Setbacks behind her, Branndais Agee thriving for MSU women

EAST LANSING - Branndais Agee took it personally when Michigan neglected to guard her several times last week.

So the Michigan State sophomore guard did what she's done all season to opponents.

She made them pay.

Agee torched the Wolverines for what was a then-career-best 20 points last week while adding another chapter in what's been a strong bounce back season after being sidelined all of last year with an ACL injury.

And the Detroit native has been a key factor for the No. 17-ranked Spartan women's basketball team. Her contributions have MSU (18-5, 9-3 Big Ten) in the thick of the league title race, and it could move a step closer to a 12th season with at least 20 wins in 13 years Thursday against Penn State (6:30 p.m., Big Ten Network).

"Branndais is extremely skilled," MSU coach Suzy Merchant said. "People forget about her with Aerial (Powers) and Tori (Jankoska), but she is an extremely talented kid. She can create her own shot and any time in a women's game when you have someone that can create their own shot, you know you have something special.

"She's also really worked on her outside shooting because during her true freshman year there were times when people wouldn't even guard her. Now she's a high 30 or 40 percent shooter. She's doing a really great job with being confident from there and then she can get by people. She has a great pull-up jumper and can get to the rim, so she really gives us our third attack. It really helps our offense and allows us to put more numbers up."

Agee's impact on the court this season has come despite a challenging journey since her arrival at MSU. She's been sidelined for two seasons because of injuries - a stress fracture and ACL tear limited her to five games in 2012-13 and an offseason ACL tear cost her all of last winter.

Merchant thought Agee was having one of the best offseasons of any player she had coached prior to her last ACL injury. Powers, who was sidelined her entire first season, knew exactly what Agee was going through and tried to make sure the spirits remained high for her roommate.

"We communicated a lot actually back and forth," Powers said. "I knew how it felt when you're not playing  because I hurt myself my freshman year and I wasn't playing. Some days I would see she was down and I would ask her 'Are you OK?' I'd tell her your time is going to come and when it comes make the most of it pretty much."

The time has come for Agee, who has scored in double figures in 19 of 23 games and has surpassed 20 points in two of her last three. She's averaged 12.3 points and been a consistent third scorer for MSU. And she ranks second in the Big Ten in 3-point shooting (44.0 percent) and sixth in steals (1.9 per game).

Agee said two lost seasons due to injury has been the biggest thing that's fueled her on the court.

"After being hurt two years and not being able to be out there, it's just a blessing to finally be able to play and still be able to do the things I was able to do before I got hurt," Agee said.

"I'm a competitor regardless, so it's just now that I have had those two setbacks, that put more oomph for me to go out harder and every game just be blessed to be out there and play my hardest."

Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @brian_calloway.

THURSDAY'S GAME

Penn State at No. 17 MSU

When: 6:30 p.m.

Where: Breslin Center

TV/radio: Big Ten Network/WJIM 1240-AM