Spartans Host Purdue in Annual Pink Game Sunday

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State women's basketball returns to the Breslin Center on Sunday, Feb. 21 at 11:30 a.m. to take on Purdue. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network with Matt Schumaker and Megan McKeown on the call. This is the second meeting between the Spartans the Boilermakers, with MSU earning a 71-64 win in West Lafayette. Sunday is also the Spartans' annual Pink Game.

• The Spartans hold an overall record of 11-6 overall and 6-6 in Big Ten action. Last time out, MSU lost a hard-fought battle against No. 11/11 Michigan, 86-82 in Ann Arbor. Purdue comes to town with a 6-12 overall record and a 3-11 Big Ten mark.

• The 34 points junior guard Nia Clouden scored against Michigan on Feb. 16 gives her 1,172 career points, climbing up from No. 23 to No. 21 on MSU's career scoring list passing Julie Polakowski (1982-86) with 1,143 points and Becca Mills (2011-15) with 1,157 points. Clouden needs just nine points to crack the Top 20, as Rene Haynes (2003-07) holds the No. 20 spot with 1,181 points.

• Five of the Spartans six losses have come against teams ranked in the top 25, including a pair of losses to No. 7 Maryland. MSU's only loss against a team not ranked is Nebraska on Jan. 10.

• The Spartan sophomore class has stepped up this season. MSU sophomores are three of the Spartans' top five scorers. Alyza Winston is second, averaging 10.8 ppg, while Julia Ayrault (9.2 ppg) and Taiyier Parks (7.8 ppg), stand fourth and fifth, respectively.

SCOUTING PURDUE
Purdue totes a 6-12 overall and 3-11 Big Ten record to East Lansing, as Sunday's game is the second of a two-game road swing, after the Boilermakers lost a high-scoring contest at No. 15 Ohio State, 100-85, on Thursday, Feb. 18 in Columbus. Although Purdue scorched the nets to the tune of 55.2 percent from the field, including eight 3-pointers, the Boilermakers ran out of steam, as OSU had a 15-4 run to open the fourth quarter and stretched its lead to 25 points.

In the loss at Ohio State, Purdue had four players post double-figures, with center Fatou Diagne leading the way with a career-high 21 points. The guard duo of Brooke Moore and Madison Layden netted 18 points and 13 points, respectively, with Moore draining two 3-pointers and Layden tallying three treys, to go with five assists.

Purdue is 12th in the B1G in scoring offense (65.5 points per game), while ranking 10th in scoring defense (72.4 ppg), to rank 11th in scoring margin (-6.3).

Individually, the Boilermakers have two players averaging double-figures with guard Kayan Traylor leading the way with 13.7 ppg, while Moore adds 11.4 ppg. Diagne leads the team with 8.2 rebounds per game, which ranks seventh in the B1G, and Traylor dishes out a team-high 3.6 assists per contest, tying for 15th in the league.

Saturday's Michigan State-Purdue game also signals the angelic return of Nathan Wiseman to the Breslin Center. Wiseman was an intern for MSU's Spartan Vision from 2017-18 and has been at Purdue since 2018.

SERIES HISTORY VS. BOILERMAKERS
Overall, the Boilermakers lead the series 42-35, but the Spartans lead at the Breslin Center 23-14. In the last 10 games, Michigan State has won six. Earlier this season, MSU defeated Purdue in West Lafayette, 71-64 on Jan. 3.

The Spartans and the Boilermakers played three times last season with Purdue winning twice. Both teams won on the road last year, as the Boilermakers stopped MSU in the Breslin Center, 76-66, on Jan. 30. Michigan State returned the favor with an exciting 65-63 win at Mackey Arena on Feb. 20, thanks to a Nia Clouden basket with 1.2 seconds remaining in the game. In the second round of the Big Ten Tournament on March 5, Purdue ended the Spartans' season with a 72-63 victory.

LAST TIME VS. PURDUE
Behind a game-high 23 points from junior guard Nia Clouden, the No. 25 Michigan State women's basketball team improved to 3-0 in Big Ten action with a,71-64, win over Purdue on Jan. 3.

Clouden earned her fourth 20-point game of the season and 14th of her career with 23 points with two assists and two steals. She now has 986 career points, just 14 shy of the 1,000-point milestone.

NEARING THE FINISH LINE
Michigan State is nearing the end of the regular season. After the Purdue game, the Spartans have three more games currently scheduled, against Rutgers (Feb. 24), at Nebraska (March 27) and Wisconsin (March 5/6).

Michigan State has four postponed game that have yet to be re-scheduled.

Postponed Games
Dec. 31 at Ohio State
Jan. 21 vs. Indiana
Jan. 28 vs. Michigan
Feb. 4 at Illinois

REACHING MORE MILESTONES
Michigan State head coach Suzy Merchant is approaching even more milestones. She is nearing her 500th career win and her 300th win as head coach at MSU. In her 25-year career, Merchant holds an overall record of 493-274, making her just seven wins away from the 500 win mark. She is also 292-154 during her 14 seasons at the helm of the Spartans, standing eight wins away from the 300-win plateau.

On Feb. 16, 2016, Merchant captured her 400th career win in historic fashion. In a dramatic 114-106 win over Minnesota at the Breslin Center, All-American Aerial Powers scored a career-high 40 points, as the Gophers Rachel Banham scored 52. On Feb. 24, 2016, Merchant won her 2ooth game at Michigan State in a win over Illinois.

