Allen became the 27th player in Spartan history to reach the 1,000 career points milestone. She now has 1,086 career points in her four years in the Michigan State green and white. She is one of only 13 Spartans to reach 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in her career.
She has four 20+ point outings this season and five in her career. Against both Oregon and FAU, Allen tied a career-high with three 3-pointers, matching three triples from at Notre Dame (12/16/17), which was also when her career-high of 28 points came.
PACKING THE HOUSE
Michigan State's 74-64 win over Michigan brought in a season-high 11,368 fans into the Breslin Center. The crowd was the 14th best in the nation this season. It was also the third-best in the Big Ten. Overall, the 11,368 fans were the 15th-most fan in the Breslin Center in school history. The Spartans' highest attendance was 14,797 fans against Michigan on Feb. 13, 2011.
MCCUTCHEON MOVIN' ON UP
With two assists against Central Michigan on March 23, junior guard Taryn McCutcheon remains third in career helpers with 469 in just three seasons. She passed Christine Powers (1991-95), who had 460. She is one of just five Spartans to reach the 400-assist mark. McCutcheon is now 22 assists away from passing All-American Tori Jankoska (2014-17), who had 489. MSU Hall of Famer Kristin Haynie (2001-05) is the all-time career leader in assists with 574 helpers.
McCutcheon also has 198 career 3-pointers which stands fourth in the MSU record books. Jankoska also holds that record with 320 career treys.
CRASHING THE BOARDS
The Spartans are 17-2 this season when out-rebounding the opposition. The 77-70 loss against Ohio State on Feb. 21 was just the second time that Michigan State lost when out-rebounding its opponent. MSU had a 43-31 advantage on the board in that game. Michigan State is 3-8 when its opponents have more rebounds.
SCORING SHAY
Redshirt-junior guard Shay Colley has been one of MSU's most consistent players. Against Central Michigan on March 23, Colley's 13 points were her 10th-straight double-figure game and 22nd of the season. She now has scored in double digits in 36 career games as a Spartan. Colley netted a career-high 32 points Feb. 11 against Indiana. She topped her previous season-high of 28 points from at Northwestern (Jan. 3) and her previous career-high of 31 points from at South Dakota (March 22, 2018) in last season's WNIT. Colley's 31-point outing is the first 30+ game this season by a Spartan and the first since Colley's 31 points at South Dakota.
ON CLOUD(EN) NINE
Freshman sensation Nia Clouden is climbing up the MSU freshman record charts. She is now tied for fourth in freshman assists with 129 helpers, tying Kiana Johnson (2011-12). Current teammate Taryn McCutcheon holds the record for freshman assists with 169 during the 2016-17 season. The Ownings Mills, Maryland native is now just four assists away from tying Brittney Thomas who had 133 assists during the 2007-08 season. Clouden also has scored 389 points this season, which places her No. 5 in freshman scoring, passing Lindsay Bowen who scored 386 points during the 2002-03 season.
BEATING THE BEST
The Jan. 17 upset win over No. 9/9 Maryland was Michigan State's fourth home win over a ranked team, marking the first time that the Spartans have defeated four ranked teams at home since 2004-05 when MSU defeated No. 18/17 Iowa, No. 11/12 Minnesota, No. RV/24 Purdue and No. 2/3 Ohio State.
The win was MSU's fourth home win over a ranked team, joining No. 3 Oregon (88-82 on Dec. 9), No. 16 Iowa (84-70 on Dec. 30) and No. 18 Minnesota (Jan. 9), marking the second time in last four seasons that the Spartans have beat four ranked teams in the same season. In 2015-16, the Spartans topped No. 16 Northwestern (home), No. 5 Ohio State (home) and No. 9 Ohio State (neutral).
MSU's losses against ranked teams were against then-No. 15/13 NC State on Nov. 22 and No. 20/23 Rutgers on the road on Jan. 20. The Spartans only other loss to a ranked team was against No. 16/16 Iowa on Feb. 7 and No. 9 Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament on March 8. The Spartans are now 4-4 this season against ranked opponents, improving to 23-18 overall at home vs. ranked foes under head coach Suzy Merchant.
PUTTING UP THE NUMBERS
In 32 games this season, the Spartans have had a player score at least 20 points 15 times, including Sidney Cooks tying a career-high with 21 against CMU on March 23 in the NCAA Tournament. Shay Colley also added a career-high 32 against Indian on Feb. 21, which was the most points scored by a Spartan this season. Senior center Jenna Allen has scored at least 20 points four times with a season-high 27 points against Oregon on Dec. 9. Colley has scored at least 20-points six times this season. Freshman guard Nia Clouden scored a career-high 27 against Iowa on Dec. 30 and 20 points in the second meeting against Iowa on Feb. 7 to go along with scoring 23 against OSU on Feb. 21. She has scored at least 20-points three times this season.
