No. 25/22 Spartans Look to Bounce Back vs. Detroit
11/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 20, 2010
| No. 25/22 Michigan State (2-1) vs. Detroit (3-0) | |
| Date | Sunday, Nov. 21 |
| Time | 2 p.m. ET |
| Location | East Lansing, Mich. | Breslin Center |
| Televison | none |
| Radio | WVFN 730 AM | Spartan Sports Network (Listen Live) |
| Rick Berkey - play-by-play; Mo Gerhardt - color analyst | |
| Tickets | Available at www.msuspartans.com | Gameday Answers |
| Game Notes | Michigan State | Detroit |
| Statistics | Michigan State | Detroit |
| Internet Coverage | BigTenNetwork.com (Pay-Per-View) |
| Live Stats (Mobile Users) | | |
| Get to Know Her Day | Madison Williams | Get to Know Her information |
| Social Media | @MSU_wbasketball  | Facebook  |
ABOUT DETROIT
The Titans enter Sunday with a 3-0 record, posting wins over Oakland, Ball State and Western Michigan. Demeisha Fambro leads Detroit with 16.3 points per game in 20.3 minutes off the bench. Yar Shayok is second on the team with 10.7 points and leads teh squad with 9.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game. Cherridy Thornton is the third Titan in double-figures with 10.0 points, knocking down a team-best six 3-pointers. Jelesa Jones is the top assist maker with 4.7 per game. Detroit averages 67.3 points per game, while allowing 55.3.
AGAINST THE TITANS
MSU leads the all-time series with Detroit 16-7 and have won the last 11 meettings. Detroit's last win came on Dec. 20, 1994 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Spartans are 11-1 at home against Detroit and have also won the last 11 games in East Lansing, with the Titans only win coming in the first game in the series on Feb. 6, 1979.
The two schools have played the last two seasons. Leading the Spartans in those two wins was Courtney Schiffauer, who is averaging 10.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and shooting 50.0% from both the field and the 3-point line against the Titans. Kalisha Keane is averaging 7.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals, while Lykendra Johnson has posted 6.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks.
LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State lost its first game of the season with a 78-52 decision at No. 2 Baylor on Friday night. Senior Kalisha Keane led the Spartans with a career-best 28 points. Keane, who was 9-of-17 from the field, 3-of-8 from the arc and 7-of-8 from the line, also led MSU with eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Sophomore Jasmine Thomas added 10 points off the bench. All-American Brittney Griner led Baylor with 29 points and four blocks.
20-20 VISION
Senior Kalisha Keane has scored at least 20 points in each of the last two games, posting 23 against Dayton and a career-best 28 at No. 2 Baylor. Keane becomes the first Spartan since Allyssa DeHaan in the 2006-07 season (Nov. 29, Dec. 3) to accomplish that feat. For her career, Keane has 11 games of 20-plus points and has tallied it in consecutive games for the first time.
CONNECTING FROM DOWNTOWN
The Spartans went 19-of-39 (48.7%) from behind the arc in its first two games against IPFW and Dayton. The 19 made 3-pointers are the most in a two-game span in program history. Eight different Spartans have hit a 3-pointer so far, led by eight from senior Kalisha Keane. Fellow post player Lykendra Johnson has knocked down 5-of-8 on the early season.
NEW FOUND OFFENSIVE CONFIDENCE
Senior Cetera Washington was always thought of as being a defensive specialist, who's scoring would be a bonus. However, early in her final season, she has shown she can also be an offensive weapon for the 2010-11 Spartans. Entering the season, Washington had only two career double-figure scoring outputs in 102 career games, but she has already reached double-digits in each of the first two games this season, doubling her career total. In fact, she had only scored over six points in 10 career games entering 2010-11.
Washington is second on the team, averaging 8.3 points, while also adding a team-best 6.0 rebounds. She has shown great improvements in her shooting, hitting 43.8% (7-of-16) from the field, 50.0% (3-of-6) from behind the arc and 66.7% (8-of-12) from the line, compared to career marks of 35.9%, 29.5% and 43.5%, respectively, entering the season.
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. When the Spartans have scored at least 70 points, their record is 31-4, including winning their last 14 games, while when they hold opponents under 60 points, their record is 50-6.
IN OPENERS
Against IPFW, the Spartans improved to 26-13 in season openers and 31-8 in home openers. Coach Merchant is now 3-1 in season and home openers during her time at the helm of Michigan State. However at Baylor, MSU fell to 23-16 all-time in their first road contest, having lost its last three.
FRESHMAN DEBUTS
Four Spartans made their first appearance as a member of the Michigan State program on Saturday against IPFW. Kelsey Smith posted 10 points, five rebounds, five assists (team-high) and three blocks (team-high) in only 20 minutes. She became the 20th Spartan to score 10 or more points in her debut, in addition to tying for the most blocks in a Spartan debut and the third-most assists in a first game. Annalise Pickrel also posted a solid stat line, adding seven points, six rebounds and two blocks in 13 minutes, hitting all of her shot attempts (2-of-2 from the field, 3-of-3 from the foul line). Klarissa Bell had three points and three rebounds, and Bryonna Davis had four points.