CLOUDEN WITH A CHANCE OF SCORING
Junior guard Nia Clouden netted a career-high 34 points against No. 11/11 Michigan, the most points in a game by a Spartan women's basketball player since Tori Jankoska's school-record 42 points vs. Ohio State on Jan. 10, 2017. Clouden's 34 points is tied for the seventh-most in school history, and is also tied for the No. 8 spot on MSU's single-game scoring record (two players scored 35 points). She is the fifth different Spartan to net 34 points in a game, but the first to do so since 2008 when Aisha Jefferson tallied 34 vs. Notre Dame on Nov. 29, 2008. Clouden's 34 points was her second 30-point outing of her career, both coming this season, previous scoring 32 vs. Maryland (1/7/21), her previous career-high.

HOW WINSTON GOT HER GROOVE BACK
Sophomore guard Alyza Winston led the Spartan bench for the second-straight game with 18 points against Michigan on Feb. 16. After not scoring in double-figures in the previous five games, Winston has netted double-digits in the last two games after 11 points on Feb. 13 against Penn State. Winston now has nine games this season with 10+ points as part of 10 games for her career in double-digits.

BRING ON THE BENCH
Alyza Winston's 18 bench points against Michigan led the Spartans to a 32-11 bench scoring advantage. It was the 15th game this season that MSU's bench has out-scored the opposition's reserves, as the Spartans are now 10-5 this season when leading in bench scoring.

KEEPING YOUR BALANCE
While Nia Clouden leads the team in scoring and assists, the rest of the Spartan squad is rather balanced. MSU has seven players averaging over 5.0 ppg. Averaging 17.9 assists per game, Michigan State is getting helpers from all over the place. There are four players averaging over. 2.0 apg. Nia Clouden (3.9) and Tory Ozment (3.6) are providing over. 3.5 assists per game. Janai Crooms averages 3.0 apg, while Moira Joiner is adding 2.0 helpers per game.

I'M A SURVIVOR
Redshirt-senior guard/forward Mardrekia Cook played in her 100th career game against, just one away from her 100th game. Cook has endured injuries every season at MSU, including tearing her Achilles' tendon last season and tearing her ACL during her sophomore year.

JOINING THE CLUB
Against Maryland on Jan. 7, Nia Clouden scored her 1,000th career point with a jumper from the left wing with 9:43 left in the third quarter for her 14th point in the game. Clouden became the 29th player in MSU women's basketball history to reach the 1,000 career points plateau. She now has 1,172 points in her Spartan career, climbing up to No. 23 on the MSU career scoring list. She became the seventh player in the last seven years to reach the 1,000-point mark.

Years   Player Points
2020-21   Nia Clouden    1,172
2019-20   Taryn McCutcheon 1,119
2018-19   Jenna Allen 1,098
2017-18   Branndais Agee   1,250
2015-16   Tori Jankoska 2,212
2014-15   Aerial Powers 1,817
2014-15   Becca Mills 1,157

PARTY LIKE ITS 1985
Junior guard Nia Clouden is looking to become the first Spartan since Kris Emerson in the 1985-86 season to lead the team in scoring, assists and steals per game. She is currently averaging 19.9 points, 3.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Emerson led with 16.9 points, 3.0 assists and 1.9 steals per game during the 1985-86 season.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
Around the Big Ten, Nia Clouden ranks fourth in scoring (19.9 ppg), as well as standing 14th in assists (3.9 spg). She is also 12th in steals with 1.9 spg. Junior guard Tory Ozment is third in assist/turnover ratio (2.70). Sophomore Julia Ayrault is fifth in blocks (1.3), while fellow sophomore Alyza Winston is tied for 12th in 3-pointers made (1.8/game). As a team, the Spartans are third in assists (17.9 apg), third in steals (9.0 spg) and fifth in blocks (3.9 bpg). In league games, Ozment is second in the Big Ten in assists/turnover ratio (3.78).

THE STARTING 5
Nia Clouden is the only Spartan to have started all 17 games this season, making her 80th career start in playing in her 80th career game. After unveiling a new starting lineup last time out vs. Illinois (Feb. 4), the Spartans went with the same lineup against Northwestern on Feb. 7 with Clouden, junior guard Janai Crooms, sophomore guard/forward Julia Ayrault, sophomore guard Moira Joiner and junior forward Alisia Smith. The game against Michigan was the fourth game this season with that starting five, as part of the fifth different starting lineup for the Spartans.

LENDING A HELPING HAND
With a team-leading five assists against Illinois on Feb. 4, Nia Clouden has now dished out five or more helpers in eight games. She added two assists against Penn State for 296 for her career, needing just four more for the 300-assist plateau. The 296 assists keeps Clouden at No. 17 on MSU's career assists list, passing Maxann Reese (1996-2000) with 291 helpers. Next up is Clouden's former graduate assistant, Kalisha Keene (2007-11), with 300 assists.

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. 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 157 of their last 178 games (.882) when scoring at least 70 points, and the Spartans are 174-30 (.854) under head coach Suzy Merchant when hanging at least 70 points on the scoreboard. The Spartans are now 11-2 this season when reaching the 70-point mark with the only losses coming against Maryland on Jan. 7 and Michigan on Feb. 16.

CLOSING OUT THE GAMES
The Spartans have been extremely effective closing out games over the last couple years, winning 220 of its last 233 games (.944) when leading with five minutes left, including 170 of their last 185. In Coach Merchant's tenure, Michigan State is 255-19 (.931) when holding a lead with five minutes left. This season, MSU is 11-0 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. 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

Branndais Agee

Jenna Allen

Julia Ayrault

Nia Clouden

Mardrekia Cook

Janai Crooms

Tori Jankoska

Moira Joiner

Taryn McCutcheon

Tory Ozment

Taiyier Parks

Alisia Smith

Alyza Winston