Wednesday, March 10
Indianapolis, Ind.
6:30 PM
Michigan State University
vs
Penn State
Spartan Women Face Penn State In Big Ten Tournament
3/9/2021 2:50:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Seventh-seeded MSU takes on 10th-seeded Lady Lions on FS2
EAST LANSING, Mich. - No. 7-seeded Michigan State women's basketball will take on No. 10-seeded Penn State in the 28th-annual Big Ten Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Wednesday, March 10 at 6:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on FS2.
• The Spartans hold an overall record of 13-7 overall, while Penn State is 9-14 overall. This is the fifth time that the Spartans and the Lady Lions have met in the Big Ten Tournament with the series tied in the tournament 2-2.
• Junior guard Nia Clouden now has 1,193 points, on the MSU career scoring list and moving up to No. 18. Clouden passed Spartan great Mary Kay Itnyre (1977-80) with 1,189 points. She is now just one points from tying Aisha Jefferson (2005-10) with 1,194 points.
• Six of the Spartans' seven 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 Spartans currently stand No. 41 in the current NET rankings.
• This is only the second time that the Spartans have been the No. 7 seed. In the 1999 tournament, the Spartans went 1-1 as the No. 7 seed, defeating Indiana before falling to Penn State.
SCOUTING THE LADY LIONS
No. 10 seed Penn State totes a 9-14 overall record into the Big Ten Tournament, finishing B1G play with a 6-13 mark, as the Lady Lions have lost their last three in a row and seven of their last eight to close the season. PSU's lone win down the stretch was a 69-67 home win over Ohio State on Feb. 24.
Last time out, Penn State lost at eighth-ranked and B1G regular-season champion Maryland, 88-61, in the regular-season finale on March 6. PSU was led by senior Niya Beverley's 15 points, as she registered her seventh double-figure scoring outing in the last eight games, and sophomore Makenna Marisa tossed in 10 points. Senior Johnasia Cash collected a team-high seven rebounds off the bench.
Freshman Maddie Burke was named the Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year, as well as being tabbed to the B1G All-Freshman Team, while Cash and Marisa both garnered All-Big Ten accolades announced by the conference office on Monday.
Penn State is eighth in the B1G in scoring offense (72.8 ppg), while ranking 11th in scoring defense (76.1 ppg), to rank 10th in scoring margin (-3.30). Defensively, PSU is third in the B1G in 3-point field goal defense (.311).
On the season, Cash collects 14.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game, leading the Nittany Lions in all three categories, while ranking third in the B1G in rebounding and 11th in blocks, in addition to 12th in the league in field goal percentage (.475).
AGAINST PENN STATE IN B1G TOURNEY
Wednesday's MSU-PSU match up is the Spartans' first meeting with the Nittany Lions in the Big Ten Tournament since the 2013 semifinals, won by MSU, 54-56. It is also the first-ever meeting in the second round, as the previous four meetings have either come in the quarterfinals like the first tournament meeting in 1999, or in the semifinals like the last three. Penn State won the first two tournament match-ups in 1999 and 2004, but Michigan State has won the last two, in 2005 and 2013.
1999 quarterfinals - PSU 79, MSU 74
2004 semifinals - PSU 58, MSU 54
2005 semifinals - MSU 83, PSU 76
2013 semifinals - MSU 54, PSU 46
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE LADY LIONS
Overall, Penn State leads the series with Michigan State 30-20, but the records are tied 2-2 on neutral territory. After Penn State dominated the series early on, the Spartans have had the better of the series in recent year, winning seven of the last 10 meetings.
This season, Michigan State captured the only regular-season this season with a 78-65 win. Four Spartans scored in double figures in the win on Feb. 13.
LAST TIME VS. PENN STATE
Four Spartans reached double figures as the Michigan State women's basketball team earned a wire-to-wire win over Penn State, 78-65, on Feb. 13 at the Bryce Jordan Center.
