Bleeding Green

Bowling with Bulldogs

It's finally time for bowl game predictions.

Big Ten begins

First off - Happy New Year's!  I hope you all enjoyed whatever holiday(s) you may have celebrated, and that the rest of the season is at least safe, if not a lot of fun.

Oakland

What's your take on today's game?

Polls

The Spartans have been up and down so far this year, and it shows in the polls.

MSU Women: Key win on the road

After a frustrating four-loss stretch on the road, the MSU women came home Thursday to nail a win over Delaware State, then hit the road again for the Big Ten season-opener at Penn State ... and they netted a key win on an unfriendly court.

The 67-60 game was a tight one throughout, with six ties and six lead changes. But after shaking a bad run of turnovers in the first half, the Spartans got it together in the second half and got the ball in Alyssa DeHaan's hands enough to make the difference. DeHaan's 14 points kept the Spartans on top through the game's final minutes. Combine that with Lauren Aitch, who was playing on a bad ankle yet still grabbed five rebounds and adding six points, and we got a good look at a team that has the potential to give some Big Ten teams a run for their money this season.

Another key to the Penn State win: Brittney Thomas played some top-notch defense, keeping Penn State's Brianne O'Rourke off-balance for a good portion of the game. Let's hope this momentum can continue after Christmas.

Next up: 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 29, back home at the Bres, vs. Indiana. See you there. Go Green!

That's good

The Spartans eeked one out in Houston over a top 5 team.

Texas

The Spartans have another huge matchup with a top 5 team on Saturday against the Longhorns.

MSU Women: A win, but some work ahead

Yes, yes, it's good to be back in the "win" column. But the MSU Women's 71-41 win over Delaware State at the Breslin Center Thursday night made a few things clear:

• Before their Big Ten season kicks off Sunday at Penn State, the Spartans need to get a big handle on turnovers. (They had 20 in Thursday's game -- nearly all of their own doing.)
• Kalisha Keane needs it drilled into her head that she cannot be making cross-court (or nearly full-court) passes. Period. Too often she throws them too high, too hard and off target for it to be worth any kind of risk. Thursday night's game looked like she was doing a poor audition for the Harlem Globetrotters. 
• Allyssa DeHaan needs to touch the ball MUCH more often. In the first 9 minutes of Thursday's game, she had 10 of her 15 points. Keep her out near the free-throw line and she's a strong, confident shooter. 

If the women expect to be competitive in the Big Ten this year, they need to get the message on these points loud and clear ... and now.

Up next: Noon Sunday at Penn State; watch it on the Big Ten Network.

Then: 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 29, at the Bres for the Big Ten home opener against Indiana. Go Green.

MSU Women: Tough loss on the road, pt. IV

The MSU Women fall to 6-4 for the season with a 71-66 loss on the road Sunday to Xavier. Despite a some strong 3-point shooting by Mandy Piechowski (4-for-7, plus three free throws, for a team-high of 15 points) and an impressive 9 blocked shots by Allyssa DeHaan, the Spartans never once led the Musketeers.

What do you think needs to happen in the next week for the team to get back on the right track?

Up next: Home again at last ... The MSU Women take on Delaware State at 7 p.m. Thursday. See you at the Bres.

MSU Women: Road block

Ugh -- a third consecutive loss on the road for the No. 21-ranked MSU women, this time falling 63-52 to unranked St. Bonaventure, putting them at 6-3 for the season.

Largely, it was a field-goal shooting percentage of 32.1 percent -- including a scoreless game for Britteny Thomas and just 4 for Allyssa DeHaan -- that was the Spartans' biggest downfall. The teams were evenly matched with 35 rebounds apiece (the taller Spartans should have had a much better showing there), and within one turnover of each other (22 for MSU, 23 for St. Bonaventure), but St. Bonaventure's 44.9 field-goal percentage pushed them over the top. It just seemed no matter what they did, the Spartans couldn't get the ball to fall today.

St. Bonaventure junior Andrea Doneth, the Lansing Catholic alum, played nearly half the game, netting 5 points and grabbing 8 rebounds.

Maybe this upcoming week off will get the women back on track. What do you think they should be working on (besides finals)?

Up next: 2 p.m. Dec. 14 at Xavier.