– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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MINNEAPOLIS — The pain and tragedy that the Michigan State women’s basketball team has endured over the past month and a half has been close to unbearable, yet those emotions have been converted into a laser-sharped focus and resolve that now has seen it play its best basketball of the season.
Even better, the good run of form is perfect timing as the Spartans as Selection Monday is less than two weeks away.
A Lot of Sports Talk‘s continuing coverage of conference tournament action resumes in the Twin Cities as we begin our tour in breaking down the 2023 Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament. Most second rounds of major conference tournaments start with the evenly-balanced 8-9 matchup, and the ninth-seeded Spartans did what it needed to do in keeping its NCAA Tournament hopes alive with a 67-64 victory over No. 8 Nebraska in today’s first game inside of the Target Center.
The win gives the Spartans victories in five of their last six games, a stretch that was interrupted by the on-campus shooting in East Lansing on February 13 that killed three students and injured five more people. The Spartans had their February 15 game at Purdue postponed, and, late in January, the team had to be led by assistant coach Dean Lockwood after head coach Suzy Merchant suffered a medical incident while driving, leading to a minor one-car accident.
Lockwood and the rest of the Spartans forced four turnovers in the first four possessions by the Cornhuskers, leading to Michigan State scoring the first seven points of the game. Though down the entirety of the first half, Nebraska rallied and took its first lead of the game on an Alexis Markowski layup with 1:12 remaining in the third quarter.
Michigan State reclaimed control of the game int he fourth, using a 14-0 run to open up a 57-44 lead. Nebraska rallied once more, getting to within three on the final possession, but a couple of three-pointers by the Huskers missed before the buzzer and Spartans held on.
DeeDee Hagemann led the Spartans with 18 points, while Moira Joiner had 16 points to go along with five rebounds and four steals. Jaz Shelley led all scorers with 24 points for Nebraska, including hitting five three-pointers. Nebraska might be the most curious decision made by the NCAA Tournament selection committee, as the Cornhuskers have six wins against the Top 50 in the NET rankings — including victories against NCAA locks Maryland, Kansas, and Illinois, along with fellow bubble teams Mississippi State, Purdue and a February 2 win against Michigan State — but are only 16-14 overall (8-10 Big Ten) after today’s defeat. Michigan State, now 16-13 (7-10 Big Ten) has the opportunity for a résumé boost tomorrow afternoon when it takes on Indiana, the regular-season Big Ten champions and the No. 2 team in the AP Poll.
DeeDee Hagemann led the Spartans with 18 points, while Moira Joiner had 16 points to go along with five rebounds and four steals. Jaz Shelley led all scorers with 24 points for Nebraska, including hitting five three-pointers. Nebraska might be the most curious decision made by the NCAA Tournament selection committee, as the Cornhuskers have six wins against the Top 50 in the NET rankings — including victories against NCAA locks Maryland, Kansas, and Illinois, along with fellow bubble teams Mississippi State, Purdue and a February 2 win against Michigan State — but are only 16-14 overall (8-10 Big Ten) after today’s defeat. Michigan State, now 16-13 (7-10 Big Ten) has the opportunity for a résumé boost tomorrow afternoon when it takes on Indiana, the regular-season Big Ten champions and the No. 2 team in the AP Poll.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Wednesday evening’s games, with the photos taken by Detroit-area photographer Aaron J. Thornton. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 69 pictures in total.
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