AMONG SPARTAN GREATS
Senior Kalisha Keane moved into 18th-place on the Spartan career points list with 1,083, with her 28 points on Friday. Keane is now five points away from jumping into 17th and 25 points away from 16th. Keane is also tied for fourth in free throw percentage (81.3%), seventh in 3-point field goals made (120), tied for 11th in steals (185) and 20th in assists (234).
Classmate Brittney Thomas is 12th all-time with 313 assists and second all-time with 33.0 minutes per game. Her 313 career assists are second among active conference student-athletes, trailing Ohio State's Samantha Prahalis.
Keane and Thomas are the top-two active career steal leaders in the Big Ten with 185 and 150, respectively.
MULTI-DIMENSIONAL
Senior Kalisha Keane is the only active Big Ten student-athlete to have surpassed 1,000 points, 400 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 steals in their career. She is currently fourth among active conference players in points, fourth in rebounds, fourth in assists and first in steals.
SIX OVER 10
In MSU's 90-62 season opening win over IPFW, six Spartans tallied double-figure points. It was the first time since the 2008 season opener against Niagara (11/14/08) that MSU has accomplished that feat.
PROTECTING THE RIM
The Spartans have the fourth most blocks in the nation in the last four-plus seasons with 835 (North Carolina - 922, Baylor - 898, Connecticut - 843). However, they are third in blocks per game average at 6.0 (North Carolina - 6.5, Baylor - 6.3). The Spartans had been among the NCAA leaders in blocks each of those four years, finishing the season seventh in 2009-10, eighth in 2008-09, 11th in 2007-08 and fourth in 2006-07.
PRESEASON RECOGNITION
The Spartans were picked to finish third in the Big Ten in the preseason polls voted on by both the coaches and media. Ohio State and Iowa occupied the top-two spots. Nationally, MSU is ranked in both preseason polls, coming in at No. 25 in the Associated Press and No. 24 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll. Senior Kalisha Keane was named to the five-player Preseason All-Big Ten team, as voted by the league's coaches.
20 AND 10
Michigan State posted its seventh-straight 20-win season in 2009-10. The Spartans are one of 14 teams in the nation, and one of two in the Big Ten (Ohio State), to have won at least 20 games in each of the last seven seasons. Joining MSU and OSU are Baylor, Bowling Green, Chattanooga, Connecticut, Duke, Green Bay, Marist, Middle Tennessee State, Stanford, Temple, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. Over the span, MSU has 171 wins, second among Big Ten schools to Ohio State's 190. All-time it was the Spartans' 11th season of 20 or more wins.
The Spartans have won at least 10 Big Ten games for eight straight seasons. Ohio State is the only other Big Ten school to have an active run of eight consecutive double-figure conference win seasons. MSU is 93-41 (69.4%) in conference play over the last eight seasons.
SECOND, SECOND
Michigan State finished second (12-6) in the Big Ten in 2009-10 for the second consecutive season. It marked the first time in program history that MSU finished among the top-2 in back-to-back seasons.
THREE DOWN...ONE TO GO
Seniors Kalisha Keane and Brittney Thomas are two of four Big Ten student-athletes to have earned All-Big Ten recognition in each of their three seasons. Northwestern's Amy Jaeschke and Ohio State's Jantel Lavender are the only other two.
LET'S PLAY MORE TIME
The Spartans have relished playing extra time over the past seven seasons. MSU has won 13th straight overtime games, dating back to the 2003-04 season. The streak is the longest such run among Big Ten schools. Surprisingly, only two of the 13 wins have come at home. MSU's last overtime loss came on Feb. 28, 2002 against Ohio State, 89-82, in the Big Ten Tournament.
HOME COOKING
The 2010-11 basketball season is the Spartans' 22nd inside the Jack Breslin Student Events Center. MSU has an all-time record of 214-78 (.733) at Breslin and have been even more dominant of late in its cozy confines, posting a mark of 80-16 (.833) since 2003.
FANS CONTINUE TO PACK THE BRESLIN
For the past six-plus seasons, Michigan State has been one of the top programs in the country in regard to fan support. In each of the last six years, the Spartans have been among the nation's top 15 in attendance, averaging 6,382 fans per game, which ranks second in the Big Ten behind Purdue. MSU has finished as high as ninth in the country in 2006-07, while the single-season school record is 6,787, set in the 2005-06 season.
Last season against Washington (Dec. 19), the Spartans surpassed 1 million fans all-time at Breslin Center. In the 21-year history at Breslin, 1,067,644 fans have watched a MSU women's basketball game.
ON THIS DATE
Michigan State is 3-0 all-time on November 21 with the last game on this date coming in 2007, a 67-40 win over Northern Illinois.
