Michigan State women must contend with Arizona State's stingy defense
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Michigan State women’s basketball team’s opening round NCAA tournament game against Arizona State will pit Sparty against Sparky.
Mascots aside, the better matchup will put 9-seed MSU’s prolific offense to the test against 8-seed ASU’s stingy defense at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina, on Friday.
“We really have to be able to share the ball and play great team basketball. We know we’re going to have to work for everything," MSU coach Suzy Merchant said.
“Some of the characteristics that I think Arizona State has we’ve played against in the Big Ten, but in terms of maybe how they defend top to bottom and the way they do it, nobody nears that in the Big Ten exactly.”
With MSU senior guard Tori Jankoska averaging 22.5 points per game, the Sun Devils know containing her will be key, and they’re hoping to use their experience playing against the PAC-12’s high scorers to their advantage.
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ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne compared Jankoska to Kelsey Plum, Washington’s senior guard, who holds the NCAA all-time scoring record.
“To me, there are a lot of similarities: strong, great motor, just the go-to player, deep 3-point range and if you take that away, she goes to the next. She doesn’t make bad decisions with the ball," Turner Thorne said.
“I wish I was watching her instead of playing against her. I’m like ‘Wow, she’s really good.’”
While Jankoska leads the team in scoring and holds the MSU all-time scoring record, she also has the second-highest amount of assists on the team with 157. She knows spreading out the offense will be a huge factor in handling ASU’s defense, which has held teams to 57.3 points per game this season.
“We’re one of the top teams in the country in getting assists. I think that’s why it’s tough to stop any one of the players on our team just because at any moment, Branndais (Agee) can go and get 30 (points), Taya (Reimer) can go and get 20 (points) and 10 (rebounds), Jankoska said.
“We have such a balanced team, if you try to stop one of us or a couple of us, the players are going to go out and get theirs.”
Friday’s matchup also will pit head coaches Merchant and Turner Thorne against each other for the first time. In 2009, Merchant was an assistant coach to Turner Thorne for the USA Women's World University Games Team in Belgrade, Serbia. The coaches won a gold medal with USA Basketball that year and remain good friends.
“She’s one of the staples in the women’s game,” Merchant said of Turner Thorne. “I’d rather not be playing against her, to be honest. It’s hard to play your friends, but somebody’s got to win and somebody’s got to lose and it’s postseason time. We’ll try to put that aside for a few hours.”
Women's NCAA tournament
No. 9 MSU (21-11) vs. No. 8 Arizona State (19-12)
When: 7:30 p.m. today
Where: Columbia, S.C.
TV/radio: ESPN2/WJIM 1240-AM