MSU Women’s Basketball Begins Practice Monday
9/30/2019 8:36:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Spartans return nine letterwinners from last year’s squad.
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State women's basketball began preparing for the 2019-20 season with the first official practice of the season. After practice, 13th-year head coach Suzy Merchant spoke about the current Spartan team.
The Spartans return four starters from last season's team that went 21-12, advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Redshirt-senior guard Shay Colley recently concluded a stint Team Canada, playing in the FIBA AmeriCup in Puerto Rico. She led the Spartans in scoring last season with 14.1 points per game. Senior Taryn McCutcheon and sophomore Nia Clouden also return as guards for MSU. All three earned All-Big Ten honors last season for the Spartans. Redshirt-senior forward Victoria Gaines is the fourth returning MSU starter.
Michigan State opens the 2019-20 season at home against Ferris State in its only exhibition on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m.
MSU Head Coach Suzy Merchant
On the first official day of practice…
There's good energy. I think there's just five freshmen on the team so that's always interesting. They're doing a really good job, to be honest. I think it's just going to take some time, but I've liked what we've seen so far. I thought for the first day, I mean if you have good attitude and good energy, you're in business; the rest we can teach.
On the freshmen…
Julia Ayrault, first and foremost, she's a face-up four man; she's really talented in terms of shooting the ball, making decisions. She's a guard-like four man and that throws a different wrinkle to our offense; obviously it's a big deal. To me, Moira Joiner is the utility kid that will do just about anything; she'll fill a stat sheet. She's very competitive; she's got a high motor. I've been really impressed with her. Alyza Winston, the first thing you think about is her speed. The ball sometimes needs to catch up to her speed, but she can really play fast and guard the ball. Then our two bigs in Taiyier (Parks) and Cyd (Dodd) – bigs are always works in progress. I think the pace of the game; Taiyier is coming off two ACLs so we're working through that. Then obviously Cyd is a work in progress as well; a big power kid. I've been impressed with all of them, to be honest; they've picked some things up.
On the role of Kayla Belles…
I think she really wants the role. I think for Kayla it's about slowing her mind down a little bit. I think she's got all the physical tools, but she plays a little too quick in her mind. She makes decisions with the ball, before the read, I guess. She's always got great energy and a positive attitude. The kid has some really good skills. We just have to make sure she's consistent in her habits. I think less is more with her for sure.
The Spartans return four starters from last season's team that went 21-12, advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Redshirt-senior guard Shay Colley recently concluded a stint Team Canada, playing in the FIBA AmeriCup in Puerto Rico. She led the Spartans in scoring last season with 14.1 points per game. Senior Taryn McCutcheon and sophomore Nia Clouden also return as guards for MSU. All three earned All-Big Ten honors last season for the Spartans. Redshirt-senior forward Victoria Gaines is the fourth returning MSU starter.
Michigan State opens the 2019-20 season at home against Ferris State in its only exhibition on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m.
MSU Head Coach Suzy Merchant
On the first official day of practice…
There's good energy. I think there's just five freshmen on the team so that's always interesting. They're doing a really good job, to be honest. I think it's just going to take some time, but I've liked what we've seen so far. I thought for the first day, I mean if you have good attitude and good energy, you're in business; the rest we can teach.
On the freshmen…
Julia Ayrault, first and foremost, she's a face-up four man; she's really talented in terms of shooting the ball, making decisions. She's a guard-like four man and that throws a different wrinkle to our offense; obviously it's a big deal. To me, Moira Joiner is the utility kid that will do just about anything; she'll fill a stat sheet. She's very competitive; she's got a high motor. I've been really impressed with her. Alyza Winston, the first thing you think about is her speed. The ball sometimes needs to catch up to her speed, but she can really play fast and guard the ball. Then our two bigs in Taiyier (Parks) and Cyd (Dodd) – bigs are always works in progress. I think the pace of the game; Taiyier is coming off two ACLs so we're working through that. Then obviously Cyd is a work in progress as well; a big power kid. I've been impressed with all of them, to be honest; they've picked some things up.
On the role of Kayla Belles…
I think she really wants the role. I think for Kayla it's about slowing her mind down a little bit. I think she's got all the physical tools, but she plays a little too quick in her mind. She makes decisions with the ball, before the read, I guess. She's always got great energy and a positive attitude. The kid has some really good skills. We just have to make sure she's consistent in her habits. I think less is more with her for sure.
Players Mentioned
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