Can the Lady Spartans get back in the winning column after suffering 1st loss?
One week ago, the Michigan State women’s basketball team had climbed to #15 in the AP Poll after racing out to an 11-0 start to the season. However, just a handful of days before Christmas, the perfect record was lost when the team suffered a defeat to Alabama in the West Palm Beach Classic. I do think it is worth mentioning, however, that this was MSU’s second game in two days at the event, while Alabama – another ranked team – was playing their first game (and would play Richmond the following day to complete their schedule), so I will go ahead and say that we can slap an asterisk on this result.
Now it is time for MSU to put that illegitimate loss behind as another ranked opponent awaits. This time it will be true road game against conference foe, the #8 Maryland Terrapins. The game will tip-off on Sunday, November 29, at 1 PM.
The Lady Terrapins will enter this game with their perfect record still intact, at 11-0. Their record includes a tough 85-80 win over then-#11 (and current #14) Duke plus a handy win at Purdue in their only conference contest thus far.
Maryland currently sits just outside the top ten nationwide in points per game, at 86.2, just a pair of spots ahead of MSU’s 85.6. There are five players on the team averaging over 10 PPG, plus a sixth woman whose average is 9.7. Leading the way is junior guard Kaylene Smikle with her 17.7 PPG on 51% shooting and 47.5% on 3s. Maryland also has a duo of elite rebounders in Saylor Poffenbarger (that’s a fun name) and Christina Dalce, both of whom are 6’2”. And Shyanne Sellers is the primary distributor, clocking 5.5 assists each game.
Just like our Spartan team, this Maryland team put up some large-scale wins in the early season against lower-level opponents. Their biggest margin of victory was 72 points against a team that does not need to be mentioned and shamed further (okay, it was St. Francis (PA)). In fact, their win over Duke and the victory over Purdue to begin conference play are the only games of theirs this season that ended up being decided by single digits.
Hopefully the more than a week’s rest coming into this game helps the Green&White play to their potential and they can get the big road upset. The game will be on Sunday, December 29, at 1 PM. It will air on BTN+. It is certainly one of the toughest games remaining on our calendar, and a win in College Park would be a huge boost for our tournament resume.
I’ll go ahead and make the prediction, MSU prevails 73-69 in a physically contested defensive battle. Let’s Go State!