It is going to be a jam-packed evening later today as all three of our teams that we regularly cover will be in action. And it all begins with the Women’s Basketball Team kicking off their Big Ten Tournament schedule. Here on TOC, we are going to have concurrent game threads up on the home page, this one here for women’s basketball, plus one for hockey and one for the men’s basketball game. Feel free to have multiple windows open and partake in all three when the games are overlapping.
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On Wednesday evening, the 10th seeded Illinois knocked off the 15-seed Wisconsin, the lowest seed that qualified for the tourney; the women’s tournament is maintaining the format that the men used last year, keeping the bottom three teams at home.
Now, our #7 Spartans get to take on the Illini who will hopefully be feeling some level of fatigue the day after they knocked off the Badgers, 82-70. In that game, the Illinois were led by forward Berry Wallace, who scored 22 points on 8-17 shooting. Wallace was also Illinois’ leading scorer for the season with an 18.8 PPG mark. After Wallace, point guard Destiny Jackson erupted for a season high 21 to go with her 5 assists.
Jackson is generally not known for her scoring, averaging just 9.4 PPG. Illinois does have a total of four players who have been averaging double-figures. In addition, to Wallace, there is forward Cearah Parchment (13.8) and guards Gretchen Dolan (12.9) and Maddie Webber (11.2). Their 78.2 PPG as a team puts them near the middle of the Big Ten ranks, while MSU is third at 83.5.
Defensively, the Spartans and Illini are very similar; MSU has allowed 65.7 PPG to opponents on the year while Illinois has been giving up 65.9. Rebounding is also close, with the Illini getting the edge there, 35.9 to 35.4. Where the MSU defense does have a noted advantage is in steals (11.7 to 7.1) and blocks (4.0 to 2.3).
The low post could be where this game is decided, as MSU should have a significant size advantage. While MSU has a half dozen players in the rotation who are over six feet tall (including three at 6’3”), the Illini only have three. One of those three, Lety Vasconcelos, only averages about 12 minutes; that said, she stands 6’7”. Berry Wallace, their lead scorer, is 6’1”, so MSU should have a few options to cover her with larger defenders.
But, if Illinois decides to keep this game on the perimeter, that could help tip the scales in their favor. Of their top 5 players, two shoot the deep ball at over 40% and a third is over 37%. In contrast, of MSU’s top scorers, none are shooting it over 40% (I am not including Grace VanSlooten who made the only triple she has shot this year). Fortunately for MSU, on the year, the Illini have only taken 28% of their FGs from three-point land; MSU has taken 33% from deep. There should not be a major concern that they will suddenly turn into a squad who will rely on this for their offense. If the MSU guards can defend the arc and invite the Illini to try and penetrate, it should lead to the Women of Sparta being able to use their size to their advantage.
As we are into the conference tournament now, that means that any teams we play will have been an earlier opponent. In this case, Illinois visited East Lansing back on January 4 and lost 81-75. In that contest, it was the usual suspects for MSU; VanSlooten and Rashunda Jones each scored 15 while Kennedy Blair led the way with 19. This game should be an opportunity for MSU to focus on what it does well; no need to reinvent the wheel on this one. Use this game to try and build momentum for a much tougher opponent, Iowa, who is waiting for us on Friday if we get by Illinois.
The game is scheduled for 6:30 PM and will air on BTN.
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