No. 25 Spartans Travel to Orlando for Thanksgiving Holiday
11/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2010
| UCF Thanksgiving Classic No. 25/rv Michigan State (3-1) vs. Western Kentucky (0-3) and Richmond (4-1) | |
| Date | Friday, Nov. 26 and Saturday, Nov. 27 |
| Time | 12 p.m. ET both games |
| Location | Orlando, Fla. | UCF Arena |
| Television | none |
| Radio | WJIM 1240 AM (Friday) | WVFN 730 AM (Saturday) Spartan Sports Network (Listen Live) |
| Rick Berkey - play-by-play | |
| Game Notes | Michigan State | Western Kentucky |
| Statistics | Michigan State | Western Kentucky | Richmond |
| Social Media | @MSU_wbasketball  | Facebook  |
ABOUT WESTERN KENTUCKY
The Hilltoppers travel to Orlando with a 0-3 record losing at home to Northwestern and dropping games on the road to No. 6 Duke and Louisiana Tech. Janae Howard leads WKU with 14.0 points per game, including hitting 10-of-26 from behind the arc. LaTeira Owens is second on the team with 10.0 points and leads the Hilltoppers with 7.0 rebounds. Hope Brown is first in assists with 3.3 per game, but averages 8.0 turnovers. As a team, Western Kentucky has turned the ball over 26.7 times a game. Last season, WKU won 21 games and qualified for the WNIT.
AGAINST THE HILLTOPPERS
MSU and Western Kentucky have split their first two meetings, each winning at home. The Spartans won the first game, 87-63 on Dec. 19, 1995 in East Lansing, but the Hilltoppers, ranked No. 14 at the time, came out ahead the following year, 83-77, on Dec. 7.
ABOUT RICHMOND
The Spiders are riding a three-game winning streak entering the UCF Thanksgiving Classic and hold a 4-1 record. Richmond has posted wins at home against NC State and Appalachian State, and on the road vs. Hampton and Western Carolina. The Spiders lone loss came at East Tennessee State. Brittani Shells has led Richmond in each game, averaging 26.0 points, 2.8 assists and 3.2 steals. Shells has made 11 3-points and is23-28 from the free throw line. Leading the Spiders on the boards is Crystal Goring with 8.8 rebounds, while also adding 10.4 points. Richmond won 20 games last year and advanced to the WNIT Second Round.
AGAINST THE SPIDERS
MSU and Richmond meet for the first time.
IN THE SUNSHINE STATE
The Spartans make their sixth trip to the state of Florida, having posted a 6-4 record in their previous journeys. MSU last played in the state on Dec. 10, 2005, when it visited South Florida and came home with an 81-66 victory. The previous four trips were in-season tournaments in Miami during the 1984-85, 1990-91, 1999-00 and 2000-01 seasons.
IN REGULAR SEASON TOURNAMENTS
Michigan State is 71-40 all-time in regular season tournaments. The Spartans are 16-4 over the last seven seasons, including winning six-straight games. MSU won the Junkanoo Jam last November in the Grand Bahama Island.
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 32-4, including winning their last 15 games, while when they hold opponents under 60 points, their record is 51-6.
LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State bounced back after its first loss with a 82-42 victory over Detroit on Sunday at Breslin Center. Senior Kalisha Keane and junior Porsche Poole led four Spartans in double-figures with 16 points apiece. Junior Taylor Alton (10 points) and freshman Annalise Pickrel (13 points) each posted their first career double-figure games. The Spartans struggled early, trailing 16-15 with under eight minutes to go in the first half. However, MSU closed the half on a 20-6 run over the final 7:36 to take a 35-22 lead into intermission. Michigan State took the first seven points of the second half to open up a 42-22 lead. The Titans closed within 16 (54-38) with 11:29 remaining, but the Spartans would reply with a 28-2 run over the next 11 minutes. During that stretch, MSU held Detroit scoreless for a stretch of 8:32.
• The 40-point margin of victory was the largest for the Spartans since Nov. 14, 2008 against Niagara (116-50).
• The 42 points allowed were the fewest since holding Michigan to 27 points on Feb. 19, 2009.
• MSU had 27 assists on 32 made field goals, the most assists since it had 28 vs. Niagara on Nov. 14, 2008.
• The Spartans outrebounded Detroit, 51-29, the largest rebounding margin since MSU held a +24 edge against Xavier on Dec. 9, 2009.
• MSU hit a season-high 12 3-pointers, going 12-of-22 (54.5%). It was the most makes by the Spartans since hitting 13 against Florida Gulf Coast on Dec. 13, 2009.
CONNECTING FROM DOWNTOWN
The Spartans have made 35 3-pointers and are shooting 42.2% from behind the arc through the first four games this season, both ranking third in the Big Ten. The 35 makes are the most to begin a season in program history. Nine different Spartans have hit a 3-pointer so far, led by 12 from senior Kalisha Keane, which ranks her second in the conference. Junior Porsche Poole is second in the Big Ten with a 66.7% (6-of-9).
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.
20-20 VISION
Senior Kalisha Keane scored at least 20 points against Dayton (23) and at No. 2 Baylor (a career-best 28). Keane became 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.
AMONG SPARTAN GREATS
Senior Kalisha Keane moved into 17th-place on the Spartan career points list with 1,099, with her 16 points on Sunday. Keane is now nine points away from jumping into 16th and 44 points away from 15th. Keane is also fourth in free throw percentage (81.6%), sixth in 3-point field goals made (124), 10th in steals (187), 15th in 3-point field goal percentage (31.9%), 18th in assists (239) and 19th in field goals made (392).
Classmate Brittney Thomas is 12th all-time with 318 assists and tied for second all-time with 32.9 minutes per game. Her 318 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 187 and 151, 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.
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 twice this season, doubling her career total. In fact, she had only scored over six points in 10 career games entering 2010-11, a feat she has reached three times this season.
Washington is second on the team, averaging 8.3 points, while also adding a team-best 5.5 rebounds. She has shown great improvements in her shooting, hitting 47.6% (10-of-21) from the field, 50.0% (4-of-8) from behind the arc and 64.3% (9-of-14) from the line, compared to career marks of 35.9%, 29.5% and 43.5%, respectively, entering the season.
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.
PROTECTING THE RIM
The Spartans have the fourth most blocks in the nation in the last four-plus seasons with 840 (North Carolina - 944, Baylor - 903, Connecticut - 848). However, they are third in blocks per game average at 6.0 (North Carolina - 6.6, 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.
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.
