Bleeding Green

IPFW

Anybody actually see this game?  ... if yes than you must have been there.

MSU Women: Brittney's back!

MSU's latest 85-48 win tonight over University of Detroit-Mercy boosts the team's record to 3-0 and marked the return of sophomore guard Brittney Thomas, who has been sidelined with a broken bone in her hand for every game on the schedule so far. Thomas played 12 minutes (a far cry from her usual 38 minutes per game, but a fine start) and netted her first three points of the season with a single 3-pointer.

The team played tight defense tonight -- certainly better than the Stony Brook outing Sunday -- and Aisha Jefferson led the team with 18 points. All in all, a much stronger outing tonight, which is a good thing. Because after two games on the road in Burlington, Vt., for the TD Banknorth Classic on Saturday and Sunday, the women return to the Bres Wednesday to face Old Dominion, a ranked team that will offer the Spartans their first serious contest of the season.

That game is at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 26, at the Bres. See you there.

Dantonio: Next up Penn State -- News conference Nov. 18

First game thoughts

Izzo's boys ran all over the Idaho Vandals in their home opener.  What did you take away from the performance?

MSU Women: A win, but a messy one

So, yes, the MSU women netted another W today against Stony Brook, but don't let the 73-42 win let you feel like a cocky fan just yet. 

Stony Brook was a scrappy team (including picking up an intentional foul against Lykendra Johnson) that forced too many turnovers for the Spartans.

Still, some bright spots: Six players scored nine or more points in the game (a game-high 11 for Aisha Jefferson), and Allyssa DeHaan added another four blocks to her tally. And, with each game, I'm becoming a bigger fan of Cetera Washington, the sophomore forward who's averaged 3 points a game, but scored 9 today. She's getting some good playing time, too -- 21 minutes on Friday against Niagara and 24 minutes today. She's one to watch.

Next up: 7 p.m. Wednesday vs. Detroit Mercy at the Bres. See you there.

Men's soccer wins Big Ten Tournament

Congratulations to coach Joe Baum and his team for their 1-0 win over Indiana in the Big Ten tournament championship. That means an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Although I'm not a huge soccer fan, I did enjoy watching it on the  Big Ten Network. Anything -- and I mean anything -- is better than watching the Lions.

MSU Women: Record-breaking game

You gotta love it when you can watch a team break a record, even if it is in a nonconference game against a team that really didn't have a chance. 

The MSU women beat Niagara 116-50 tonight at the Breslin Center, scoring the most points ever for the program. Meanwhile, Lauren Aitch had a career-high 25 points and 8 rebounds. And Courtney "Mad Dog" Schiffauer broke the 20-point mark as well (and, MAN, can she jockey for position under the basket).

For a runaway game, it still managed to be a fun one to watch. Sure, there's still some fine-tuning to be done -- as there should be at this point -- but the deep bench makes this feel like a team that's going to make a name for itself thise season.

Up next: Stony Brook at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Bres. See you there.

Off week

The Spartans have the weekend off to get get as ready as they can for the next week's showdown at Penn State.

Ringer run down?

No one will argue that Javon Ringer has had one heck of a season. He has 20 touchdowns, 1,905 total yards and 353 carries. But has Michigan State used him too much?

(BTW, I wanted to look up his stats, googled him and found www.ringer23.com. Sweet.)

Tom Izzo: MSU Signing Day Video

MSU news conference: Dantonio on Penn State

We interrupt football season ...

It's a bye week, so let's shift gears to MSU hoops. I haven't seen the Spartans play yet this year, but I'm ready. It's no secret basketball is my favorite sport. Let's skip the early games and move on to the Big Ten season already.

But seriously, who is the player you're most excited to watch this season? MSU has a lot of talent. I'll probably be the only one who picks this guy, but I'm going to keep a close eye on Travis Walton. He's not flashy like Kalin Lucas or Chris Allen or Raymar Morgan, but I think his leadership will be invaluable to this team. I really like him.

Who are you guys watching for?

Up or down Penn State?

So, Penn State losing on Saturday wasn't really a great thing for the Spartans. Now we don't control our destiny as much, because we lose in head-to-head tiebreaker with Ohio State IF we can beat Penn State in Happy Valley.

But really, what are our chances in Happy Valley? Will Penn State come out flat in its next two games now that its national title hopes are dead or will the Nittany Lions be so angry that anyone in their way will be trampled?

How does Penn State's loss affect MSU's chances in two weeks?

MSU Women: Two halves, two teams

OK, so the scoreboard made the MSU-Grand Valley State game look like a blowout: 84-44. And, technically, it was. MSU notched a second exhibition win in its belt for the season.

But the first half of the game was a messy, low-scoring outing that had me worried about all the enthusiasm I'd burst forth with after the SVSU game on Thursday. Rebounds were few and far between, passing was poor and scoring was low -- MSU in the low 30s and GVSU at 19. The game shouldn't have been that close.

In the second half, however, an entirely different squad hit the floor, with a faster game, terrific ball handling and passing and a much more powerful look and feel than the first half. Whew. 

Cetera Washington, in particular, had a very strong second half, scoring points all over the floor. The sophomore forward who had 7 points in Thursday's game more than doubled that this time and proved to be one of the key players on the floor today.

Next up: The first pre-season game, vs. Niagara at the Bres at 6:30 on Friday. See you there.

MSU post game news conference video