For the 13th time this season, junior guard Nia Clouden led the team in scoring with a well-balanced scoresheet. She scored 17 points, along with seven rebounds, two assists one block and one steal. Returning to her former school, senior forward Alisia Smith added 10 points, while sophomore forward Julia Ayrault scored 13. Sophomore Alyza Winston drained three treys to add 11 points.
AROUND THE CORNER
The winner of the game between the Spartans and the Lady Lions will take on No. 2-seeded Indiana on Thursday, March 11 at 6:30 p.m. The Hoosiers are 18-4 overall and 16-2 in Big Ten action. For the second-consecutive season, two Hoosiers were named to the All-Big Ten first team in Mackenzie Holmes and Grace Berger. In their only regular-season meeting, the Spartan fell to the Hoosiers on Jan. 31 in Bloomington, 79-67. Junior guard Nia Clouden led the team in scoring with 19 points to go along with two assists and two steals.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Against Wisconsin on March 6, sophomore forward Taiyier Parks led in scoring for the second-straight game, marking her seventh double-figure scoring outing of the season and ninth of her career. Saturday was the third time in her career that Parks led the Spartans in the scoring column, all three coming this season, joining Feb. 7 vs. Northwestern, and Feb. 24 against Rutgers. Parks also earned her second double-double of the season adding 11 rebounds. She also had a double-double against Northwestern.
BACK TO WHERE IT STARTED
Sophomore guard Jayla James and junior forward Alisia Smith both transferred from Penn State and are playing their first seasons with Michigan State. As a freshman, James played in 17 games at Penn State. In three seasons, Smith played 83 games for the Lady Lions, starting 48. She averaged 6.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. In the first meeting, Smith scored 10 points, while James added an assist off the bench.
SMALL MARGIN OF ERROR
Four of Michigan State's losses have come by six points or less. In back to back games in January, MSU lost to No. 12/12 Maryland by six points (93-87) and Nebraska by four points (68-64). Overcoming large deficits in February, the Spartans fell to No. 22/20 Northwestern by three points (63-60) and No. 11/11 Michigan by four (86-82).
SCORING SLUMP
After scoring in double-figures in the first 17 games of the season, junior guard Nia Clouden has been held to single digits in each of the last three contests with seven points against Wisconsin on March 6. Clouden had tallied not only 10+ points, but 12 or more points in the previous 17 games this season. The junior guard has now scored double-figures in 44 of her last 50 games played, now doing so in all but six games over the last two seasons, and in 67 of 83 career games played.
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 495-274, making her just seven wins away from the 500 win mark. She is also 294-154 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.
THREE TIMES A LADY
Michigan State women's basketball junior Nia Clouden was named to the All-Big Ten team Monday, as voted on by both the 14 league coaches and the media, and announced by the conference office. Clouden was named to the first team by both coaches and the media.
Clouden, a guard from Owings Mills, Maryland earned All-Big Ten honors for the third-straight season after capturing honorable mention honors as a freshman and second-team honors as a sophomore. She becomes the second the Spartan to earn first-team honors in the last three seasons, joining Shay Colley in 2018-19.
During the 2018-19 season, Clouden was also on the All-Freshman squad. She was the first Spartan to be named to the All-Freshman team since Aerial Powers during the 2013-14 season.
Clouden ended the regular season seventh in the Big Ten in scoring, averaging 18.0 points per game. The guard is also 11th in the conference in assists with 4.2 apg, while standing 15th in steals with 1.7 spg. She is the only Spartan to start all 20 games this season.
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.
ANATOMY OF A COMEBACK
Against Purdue on Feb. 21, MSU trailed by nine points with 3:18 left in the fourth quarter, 71-62. The Spartan defense turned up the heat to spearhead the MSU comeback. Michigan State fought for three steals in less than a minute to tie the score at 71-71 with 1:23 remaining. Junior guard Nia Clouden's jumper in the paint later tied the score at 73-73 to set up Tory Ozment's dramatic finish. With time expiring, Ozment drained a trey from the left side for the game winner.
