Spartan Women Host Iowa For Home B1G Opener Saturday

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State women's basketball will play its home Big Ten opener on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 4 p.m. The Spartans opened the season 3-0 overall and 1-0 in B1G action. MSU captured its Big Ten opener with a strong offensive performance against Minnesota on the road on Dec. 9. The Spartans handled the Gophers an 81-68 loss, behind 25 points by Nia Clouden.

• Junior guard Nia Clouden's game and season-high 25 points combined with sophomore guard Alyza Winston's career-high 20 points Wednesday against Minnesota was MSU's first game with two 20-point scorers since Feb. 3, 2019 vs. Purdue when Shay Colley and Sidney Cooks netted 20 points apiece.

• The Spartans are third in the nation and first in the Big Ten in assists per game, averaging 22.7 per game. The MSU defense is also strong, as the Spartans are seventh in the NCAA and first in the league in steals per game with 14.7 spg. Against Minnesota on Dec. 9, Michigan State stole the ball away 17 times, including a career-high five by Nia Clouden.

• With a win over Nebraska last season on Dec. 31, Michigan State is 25-13 in B1G home openers.

• Junior guard Janai Crooms was granted immediate eligibility from the NCAA for the 2020-21 season on Dec. 4. In her first game in the Green and White against Minnesota, she scored three points with two rebounds and a block in just 13 minutes.

SCOUTING IOWA
Iowa has started the season 4-0 overall and 1-0 in league play. The Hawkeyes have wins over in-state rivals Northern Iowa, Drake and Iowa State. In its Big Ten opener, Iowa defeated Wisconsin, 85-78. The Hawkeyes are 17th in the nation and fourth in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging 91.5 ppg. They are also 16th in the country and third in the league in assists per game, averaging 19.5 ppg.

Freshman Caitlin Clark continues her hot start to her Iowa career. She is averaging 28.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. She scored 34 points in the come-from-behind win against Iowa State on Dec. 9. Clark is one of four Hawkeyes averaging in double figures, along with Monika Czinano (20.0 ppg), McKenna Warlock (15.0 ppg) and Gabbie Marshall (10.0 ppg).

SERIES HISTORY VS. IOWA
This is the only regular-season meeting between the Spartans and the Hawkeyes. Last season, Iowa stopped Michigan State in Iowa City, 74-57.

Overall, Iowa leads the series 39-29, as the Spartans are looking to snap a two-game losing streak. The Hawkeyes have won four of the last five after MSU had won four of the last five prior to that. Michigan State's last win came at home on Feb. 1, 2018 with MSU coming up on top 84-70. That game was also the Spartans' home Big Ten opener. On Alumni Day, MSU used a strong offensive performance to upset No. 16 Iowa. Then-freshman Nia Clouden scored 27 points with Jenna Allen recording a career-high 17 boards.

LAST TIME VS. THE HAWKEYES
In front of over 13,000 fans, the Michigan State women's basketball team fought hard but was stopped by No. 19/21 Iowa, 74-57, in Iowa City on Jan. 26, 2020. It was a close battle until the fourth quarter when the Hawkeyes out-scored the Spartans, 28-9, and pulled away for the win.

Prior to the game, MSU head coach Suzy Merchant honored Iowa's Kathleen Doyle, who Merchant coached in the Pan Am Games over the summer.

The Spartans had two players in double figures led by senior guard Taryn McCutcheon who scored 12 points, despite continuing to play with a fractured finger.

BIG TEN OPENERS
Michigan State is 19-19 in Big Ten openers, having won six of their last nine. MSU is now 8-5 in league openers in Coach Merchant's 13 seasons. Last season, the Spartans won their opener in East Lansing against No. 16 Iowa, 84-70. The last time that Michigan State played Minnesota in a B1G opener was to start the 2013-14 league action with MSU winning 81-56 on the road.

BACK IN UNIFORM
Junior guard Janai Crooms, who was recently granted eligibility on Dec. 4 after transferring from Ohio State last summer, made her Spartan debut at 6:18 of the first quarter, checking in. Crooms wasted little time in making the first bucket of her career in a Green & White jersey, just minutes later, at 3:42 of the first quarter with a layup. Crooms ended up with three points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block in her Spartan debut.

CLOUDEN WITH A CHANCE OF SCORING
Junior guard Nia Clouden made her team-leading 66th career start, as she continues to start every game of her Spartan career. She now has scored 888 points, heading toward her quest for 1,000 points.

Clouden posted double-digits for the third game this season with 14 points in the first quarter alone. Her 25 points was a new season-high and her 11th 20-point outing of her career, as well as just three points shy of her career-best of 28 points (at Notre Dame, 11/14/19). Clouden now has 14-straight career games in double-digits dating back to last year, having posted double-figures in 30 of her last 33 games played. For her career, Clouden now has double-digits in 53 of her 65 games played.