• MSU (21-11) defeated in-state foe and No. 9 seed Central Michigan in the first round in a 88-87 thriller after a last second shot by Shay Colley. Notre Dame (31-3) dominated No. 16 Bethune Cookman, 92-50 in its first-round action.
• The Spartans' 88 points against CMU were third-most scored in NCAA Tournament history. In 1991, Michigan State scored 94 points in a triple overtime loss to Oklahoma State. The 19 assists were the fourth-most in NCAA Tournament history. MSU shot 52.2 percent from the field (35-for-37), which was the third-most in the in tourney history for the Spartans.
• Sophomore Sidney Cooks entered the record books with her 21-point performance against CMU. Her 10 made field goals were tied for third in the MSU NCAA Tournament record books and her 71.4 shooting percentage was tied for second.
• The Spartans have now reached the 20-win plateau for the 10th time during Suzy Merchant's 12-year tenure.
MSU IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
This is the second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and the fourth time overall that the Spartans have been the No. 9 seed, also doing so in 1996 and 2009, along with 2017. MSU is 3-1 in the first round as a No. 9 seed and 3-3 overall. In 1996, Michigan State beat eighth-seeded Massachusetts, 60-57 (OT) in Storrs, Connecticut before going on to lose to No. 1 seed UConn, 88-68, in the second round. In 2009, MSU was the host site and beat No. 8 seed Middle Tennessee State, 60-59, then upset top-seeded Duke, 63-49, in the second round, losing to No. 4 seed Iowa State, 69-68, in the regional semifinals. In their last NCAA Tournament in 2017, ninth-seeded Michigan State lost to eighth-seeded Arizona State, 73-61.
SPARTANS VS THE FIELD OF 64
Heading into the NCAA Tournament, MSU had played eight teams that reached the NCAA Tournament, including five from the Big Ten. The Spartans have gone 7-5 against those teams. Michigan State has wins against No. 2- seeds Oregon, Iowa and No. 3-seeded Maryland. MSU has wins against No. 10 Indiana, No. 13 Wright State and a pair of wins against No. 8 Michigan.
ABOUT TOP-SEEDED NOTRE DAME
Notre Dame (31-3) earned a No. 1 seed in its 24th-consecutive berth in the NCAA Tournament and defeated 16th-seeded Bethune Cookman in the First Round. This season marks the ninth overall time Notre Dame has been a No. 1 seed and a nation's best eighth-straight year. Notre Dame holds a 37-6 all-time record as a top seed in the tournament and holds the fifth-most overall tournament wins in the country with 62. Eight ACC teams advanced to the NCAA Tournament, which ties the league record for the fourth time and second-straight year. The defending national champions captured the ACC Tournament crown with a 99-79 win over Louisville with Jackie Young earning ACC Tournament MVP honors. The stacked Irish lineup feature a familiar face in senior forward Jessica Shepard who played two season at Nebraska, earning first-team All-Big Ten honors, as well as B1G Freshman of the Year. Notre Dame is led by a pair of Wooden Award candidates in Shepard (16.6 ppg) and Arike Ogunbowale (21.1 ppg).
SPARTANS AGAINST NOTRE DAME
The Spartans and the Irish are familiar opponents, playing twice in the last two seasons. Notre Dame leads the overall series 10-9, but have dominated the series of late winning the last six games. In the last meeting in South Bend, the Irish stopped the Spartans, 90-59 on Dec. 6, 2017 with senior center Jenna Allen scoring a career-high 28 points. The two teams have not met in the NCAA Tournament. Arike Ogunbowale led the Irish in scoring with 23 points.
NOTRE DAME vs. THE FIELD OF 64
Notre Dame has played 15 teams in the tournament field, posting a 15-3 record in those games. The Irish have seven wins over top-four seed team, including going 2-0 against top-seeded Louisville. Notre Dame defeated No. 2-seed Iowa and a pair of wins over No. 2-seed Syracuse.
MSU AND NOTRE DAME COMMON OPPONENTS
Michigan State and Notre Dame have three common opponents with the Spartans going 2-2 against those teams, while the Irish went 3-0. MSU went 1-1 against Iowa, while Notre Dame defeated the Hawkeyes, 105-71. Michigan State defeated Virginia in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, 91-66.