FEELING COMFORTABLE
Senior forward Alisia Smith posted the first double-double of her short MSU career with 18 points and 10 rebounds against Purdue on Feb. 21. The 18 points was one shy of her Spartan career of 19 points at Wisconsin (1/24/21). Sunday was Smith's 12th game for the Green & White after transferring from Penn State in the offseason. Overall, it was Smith's seventh career double-double after six at Penn State (one in 2019-20, five in 2018-19). Against Wisconsin on March 6, she also added a career-high 12 rebounds.
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 1,193 points in her Spartan career, climbing up to No. 18 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 1,193
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 18.0 points, 4.2 assists and 1.7 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 seventh in scoring (18.0 ppg), as well as standing 11th in assists (4.2 spg). Clouden is also 15th in the league in steals (1.7 spg). Junior guard Tory Ozment is seventh in assist/turnover ratio (2.3). Sophomore Julia Ayrault is sixth in blocks (1.2), while fellow sophomore Alyza Winston is eighth in 3-pointers made (1.9/game). As a team, the Spartans are third in assists (17.9 apg), third in steals (9.0 spg) and fourth in blocks (4.1 bpg). In league games, Ozment is fifth in the Big Ten in assists/turnover ratio (2.6).
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 (4.2) and Tory Ozment (3.4) are providing over. 3.0 assists per game. Janai Crooms averages 2.9 apg, while Moira Joiner is adding 2.1 helpers per game.
THE STARTING 5
Nia Clouden is the only Spartan to have started all 20 games this season, making her 83rd career start in playing in her 83rd career game. Michigan State opened the game with a new starting five against March 6 of junior guard Nia Clouden, senior guard Laurel Jacqmain, senior guard Claire Hendrickson, senior forward Mardrekia Cook and senior forward Alisia Smith. It was the Spartans' first game with that starting five and now the eighth different starting lineup for MSU.
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 156 of their last 179 games (.883) when scoring at least 70 points, and the Spartans are 176-30 (.854) under head coach Suzy Merchant when hanging at least 70 points on the scoreboard. The Spartans are now 12-2 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 221 of its last 234 games (.944) when leading with five minutes left, including 171 of their last 186. In Coach Merchant's tenure, Michigan State is 256-19 (.931) when holding a lead with five minutes left. This season, MSU is 12-0 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.
• The Spartans hold an overall record of 13-7 overall, while Penn State is 9-14 overall. This is the fifth time that the Spartans and the Lady Lions have met in the Big Ten Tournament with the series tied in the tournament 2-2.
• Junior guard Nia Clouden now has 1,193 points, on the MSU career scoring list and moving up to No. 18. Clouden passed Spartan great Mary Kay Itnyre (1977-80) with 1,189 points. She is now just one points from tying Aisha Jefferson (2005-10) with 1,194 points.
• Six of the Spartans' seven 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 Spartans currently stand No. 41 in the current NET rankings.
• This is only the second time that the Spartans have been the No. 7 seed. In the 1999 tournament, the Spartans went 1-1 as the No. 7 seed, defeating Indiana before falling to Penn State.
SCOUTING THE LADY LIONS
No. 10 seed Penn State totes a 9-14 overall record into the Big Ten Tournament, finishing B1G play with a 6-13 mark, as the Lady Lions have lost their last three in a row and seven of their last eight to close the season. PSU's lone win down the stretch was a 69-67 home win over Ohio State on Feb. 24.
Last time out, Penn State lost at eighth-ranked and B1G regular-season champion Maryland, 88-61, in the regular-season finale on March 6. PSU was led by senior Niya Beverley's 15 points, as she registered her seventh double-figure scoring outing in the last eight games, and sophomore Makenna Marisa tossed in 10 points. Senior Johnasia Cash collected a team-high seven rebounds off the bench.
Freshman Maddie Burke was named the Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year, as well as being tabbed to the B1G All-Freshman Team, while Cash and Marisa both garnered All-Big Ten accolades announced by the conference office on Monday.
