Women's Basketball Heads Out On Road
11/20/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 20, 2001
This Week's Action
Michigan State AT ARKANSAS STATEWhen Tuesday, November 20, 2001, 7 p.m. CSTSite Jonesboro, Ark.Radio The Fan 730 AMCoaches MSU: Joanne P. McCallie (Northwestern 1987) Overall: 179-91 (10th year), MSU: 12-18 (2nd year) ASU: Brian Boyer Overall: 33-27 (4th year), ASU: 33-27 (4th year)
Michigan State AT FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENTWhen Friday-Saturday, November 23-24, 2001 November 23 Game 1 Florida International vs. Northwestern, 5 p.m. Game 2 Michigan State vs. Monmouth, 7 p.m. November 24 Game 3 Northwestern vs. Monmouth, 5 p.m. Game 4 Michigan State vs. Florida International, 7 p.m.Site Miami, Fla.Radio The Fan 730 AMCoaches MSU: Joanne P. McCallie (Northwestern 1987) Overall: 179-91 (10th year), MSU: 12-18 (2nd year) MONMOUTH: Jackie DeVane Overall: 127-171 (12th year), MU: 14-14 (2nd year) FIU: Cindy Russo Overall: 501-176 (25th year), FIU: 461-174 (23rd year)
Tip-Off
For the first time this season, Michigan State heads on the road for three games this week. The Spartans travel to Arkansas State Tuesday, before hitting Miami, Fla., for the Florida International Thanksgiving Tournament Nov. 23-24. The Spartans will face Monmouth Friday and FIU Saturday in the round-robin format.
Scouting Michigan State -- MSU opened the 2001-02 season with two straight wins and the Spartan Chevrolet Classic championship. The Spartans are led by junior guard/forward Syreeta Bromfield, who is averaging 12.0 points and sophomore forward Julie Pagel, who is averaging 10.0 points. Pagel also leads MSU in rebounding, averaging 8.5 rebounds.
MSU is averaging 58.5 points per game, while allowing 52.5 points. MSU is connecting on 42.1 percent (45-of-107) of its shots from the field. In addition, the Spartans hold a 39.5-to-32.0 edge on the offensive glass.
MSU Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie -- McCallie is in her second season at the helm of the MSU basketball program. McCallie was named to the position on March 27, 2000 becoming just the fourth coach in MSU women's basketball history. She is in her 10th year overall as a head coach, compiling a 179-91 (.663) overall mark. Prior to her arrival at MSU, McCallie spent eight years as the head coach at Maine, guiding the Black Bears to a 167-73 mark including six straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
Chevy Classic Recap -- MSU captured the title at the Spartan Chevrolet Classic. MSU defeated UCLA, 67-63 in the title contest behind a strong team effort. MSU hit six straight free throws down the stretch, including four by freshman guard Kristin Haynie to seal the victory. Syreeta Bromfield led MSU with 17 points, while Haynie finished wth 16. UCLA's Michelle Greco scored a game-high 36 points.
In the season opener, MSU used a strong, second half to defeat Buffalo, 50-42. The Spartans took the lead for good (40-39) on a three-point basket by Syreeta Bromfield with 7:09 to go. The Bulls would pull within two, twice. However, the Spartans scored the final six points in capturing the victory. Julie Pagel and Joy Johnson paced the MSU attack with 11 points and eight rebounds each.
Chevy Classic History - The 2001-02 season marked the 14th year of the MSU Chevrolet Classic. The Chevrolet Classic started in 1986 and has been played each year except for 1998. MSU has advanced to the title game in 13 of the 14 classics. The Spartans have won the tournament eight times.
This Week's Opponents
Arkansas State Indians
Arkansas State brings a 1-1 record into Tuesday's game. ASU placed second at the DePaul Moran Realty Classic last weekend. The Indians defeated Western Michigan, 72-62 on Friday and fell to host DePaul, 86-68 in the title game. ASU is led by junior forward Jolie McKeirnan, who is averaging 14.5 points and 13.5 rebounds.
MSU leads the all-time series, 1-0. The Spartans won the lone meeting, 76-50 on Nov. 17, 2000.
Monmouth Hawks
Monmouth opened the 2001-02 campaign, falling to Drexel 80-69. The Hawks will face Hofstra on Tuesday before facing MSU Friday evening. Monmouth is led by two-time Northeast Conference Player of the Year and Michelle Cappadona, who averaged 16.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists last year.
This will be the first-ever meeting between the schools.
Florida International Golden Panthers
Florida International brings a 2-1 record into this week's play. FIU will face Northwestern in game one on Friday, before playing the Spartans. The Golden Panthers won their opening round preseason WNIT contest (74-57 over Stephen F. Austin) before falling to Connecticut (91-47).
The Golden Panthers are led by senior forward Cheryl Moody, who is averaging 15.0 points and 12.3 rebounds. Senior guard/forward Gergana Slavtcheva is averaging 13.0 points and 7.0 rebounds.