IRISH NOTES
The Irish have been piling up the awards this postseason. Notre Dame placed all five of its starters on All-ACC teams. This marks the most selections the Fighting Irish have ever received for end of the year all-conference teams. Arike Ogunbowale and Jessica Shepard both earned first-team honors. Ogunbowale is also a AAU Sullivan Award Semifinalist as well as being named to the Wooden Award National Ballot. Carol Owens was named the WBCA Division I Assistant Coach of the Year.
WINNING AGAINST NO. 1
The Spartans are looking for their third win against a top seed. Overall, MSU is 2-4 against the No. 1 seed with the last win coming against Duke in the second round in 2009. This is the first-ever meeting between the Spartans and Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament.
AGAINST THE GREAT LAKES STATE
Michigan State has had great success against other collegiate programs in the state of Michigan over the past 16 seasons. Since the beginning of the 2002-03 season, the Spartans are 59-5 (.922) against in-state rivals, including a 44-5 (.898) mark under Coach Merchant. All-time, Michigan State is 192-60 (.762) against other Michigan schools.
RECORD-SETTING DAY
The Spartans entered the postseason record book several times in the 88-87 win over Central Michigan on Saturday.
• The Spartans' 88 points were third-most scored in NCAA Tournament history. In 1991, Michigan State scored 94 points in a triple overtime loss to Oklahoma State. The 19 assists were the fourth-most in NCAA Tournament history. MSU shot 52.2 percent from the field (35-for-37), which was the third-most in the in tourney history for the Spartans.
• Taryn McCutcheon's four 3-pointers were one shy of the MSU record in NCAA Tournament games, marking the eight time that a Spartan has hit four treys. Lindsay Bowen holds the record with five made 3-pointers against USC in 2005.
• Michigan State made its 17th all-time appearance in the NCAA Championship as the ninth seed in the Chicago Regional. The Spartans reached the NCAA tournament for the 10th time in the past 12 seasons, dating back to 2007-08.
• Michigan State earned its fourth win ever as a nine-seed in the NCAA tournament, and its first as a lower seed since a 63-49 victory over No. 1 Duke on March 24, 2009 in East Lansing as part of the Berkley Regional.-Michigan State finished the game with a 33-30 rebounding advantage over Central Michigan. The Spartans improved to 17-2 when out-rebounding the opposition thus far this season.
• A total of five Michigan State players scored in double figures, led by the career-high 21 points of sophomore forward Sidney Cooks. The Spartans are now 7-0 when at least five players reach double digits in scoring this season.
B1G IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Six Big Ten schools received berths into the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State and Rutgers earned their way into this year's tournament, with Iowa and Maryland receiving top-four seeds and the right to host first- and second-round games this weekend. This marks the second-straight year, as well as the 15th time in the past 19 years and 22nd time in Big Ten history that at least six current conference members have been selected to compete in the NCAA Tournament.
INDIANA CONNECTION
Michigan State has a duo of players from the state of Indiana in senior center Jenna Allen and redshirt-junior forward Victoria Gaines. Allen hails from Bedford and her sister will be attending Indiana University next season. Gaines come to MSU from Merrillville. MSU is 0-1 in Indiana this season with a loss at IU on Jan. 6.
MAGIC NUMBERS
In head coach Suzy Merchant's tenure, when two numbers on the scoreboard were achieved it typically has been a sign of a MSU win. Overall, MSU has scored at least 70 points in 23 of 31 games this season. MSU has won 137 of its last 154 games when scoring at least 70 points, and MSU is 155-27 under head coach Suzy Merchant when hanging at least 70 points on the scoreboard. This year, MSU is 19-4 when scoring at least 70 with a loss to No. 13 NC State on Nov. 22 and a loss to No. 16 Iowa on Feb. 7. The Spartans also fell to Nebraska 82-71 on Feb. 17 and Ohio State on Feb. 21.
ALLEN CLIMBING UP THE CHARTS
With 13 points on Feb. 21 against Nebraska, senior center Jenna Allen became the 27th player in Spartan history to reach the 1,000 career points milestone. She now has 1,086 career points in her four years in the Michigan State green and white. She is one of only 13 Spartans to reach 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in her career.
She has four 20+ point outings this season and five in her career. Against both Oregon and FAU, Allen tied a career-high with three 3-pointers, matching three triples from at Notre Dame (12/16/17), which was also when her career-high of 28 points came.