Penn State is eighth in the B1G in scoring offense (72.8 ppg), while ranking 11th in scoring defense (76.1 ppg), to rank 10th in scoring margin (-3.30). Defensively, PSU is third in the B1G in 3-point field goal defense (.311).
On the season, Cash collects 14.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game, leading the Nittany Lions in all three categories, while ranking third in the B1G in rebounding and 11th in blocks, in addition to 12th in the league in field goal percentage (.475).
AGAINST PENN STATE IN B1G TOURNEY
Wednesday's MSU-PSU match up is the Spartans' first meeting with the Nittany Lions in the Big Ten Tournament since the 2013 semifinals, won by MSU, 54-56. It is also the first-ever meeting in the second round, as the previous four meetings have either come in the quarterfinals like the first tournament meeting in 1999, or in the semifinals like the last three. Penn State won the first two tournament match-ups in 1999 and 2004, but Michigan State has won the last two, in 2005 and 2013.
1999 quarterfinals - PSU 79, MSU 74
2004 semifinals - PSU 58, MSU 54
2005 semifinals - MSU 83, PSU 76
2013 semifinals - MSU 54, PSU 46
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE LADY LIONS
Overall, Penn State leads the series with Michigan State 30-20, but the records are tied 2-2 on neutral territory. After Penn State dominated the series early on, the Spartans have had the better of the series in recent year, winning seven of the last 10 meetings.
This season, Michigan State captured the only regular-season this season with a 78-65 win. Four Spartans scored in double figures in the win on Feb. 13.
LAST TIME VS. PENN STATE
Four Spartans reached double figures as the Michigan State women's basketball team earned a wire-to-wire win over Penn State, 78-65, on Feb. 13 at the Bryce Jordan Center.
For the 13th time this season, junior guard Nia Clouden led the team in scoring with a well-balanced scoresheet. She scored 17 points, along with seven rebounds, two assists one block and one steal. Returning to her former school, senior forward Alisia Smith added 10 points, while sophomore forward Julia Ayrault scored 13. Sophomore Alyza Winston drained three treys to add 11 points.
AROUND THE CORNER
The winner of the game between the Spartans and the Lady Lions will take on No. 2-seeded Indiana on Thursday, March 11 at 6:30 p.m. The Hoosiers are 18-4 overall and 16-2 in Big Ten action. For the second-consecutive season, two Hoosiers were named to the All-Big Ten first team in Mackenzie Holmes and Grace Berger. In their only regular-season meeting, the Spartan fell to the Hoosiers on Jan. 31 in Bloomington, 79-67. Junior guard Nia Clouden led the team in scoring with 19 points to go along with two assists and two steals.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Against Wisconsin on March 6, sophomore forward Taiyier Parks led in scoring for the second-straight game, marking her seventh double-figure scoring outing of the season and ninth of her career. Saturday was the third time in her career that Parks led the Spartans in the scoring column, all three coming this season, joining Feb. 7 vs. Northwestern, and Feb. 24 against Rutgers. Parks also earned her second double-double of the season adding 11 rebounds. She also had a double-double against Northwestern.
BACK TO WHERE IT STARTED
Sophomore guard Jayla James and junior forward Alisia Smith both transferred from Penn State and are playing their first seasons with Michigan State. As a freshman, James played in 17 games at Penn State. In three seasons, Smith played 83 games for the Lady Lions, starting 48. She averaged 6.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. In the first meeting, Smith scored 10 points, while James added an assist off the bench.
SMALL MARGIN OF ERROR
Four of Michigan State's losses have come by six points or less. In back to back games in January, MSU lost to No. 12/12 Maryland by six points (93-87) and Nebraska by four points (68-64). Overcoming large deficits in February, the Spartans fell to No. 22/20 Northwestern by three points (63-60) and No. 11/11 Michigan by four (86-82).
SCORING SLUMP
After scoring in double-figures in the first 17 games of the season, junior guard Nia Clouden has been held to single digits in each of the last three contests with seven points against Wisconsin on March 6. Clouden had tallied not only 10+ points, but 12 or more points in the previous 17 games this season. The junior guard has now scored double-figures in 44 of her last 50 games played, now doing so in all but six games over the last two seasons, and in 67 of 83 career games played.