PASSING THE BALL
Michigan State distributed the ball nicely in the season opener against Saint Francis on Nov. 27. The Spartans recorded 25 assists in the win with five different players having at least three helpers. Against Detroit Mercy, MSU topped that with 26 assists on Dec. 2, adding 17 against Minnesota on Dec. 9. Overall, Michigan State is third in the nation and first in the Big Ten in assists, averaging 22.7 apg. Nia Clouden is seventh in the Big Ten in assist per game with 5.3 per game.

BRING ON THE BENCH
The Spartan bench out-scored the Golden Gopher reserves, 35-7, against Minnesota on Dec. 9, which in addition to a season-high point total, also marked their third-straight game with over 30 points, having now out-scored the opposition's bench, 99-29, an average of 33.0-9.7. For the season, 41.3 percent of the Spartans' scoring comes from the bench. Sophomore Alyza Winston and Julia Ayrault, average 15.5 and 9.3 points off the bench, respectively.

ERASE HATE
Michigan State women's basketball head coach Suzy Merchant is proud to launch the Erase Hate campaign for the 2020-21 season. The Erase Hate campaign aims to put the focus on student-athlete driven programming to address social injustice issues.

Throughout this season, women's basketball players work to help lift up the voices of underrepresented groups both on campus and across the Greater Lansing area.

FAST OUT OF THE GATE
MSU scored a season-high 48 points in the first half on the way to a 48-38 lead at intermission at Minnesota. The Spartans' 28 second-quarter points were their most in a quarter this season, bettering the previous quarter-high of 24 points, done twice, first in the opening quarter vs. Saint Francis (PA) in the season-opener on Nov. 27, and again in the fourth frame vs. Detroit Mercy on Dec. 2. MSU scored 20+ points three of the four quarter Wednesday for the second game in a row and matching a season-high, having now netted 20 or more points in seven of the 12 quarters this season.

LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS
Against Detroit Mercy on Dec. 2, Michigan State forced a season-high 25 turnovers, leading to a season-high 33-8 points off turnovers advantage. MSU's bench also had a 31-5 edge. Against Minnesota on Dec. 9, the Spartans forced 23 turnovers. Through three games, MSU's opponents have 74 turnovers, compared to only 37 by the Spartans. Michigan State has scored 93 points off of turnovers, which is 38.8 percent of its offense.

SEASON OPENERS
All-time, the Spartans are now 34-15 in season openers, but also 26-2 when the opener is in East Lansing. Coach Merchant is 11-3 in season openers at MSU, and has won 17 of her last 20, including her time at Eastern Michigan.

FAST BIG TEN START
MSU opened conference play on Dec. 9 at Minnesota, which was the earliest Big Ten opener since falling to Indiana on Dec. 6, 2009. The Spartans first home Big Ten game will be against Iowa on Dec. 12. Michigan State will play a total of three league contests in December, concluding with a New Year's Eve road battle against Ohio State.

MASK UP, MICHIGAN
Things will look very different in the Breslin Center to start the season. Currently, there will be no fans in the stands, including the families of the players. Crowd noise will be piped and the music will be going to get the players hyped up. From the comfort of home, fans can look for familiar faces in the cardboard cutouts in the stands. All postgame media will be done via Zoom this year.

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. The Green & White have won 149 of their last 168 games (.887) when scoring at least 70 points, and the Spartans are 167-28 (.857) under head coach Suzy Merchant when hanging at least 70 points on the scoreboard. The Spartans are now 3-0 this season when reaching the 70-point mark.

CLOSING OUT THE GAMES
The Spartans have been extremely effective closing out games over the last couple years, winning 212 of their last 225 games (.942) when leading with five minutes left, including 162 of their last 177. In Coach Merchant's tenure, Michigan State is 247-19 (.929) when holding a lead with five minutes left. This season, MSU is 3-0 when leading with five minutes remaining.

CLOUDEN EARNS PRESEASON HONORS
Michigan State junior guard Nia Clouden has been named Preseason All-Big Ten by both the coaches and media. During the 2019-20 campaign, Clouden finished the season first on the team in scoring, averaging 14.5 points per game, which was also eighth in the Big Ten. She also tied for 14th in the league in assists (3.3 apg) and 11th in steals (1.7 spg). Last season, Clouden captured second-team All-Big Big Ten honors after being named to the honorable mention squad as a freshman.

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Players Mentioned

Jenna Allen

Julia Ayrault

Nia Clouden

Shay Colley

Sidney Cooks

Janai Crooms

Taryn McCutcheon

Alyza Winston