Preview: MSU women’s basketball will play Rutgers away in an attempt to extend its Big Ten winning run.
The Michigan State Spartans are returning to the road after winning their last two home games, 82-61 victories against the Michigan Wolverines and Purdue Boilermakers, respectively. The Spartans will be traveling to Piscataway this time to play Rutgers University.
The Spartans have won back-to-back games to improve to 15-5 overall and 5-4 in the Big Ten. This is the first time the team has had a winning record in the conference this year. Throughout the season, Michigan State has developed a pattern of winning one conference game, then losing another, which has kept the team stuck in “purgatory” in terms of Big Ten advancement.
But the Spartans have moved up to fifth place in the Big Ten, surpassing their in-state rivals Michigan in the process.
Although the Spartans’ victory over the Wolverines was significant, head coach Robyn Fralick and the team soon changed their focus to beating the Scarlet Knights.
Fralick declared, “We’re playing for something.” “You have to savor this and then you got to move because there’s tons of games left and this team is playing for something so we got to have a mentality around that.”
The Scarlet Knights are 0-9 in the league and 6-16 overall heading into this game. They are still seeking their first Big Ten victory of the year. After losing to Wisconsin most recently, Rutgers is currently on an 11-game losing streak. The Scarlet Knights made a late offensive drive, but it was not enough to win them their first Big Ten game.
Although Rutgers is having a difficult season overall, the Scarlet Knights have performed significantly better against the Spartans in their 14-game history, with a 6-8 record. Despite this, the Spartans still hold the advantage in the series.
In her second year at Rutgers, head coach Coquese Washington is in charge of the Scarlet Knights. All things considered, Washington has been a head coach for 14 seasons, during which she has a 227-205 record. Nevertheless, Washington has an 18-36 record after playing for the Scarlet Knights for the past two seasons.
With 314 points scored this season at an average of 14.3 points per game, junior guard/forward Destiny Adams leads the Scarlet Knights in scoring. Her average ranking in the Big Ten ranks her at No. 15. With an average of little over seven rebounds per game, Adams has also been one of the Scarlet Knights’ best rebounders.
Rather than scoring a lot of points from the three-point line, Rutgers has found most of its success inside the paint. The Spartans should push the Scarlet Knights to attempt a long-range field goal if they want to put them in an awkward situation.
Despite Rutgers’ lackluster record, head coach Fralick is emphasizing that the Spartans will approach this game just like any other. Fralick is aware that every women’s basketball game played in the Big Ten will be fiercely competitive until the very end.
Fralick remarked, “This league is way too good. Their game against Michigan a week ago was a two-point game with thirty seconds to go.” “They’ve acquired some excellent players and transfers that
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