Ignatius L Hoops
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Ending the Artic Chill
Michigan State’s (5-8) highs haven’t been that high. Like Minnesota (5-9), they handed Notre Dame one of the Irish’s 14 losses, 72-69. But, Sparty’s lows have been lower than a Canadian arctic blast. They’re the only B1G team with a loss to Penn State 73-86. The Spartans were riding a chilly five game losing streak after losing to Northwestern, Iowa, Purdue, Maryland, and Northwestern again. But a weak warm front wafted across East Lansing and MSU comes into the Minnesota B1G Monday showdown with a win. Sparty out wrestled and out three bombed Rutgers 57-53.
Last season’s 9-9 conference record and 2nd round NCAA appearance should’ve launched Michigan State on a more successful 2019-20 run. Their leading conference scorers were Shay Colley 15.0 points/game, Nia Clouden 12.1, Jenna Allen 10.2, Taryn McCutcheon 9.2, Sydney Cooks 8.7, Mardrekla Cook 5.8 and Victoria Gaines 5.1. From that crew, only Jenna Allen was graduating.
However, things started going south in April when the one time highly recruited 6’4” sophomore forward, Sydney Cooks, announced her transfer. Cooks eventually landed at Mississippi State. Then, early this season, senior guard, Shay Colley’s appearances became increasingly sporadic before her injuries permanently knocked her out of the lineup in late December. Senior forward Victoria Gaines (Knee) and junior guard Mardrekla Cook (ACL) were also lost for the season. That left Taryn McCutcheon and Nia Clouden from last year’s top scorers. Not bad; but McCutcheon is playing with the index finger of her shooting hand heavily bandaged from an injury requiring post season surgery. Clouden is healthy and is the Spartans leading scorer.
Naturally, the injuries opened spots in the starting lineup. Stepping into one of those spots was another once highly recruited player whose recruitment we well remember-Nia Hollie. Now a senior, the former Hopkins star has started every conference game this season. She is averaging 3.0 points and 3.3 rebounds in 20.6 minutes per game. This Nia Hollie article recounting her Spartan career is more interesting than most of the present Spartan team. “Hard Working Hollie Earns Time to Shine”:
https://msuspartans.com/news/2020/2/8/w-basketball-hard-working-hollie-earns-time-to-shine.aspx
Last Season:
Minnesota and Michigan State split two meetings. The first, in East Lansing, was controlled by the Spartans 86-68. The summation was simple: Assists: MSU 28 and MN 7; Turnovers: MSU 8 and MN 23; Three Pointers: MSU 7-23 and MN 1-11. Sydney Cooks led all scorers with 21 points in 22 minutes. Ugh.
The second meeting was senior day in Minneapolis and the Gophers responded with a 83-61 victory. Again, the summation was simple: Assists: MSU 12 and MN 10; Turnovers: MSU 12 and MN 10: Three Pointers: MSU 5-18 and MN 5-13. What made the difference? The Free Throw Line: MSU 18-22 and MN 31-32. Destiny Pitts with 26 points and Kenisha Bell 22 lead all scorers.
Both teams finished 9-9 in conference play. Minnesota lost their first game in the Big Ten Tournament to Indiana and went to the WNIT. Michigan State defeated Northwestern in Indianapolis; lost to Maryland and went to the NCAA where they defeated Central Michigan before losing to Notre Dame.
The Rutgers Game:
Tonight’s Michigan State’s win over the Scarlet Knights, 57-53, tied them with Minnesota in wins. It was a low scoring battle with the Spartans dominating from three shooting 9-24 compared to 1-6 for the Scarlet Knights. Michigan State also out- performed Rutgers from the free throw line 12-13 to 6-7. McCutcheon provided MSU’s spark leading their scoring with 16 points (4-9 from three). Belles scored 10 points and grabbed 7 rebounds; Clouden contributed 10 points. Joiner, 9 points, was 3-6 from behind the arc. That was Sparty’s second win over Rutgers. Michigan State also defeated Ohio State earlier in the season-something we failed to do in two attempts. The Spartans are warming up for spring; can we?
Nia Hollie’s last six games:
| Team | Pts | Reb | Asst | Min | Foul | ||||
| Northwestern | 6 | 4 | 1 | 20 | 3 | ||||
| Iowa | 9 | 3 | 1 | 21 | 4 | ||||
| Purdue | 3 | 5 | 3 | 32 | 3 | ||||
| Maryland | 2 | 3 | 2 | 25 | 3 | ||||
| Northwestern | 0 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 2 | ||||
| Rutgers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
Nia Clouden’s last six games:
| Team | Pts | Reb | Asst | Min | Foul | ||||
| Northwestern | 0 | 2 | 1 | 31 | 2 | ||||
| Iowa | 10 | 2 | 1 | 31 | 2 | ||||
| Purdue | 17 | 1 | 3 | 31 | 4 | ||||
| Maryland | 17 | 2 | 0 | 33 | 0 | ||||
| Northwestern | 12 | 7 | 4 | 27 | 3 | ||||
| Rutgers | 14 | 5 | 6 | 36 | 0 |
B1G Wins: Nebraska 78-70, Wisconsin 69-52, Ohio State 68-65, @ Rutgers 66-55, Rutgers 57-53
B1G Losses: @ Indiana 67-79, @ Michigan 69-89, @ Penn State 73-86, Northwestern 48-76, @ Iowa 57-74, Purdue 66-76, @ Maryland 53-94, @ Northwestern 55-85
Probable Starters (B1G Stats):
| HGT | POS | YR | PLAYER | MIN | AVG | REB |
| 5’8” | G | So | Nia Clouden | 32.4 | 13.1 | 3.2 |
| 5’5” | G | Sr | Taryn McCutcheon | 33.7 | 10,5 | 3.4 |
| 5’10” | G | Fr | Moira Joiner | 27.3 | 9.2 | 3.3 |
| 6’3” | F | So | Kayla Belles | 19.8 | 7.9 | 5.8 |
| 6’0” | F | Sr | Nia Hollie | 20,6 | 3.0 | 3.3 |
Bench (B1G Stats):
| HGT | POS | YR | PLAYER | MIN | AVG | REB |
| 6’3” | F | Fr | Taiyier Parks | 13.1 | 2.8 | 3.8 |
| 5’7” | G | Fr | Alyza Winston | 7.7 | 1.9 | 0.5 |
| 6’1” | G/F | So | Tory Ozment | 16.4 | 5.3 | 2.3 |
| 5’11” | G | RSo | Claire Hendrickson | 9,0 | 2.7 | 0.0 |
| 6’5” | C | Fr | Cydni Dodd | 5.2 | 1.3 | 2.2 |