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 495-274, making her just seven wins away from the 500 win mark. She is also 294-154 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.
THREE TIMES A LADY
Michigan State women's basketball junior Nia Clouden was named to the All-Big Ten team Monday, as voted on by both the 14 league coaches and the media, and announced by the conference office. Clouden was named to the first team by both coaches and the media.
Clouden, a guard from Owings Mills, Maryland earned All-Big Ten honors for the third-straight season after capturing honorable mention honors as a freshman and second-team honors as a sophomore. She becomes the second the Spartan to earn first-team honors in the last three seasons, joining Shay Colley in 2018-19.
During the 2018-19 season, Clouden was also on the All-Freshman squad. She was the first Spartan to be named to the All-Freshman team since Aerial Powers during the 2013-14 season.
Clouden ended the regular season seventh in the Big Ten in scoring, averaging 18.0 points per game. The guard is also 11th in the conference in assists with 4.2 apg, while standing 15th in steals with 1.7 spg. She is the only Spartan to start all 20 games this season.
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.
ANATOMY OF A COMEBACK
Against Purdue on Feb. 21, MSU trailed by nine points with 3:18 left in the fourth quarter, 71-62. The Spartan defense turned up the heat to spearhead the MSU comeback. Michigan State fought for three steals in less than a minute to tie the score at 71-71 with 1:23 remaining. Junior guard Nia Clouden's jumper in the paint later tied the score at 73-73 to set up Tory Ozment's dramatic finish. With time expiring, Ozment drained a trey from the left side for the game winner.
FEELING COMFORTABLE
Senior forward Alisia Smith posted the first double-double of her short MSU career with 18 points and 10 rebounds against Purdue on Feb. 21. The 18 points was one shy of her Spartan career of 19 points at Wisconsin (1/24/21). Sunday was Smith's 12th game for the Green & White after transferring from Penn State in the offseason. Overall, it was Smith's seventh career double-double after six at Penn State (one in 2019-20, five in 2018-19). Against Wisconsin on March 6, she also added a career-high 12 rebounds.
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 1,193 points in her Spartan career, climbing up to No. 18 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 1,193
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 18.0 points, 4.2 assists and 1.7 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 seventh in scoring (18.0 ppg), as well as standing 11th in assists (4.2 spg). Clouden is also 15th in the league in steals (1.7 spg). Junior guard Tory Ozment is seventh in assist/turnover ratio (2.3). Sophomore Julia Ayrault is sixth in blocks (1.2), while fellow sophomore Alyza Winston is eighth in 3-pointers made (1.9/game). As a team, the Spartans are third in assists (17.9 apg), third in steals (9.0 spg) and fourth in blocks (4.1 bpg). In league games, Ozment is fifth in the Big Ten in assists/turnover ratio (2.6).
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 (4.2) and Tory Ozment (3.4) are providing over. 3.0 assists per game. Janai Crooms averages 2.9 apg, while Moira Joiner is adding 2.1 helpers per game.
THE STARTING 5
Nia Clouden is the only Spartan to have started all 20 games this season, making her 83rd career start in playing in her 83rd career game. Michigan State opened the game with a new starting five against March 6 of junior guard Nia Clouden, senior guard Laurel Jacqmain, senior guard Claire Hendrickson, senior forward Mardrekia Cook and senior forward Alisia Smith. It was the Spartans' first game with that starting five and now the eighth different starting lineup for MSU.
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 156 of their last 179 games (.883) when scoring at least 70 points, and the Spartans are 176-30 (.854) under head coach Suzy Merchant when hanging at least 70 points on the scoreboard. The Spartans are now 12-2 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 221 of its last 234 games (.944) when leading with five minutes left, including 171 of their last 186. In Coach Merchant's tenure, Michigan State is 256-19 (.931) when holding a lead with five minutes left. This season, MSU is 12-0 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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