Sparty comes to town.
No. 14 Indiana women’s basketball is back in action tonight in Assembly Hall against (RV) Michigan State.
Here’s everything you need to know about the game:
When is the game and how can I watch?
Game Date/Time: Thursday, February 8th, 7:00 p.m. EST
Location: Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Indiana
TV: Peacock
Radio: WHCC 105.1 / WIUX 99.1
Game Notes
No. 14 Indiana (18-3, 9-2 Big Ten) dropped its third contest of the season with a 74-69 loss at Ohio State on Sunday.
The Buckeye press once again stole the show despite four Hoosiers scoring in double figures. The loss caused Indiana to drop four spots in this week’s AP Poll and knocked the Hoosiers from a tie atop the Big Ten standings to third.
Indiana was again without Sydney Parrish against OSU. This was a winnable game with the lineup IU rolled out but would’ve been even moreso with Parrish’s 3-point shooting and defensive presence.
The Hoosiers are 2-0 following losses this season but have had a ton of trouble with Michigan State over the last few seasons. Sparty handed Indiana its first loss of 2022-23 in addition to nearly upsetting Teri Moren’s side in the Big Ten Tournament quarters last spring.
(RV) Michigan State (17-5, 7-4 Big Ten) picked up a 76-65 win over Minnesota on Monday. Graduate guard Moira Joiner led the Spartans with 21 points and nine rebounds in the win.
Michigan State is exceeding expectations in year one of the Robyn Fralick era. Fralick took over in East Lansing last spring after longtime bench boss Suzy Merchant stepped down due to health reasons and is 17-5 through her first 22 games.
Like the woman on the opposite sideline tonight, Fralick favors a shorter bench. Just eight Spartans average more than 15 minutes per game and the backcourt duo of Joiner and junior DeeDee Hagemann plays 30+ each contest.
Hagemann leads the Big Ten in assist/turnover ratio (2.8) while Joiner (40.6%) ranks behind just Purdue’s Madison Layden (44.2%) and Indiana’s Sara Scalia (44.0%) in 3-point percentage.
MSU does not have a post presence that can rival Mackenzie Holmes. That’ll probably be what tips the scales for the Hoosiers but Hagemann and Joiner are so, so dangerous. Elite talent is the one thing that’s consistently beat this scheme-based Indiana team and that’s what Sparty has in its guards.