Women's Basketball

March 21, 2010

No. 5-seed MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS (23-9) vs.
No. 4-seed KENTUCKY WILDCATS (26-7)
NCAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND • LOUISVILLE, KY.

Date: Monday, March 22
Time: 7:21 p.m. ET
Location: Louisville, Ky.
Arena: Freedom Hall
TV: ESPN2 (Justin Kutcher - play-by-play; Rebecca Lobo - analyst)
Radio: WJIM 1240 AM (Rick Berkey - play-by-play)
Internet: Live streaming at ESPN360.com; Live audio at SpartanRadioNetwork.com

Watch | Listen | GameTracker
Interactive 2010 NCAA Tournament Bracket
Monday's ESPN2 Coverage Maps

Sunday Press Conference Coverage
Head Coach Suzy Merchant podcast | Allyssa DeHaan and Cetera Washington podcast
Michigan State transcript | Kentucky transcript

SPARTAN FIRST ROUND NOTES
• MSU has won six straight first round games and improved to 8-1 all-time in the first round.
• Aisha Jefferson scored a team-high 17 points, leading four Spartans in double-figures.
• Jefferson is 12 points away from moving into the top-10 on the MSU career points list. She is now 12th all-time with 1,187. Jefferson is also now 12th with 649 rebounds.
• Jefferson became the sixth Spartan to score 100 NCAA Tournament points. She is now third all-time at MSU with 113 NCAA points. Jefferson is also now second at MSU with 63 NCAA Tournament rebounds.
• The Spartans have won 12 straight games when scoring over 70 points.
• MSU is 10-1 this season when Lauren Aitch scores in double-figures and 27-7 in her career. The Spartans are 8-1 when Brittney Thomas reaches double-digit points in 2009-10.
• MSU had a 28-4 edge in points in the paint against Bowling Green.
• Michigan State shot a season-high 85.7% (12-of-14) from the foul line.
•The Spartans are 3-0 on ESPN2 this season.
• Allyssa DeHaan (135) tied the MSU record for games played. Aitch (134) is third.
• Jasmine Thomas made an impressive NCAA Tournament debut with 11 points, six rebounds (including a season-high four offensive) and a season-high tying two steals.
• Over her last three games, Jefferson is averaging 16.7 points, shooting 63.6% (21-of-33 from the field, including 83.3% (5-of-6) from 3-point range.
• With 14 free throw attempts, the 2009-10 Spartans moved into second on the MSU single-season list with 665 (MSU is 13 away from tying the record of 2007-08 team).
• With four made 3-pointers, this year's team is now fourth on the MSU single-season list with 157, only two shy of a third place tie.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
• The Spartans have posted seven-straight 20 win seasons and have 11 all-time.
• MSU finished second in the Big Ten (12-6) and has won 11 of its last 13 games.
• Allyssa DeHaan was the first Spartan to be named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
• Kalisha Keane was the first Spartan to be named Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year.
• DeHaan, Keane, Lykendra Johnson and Brittney Thomas earned All-Big Ten recognition.
• DeHaan is second in NCAA Division I in career blocks with 503. (Louella Tomlinson - 512)
• MSU is one of three teams in the nation to have three AP top-10 wins this season.
• MSU is one of five teams in the country to have played five top-10 teams in the regular season.
• The Spartans are one of two Big Ten schools (Ohio State) with at least 10 conference wins in each of the last eight seasons. (MSU is 93-41 in the league during the stretch.)
• DeHaan is one of only five Spartans in the top-10 all-time in both scoring and rebounding. She is fourth with both 1,645 points and 918 rebounds.
• Over the last seven games, MSU has forced 20.0 turnovers, averaged 10.3 steals and is +30 in turnover margin (-21 first 25 games).
• MSU has held 17 of its last 18 opponents below 40% from the field (34.3% during stretch).
• The Spartans hold a 27.8-13.9 edge in bench scoring. MSU leads the Big Ten in bench points.
• Nine different Spartans have led the team in scoring, 10 in assists and eight in rebounds.
• DeHaan led the Big Ten in conference games in blocks for the third time (06-07, 07-08).
• Aisha Jefferson became the 11th Spartan with 1,000 points and 600 rebounds.
• 13 different Spartans have made a 3-pointer this season; most in the Big Ten.
• The Spartans are fifth in the nation in blocks per game (6.4) and have the third most blocks in the nation over the past three-plus seasons with 808.
• In conference games, the Spartans led the Big Ten in scoring defense (57.5), field goal percentage defense (.351), 3-point field goal percentage defense (.277) and blocks (5.78).
• MSU set a Big Ten record with its 35.1% field goal percentage defense in league play.
• MSU has won 13-straight overtime games. The streak is the longest among Big Ten schools.
• MSU's margin of defeat in its nine losses is only 5.2 points.

SPARTANS AGAINST THE WILDCATS
Michigan State leads the all-time series, 3-1, having won the last three meetings. The two schools last met in the 2006 NCAA Second Round in Chicago (March 20), a 67-63 Spartan win.

KENTUCKY VS. THE FIELD OF 64
The Wildcats have played seven teams in this year's NCAA Tournament, posting a 6-5 record. UK beat No. 7 Mississippi State twice, won at No. 7 LSU and knocked off No. 13 Chattanooga at home. The Wildcats split with No. 5 Georgia and No. 6 Vanderbilt, but lost twice to No. 1 Tennessee and at No. 10 Middle Tennessee.

MSU AND KENTUCKY COMMON OPPONENTS
The Spartans and the Wildcats have faced no common opponents this season.

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