This will be the first-ever meeting between the schools.
Spartan Notebook
For Starters - For just the 11th time in school history, MSU has started the season with a 2-0 mark. The Spartans best-ever record to begin a season is 7-0, set by the 1999-2000 squad.
Approaching Milestones -
* Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie needs one more victory to reach the 180-career win plateau.
* Abby Salscheider needs 48 more points to reach 400 for her career. She enters this week's action with 352 career points in 89 games.
* Maria Recker needs seven more three-point field goals to moved into sixth place on MSU's all-time three-point chart. Recker enters the season with 36 career threes, good for ninth all-time at MSU.
* Vnemina Reese needs two more points to reach 500 for her career.
* Julie Pagel needs 167 more points to reach 500 for her career.
All-Tournament Team Honorees - Three Spartans were named to the Spartan Chevrolet Classic All-Tournament Team. Syreeta Bromfield, Kristin Haynie and Julie Pagel were each selected to the team.
Hitting For Double Digits - Sophomore forward Julie Pagel has hit in double digits in 10 of her last 13 games, dating back to last season. She recorded 11 points in the season opener against Buffalo.
Only a Freshman - Freshman guard Kristin Haynie scored seven of MSU's final nine points in the win over UCLA. The Mason, Mich., native hit four key free throws to help seal the Spartan victory. She finished the game with 16 points, her first career double-digit scoring game.
Free Throw Improvement - One of MSU's goals this season was to improve on its free throw shooting. The Spartans shot just 60.0 percent (315-of-525) from charity stripe last year.
In the first two games, MSU has shot 73.3 percent (22-of-30) from the line. The Spartans shot 75.0 percent against Buffalo and 72.7 percent vs. UCLA.
Individually, Julie Pagel leads MSU in free throw shooting at 85.7 percent (6-of-7). Syreeta Bromfield is second at 83.3 percent (5-of-6) and Kristin Haynie, third at 80.0 percent (8-of-10).
Getting Defensive - One of the keys to this season will be MSU's defense. The Spartans led the Big Ten and ranked 25th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 60.2 points per game. In the team's 28 games, MSU held opponents to 60 points or less on 15 occasions. In the final six games, the Spartan defense held opponents to just 54.0 points. In addition, MSU's defense led the Big Ten in field goal percentage defense (.387) and rebound defense (32.6) last year.
This could be a sign for things to come as the Spartans held Buffalo to just 42 points in the season opener. The Bulls shot just 37.8 percent from the field, including 15.4 percent from the three-point line. MSU held UCLA to just 36.5 percent (23-of-63)
Spartan Quick Shots -
* At one point during the UCLA game, the Spartans had four newcomers (Syreeta Bromfield, Kristin Haynie, Cortne Ellis and Kelli Roehrig) and one sophomore (Juie Pagel) on the floor.
* MSU is connecting on just 17.2 percent (5-of-29) of its three-point field goals.
* The Spartans are averaging 11.0 steals per game.
* In the first two games, MSU outscored opponents 76-65 in the second half.
Upcoming - MSU is in the middle of five straight road games. The Spartans travel to Detroit Nov. 28 and face Marquette in Grand Rapids on Dec. 3.
The Spartan Bench - In the first two games, the Spartan bench has outscored its opponents by a 62 to 13 margin. Against UCLA, MSU held a 41 to 9 advantage as two players (Syreeta Bromfield - 17 and Cortne Ellis - 10) came off the bench to post double-figure scoring.
Look, I'm On Television - The Spartans will make seven appearances on television in 2001-02. MSU entertains Georgia as part of the Big Ten-SEC Challenge on Jan. 5. The game will be shown on CBS television as part of a women's basketball tripleheader. The early game features Penn State at Vanderbilt at noon, followed by MSU-Georgia at 2 p.m. and UConn at Tennessee at 4 p.m.
In addition, MSU will appear on Fox Sports Chicago twice - vs. Northwestern (Jan. 27) and at Indiana (Feb. 3) - and on AT&T Cable four times - Indiana (Dec. 30), Penn State (Jan. 20), Purdue (Feb. 1) and Iowa (Feb. 20).
All of MSU's games will be broadcast live on the radio (The Fan 730 AM) and over the internet at www.msuspartans.com.
The Schedule - The Spartans face a challenging schedule in 2001-02. Eleven teams that the Spartans will face in 2001-02 made a post-season appearance in either the NCAA or WNIT. NCAA Tournament teams include Georgia, Penn State, Wisconsin, Liberty, Iowa, Michigan and Final Four participant Purdue. The WNIT post-season tournament participants include Florida International, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio State.
In the Big Ten cluster schedule, the Spartans will face Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Penn State and Wisconsin twice and Michigan, Northwestern, Ohio State and Purdue once.