PACKING THE HOUSE
Michigan State's 74-64 win over Michigan brought in a season-high 11,368 fans into the Breslin Center. The crowd was the 14th best in the nation this season. It was also the third-best in the Big Ten. Overall, the 11,368 fans were the 15th-most fan in the Breslin Center in school history. The Spartans' highest attendance was 14,797 fans against Michigan on Feb. 13, 2011.
MCCUTCHEON MOVIN' ON UP
With two assists against Central Michigan on March 23, junior guard Taryn McCutcheon remains third in career helpers with 469 in just three seasons. She passed Christine Powers (1991-95), who had 460. She is one of just five Spartans to reach the 400-assist mark. McCutcheon is now 22 assists away from passing All-American Tori Jankoska (2014-17), who had 489. MSU Hall of Famer Kristin Haynie (2001-05) is the all-time career leader in assists with 574 helpers.
McCutcheon also has 198 career 3-pointers which stands fourth in the MSU record books. Jankoska also holds that record with 320 career treys.
CRASHING THE BOARDS
The Spartans are 17-2 this season when out-rebounding the opposition. The 77-70 loss against Ohio State on Feb. 21 was just the second time that Michigan State lost when out-rebounding its opponent. MSU had a 43-31 advantage on the board in that game. Michigan State is 3-8 when its opponents have more rebounds.
SCORING SHAY
Redshirt-junior guard Shay Colley has been one of MSU's most consistent players. Against Central Michigan on March 23, Colley's 13 points were her 10th-straight double-figure game and 22nd of the season. She now has scored in double digits in 36 career games as a Spartan. Colley netted a career-high 32 points Feb. 11 against Indiana. She topped her previous season-high of 28 points from at Northwestern (Jan. 3) and her previous career-high of 31 points from at South Dakota (March 22, 2018) in last season's WNIT. Colley's 31-point outing is the first 30+ game this season by a Spartan and the first since Colley's 31 points at South Dakota.
ON CLOUD(EN) NINE
Freshman sensation Nia Clouden is climbing up the MSU freshman record charts. She is now tied for fourth in freshman assists with 129 helpers, tying Kiana Johnson (2011-12). Current teammate Taryn McCutcheon holds the record for freshman assists with 169 during the 2016-17 season. The Ownings Mills, Maryland native is now just four assists away from tying Brittney Thomas who had 133 assists during the 2007-08 season. Clouden also has scored 389 points this season, which places her No. 5 in freshman scoring, passing Lindsay Bowen who scored 386 points during the 2002-03 season.
BEATING THE BEST
The Jan. 17 upset win over No. 9/9 Maryland was Michigan State's fourth home win over a ranked team, marking the first time that the Spartans have defeated four ranked teams at home since 2004-05 when MSU defeated No. 18/17 Iowa, No. 11/12 Minnesota, No. RV/24 Purdue and No. 2/3 Ohio State.
The win was MSU's fourth home win over a ranked team, joining No. 3 Oregon (88-82 on Dec. 9), No. 16 Iowa (84-70 on Dec. 30) and No. 18 Minnesota (Jan. 9), marking the second time in last four seasons that the Spartans have beat four ranked teams in the same season. In 2015-16, the Spartans topped No. 16 Northwestern (home), No. 5 Ohio State (home) and No. 9 Ohio State (neutral).
MSU's losses against ranked teams were against then-No. 15/13 NC State on Nov. 22 and No. 20/23 Rutgers on the road on Jan. 20. The Spartans only other loss to a ranked team was against No. 16/16 Iowa on Feb. 7 and No. 9 Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament on March 8. The Spartans are now 4-4 this season against ranked opponents, improving to 23-18 overall at home vs. ranked foes under head coach Suzy Merchant.
PUTTING UP THE NUMBERS
In 32 games this season, the Spartans have had a player score at least 20 points 15 times, including Sidney Cooks tying a career-high with 21 against CMU on March 23 in the NCAA Tournament. Shay Colley also added a career-high 32 against Indian on Feb. 21, which was the most points scored by a Spartan this season. Senior center Jenna Allen has scored at least 20 points four times with a season-high 27 points against Oregon on Dec. 9. Colley has scored at least 20-points six times this season. Freshman guard Nia Clouden scored a career-high 27 against Iowa on Dec. 30 and 20 points in the second meeting against Iowa on Feb. 7 to go along with scoring 23 against OSU on Feb. 21. She has scored at least 20-points three times this season.
Players Mentioned
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Forward
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