Jan. 31, 2007

Complete MSU-Penn State Game Notes in PDF Format
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EAST LANSING, Mich. - With Illinois creeping within one game of the third-place Michigan State women's basketball team, the Spartans open up the second half of the Big Ten season with a crucial pair of games at the Breslin Center, starting by hosting Penn State on Thursday in a Big Ten Game of the Week on CSN Chicago at 8:06 p.m. before a Sunday showdown against Illinois.

The No. 23 Spartans, who are 15-6 overall and 6-2 in Big Ten play, will look to rebound from tough road losses at Penn State and Rutgers last week.

Senior Victoria Lucas-Perry leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.0 points per game. The senior, who crossed the 1,000-point mark against Iowa, has steadily improved throughout her four seasons in the Green and White, as the guard enters the game against Penn State just three assists and steals shy of career highs, as well as five 3-pointers shy of the same.

Sophomore Aisha Jefferson has also been on a roll for the Spartans, scoring in double figures in three of the last five games and adding five-plus-rebound performances in the last two.

Penn State brings reigning Big Ten Player of the Week Amanda Brown to the Breslin Center. She is averaging 14.0 points and 9.9 rebounds per game.

Spartan Notables

• Michigan State is hosting its National Girls and Women In Sports Day celebration, with nine of the Spartan women's sports teams having tables at the concourse.

• Four Spartans average in double figures (Victoria Lucas-Perry, 14.0; Allyssa DeHaan, 12.5; Rene Haynes, 10.2; Aisha Jefferson, 10.0).

• Senior Victoria Lucas-Perry and freshman Allyssa DeHaan have each scored in double figures 15 times this year.

• Senior Rene Haynes tied Kim Archer (1994-98) with 224 career steals, which is second in MSU's career record book.

• Freshman Allyssa DeHaan is four blocked shots away from becoming the fourth player in Big Ten history to reject 100 shots in a season.

• Sophomore Aisha Jefferson tied season highs with five assists and two blocked shots at Rutgers.

• Senior Myisha Bannister has averaged 8.2 points and 5.8 rebounds in her five games in the starting lineup.

• Junior Courtney Davidson started the first game of her career after playing the first 51 of her career off the bench.

• The last time Michigan State started 6-2 in Big Ten play was the 2004-05 season, when the Spartans started 5-2 before winning nine in a row for a piece of the league title.