Big Ten Women’s Basketball Finals
No. 1 seed, No. 5 nationally, Maryland Terrapins (29-3 OVR, 16-2 B1G) vs No. 3 seed, No. 19 nationally, Michigan State Spartans (24-7, 13-5)
Time: 7:00 p.m.
TV: ESPN
Radio: WJIM 1240 AM, SpartanSportsNetwork.com
Three Wooden Award finalists. Two top 20 teams. One B1G champion.
There is not much else to say in preparation for this Big Ten title game. Just sit back and enjoy two of the conference’s best teams, and arguably two of the hottest teams in the country, going head-to-head.
This season:
Feb. 5, 2016 at College Park, MD
Nine points was all that separated Maryland from MSU. A 85-76 win was led by the Terrapins’ Shatori Walker-Kimbrough with 30 points. Brionna Jones and Brene Moseley followed with 17 points each.
MSU’s Aerial Powers and Branndais Agee led the team with 31 and 22 points, respectively. Tori Jankoska struggled, scoring eight points (2-for-12 from the field and 2-for-9 on 3-pointers). Her performance in that game is very reminiscent of Friday’s quarterfinal game against Purdue.
But the difference in the Feb. 5 matchup was free throws. Maryland went 26-for-36 from the charity stripe, compared to MSU’s 7-for-10. Michigan State committed 27 personal fouls, versus Maryland’s 16. The Spartans also got outrebounded 43-33, with no MSU player grabbing more than nine boards.
How they got here:
Maryland has been the best team in the Big Ten all year and they deservingly earned the No. 1 seed and a double-bye in the conference tournament. Their first game on Friday vs No. 9 seed Iowa was a walk in the park, a 75-55 win. In the semifinals, they took care of Nia Coffey and the No. 12 seed Northwestern Wildcats, 83-62.
Michigan State also earned a double-bye as the No. 3 seed in the tournament. In the quarterfinal game on Friday, the Spartans played one of their worst halves of the year, but edged out No. 6 seed Purdue, 65-64. Saturday’s semifinal game against No. 2 seed Ohio State was a surprise blowout for MSU, winning 82-63 and never allowing OSU to get closer than 18 points in the second half.
Three things to watch for: MARYLAND
Key Players
- Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, 5-foot-11 junior guard
- Wooden Award Top 15 Finalist
- Team’s leading scorer, averages 19.6 PPG and 5.7 RPG
- Last game vs No. 12 seed Northwestern: 15 points on 5-for-11 FG, seven rebounds, five assists
- Brionna Jones, 6-foot-3 junior center
- Wooden Award Top 15 Finalist
- Team’s second leading scorer, averages 15.9 PPG and 9.7 RPG
- Last game vs NW: 17 points on 7-for-8 FG, 11 rebounds, four assists
- Tierney Pfirman, 6-foot-2 senior forward
- Comes off the bench
- Averages 9.1 PPG, fourth highest points per game average on the team
- Last game vs NW: 17 points on 8-for-14 FG, seven rebounds, five assists
Bench Points
- Maryland’s bench has outscored their opponents 50-30 in the first two tournament games
Points in Paint
- MD outscored NW 30-28 and Iowa 50-18 in the paint
Three things to watch for: MICHIGAN STATE
Key Players
- Jasmine Hines, 6-foot-3 graduate student center
- Hines averages 10.4 PPG, fourth on the team, and 6.4 RPG, second on the team
- Quarterfinal game vs No. 6 Purdue: 11 points on 4-for-9 FG, eight rebounds
- Last game vs No. 2 Ohio State: eight points on 3-for-6 FG, eight rebounds
- Tori Jankoska, 5-foot-8 junior guard
- Team’s second leading scorer, averages 15.5 PPG and 5.4 RPG
- Quarterfinal game vs No. 6 seed Purdue: seven points on 3-for-10 FG and 0-for-4 3PT
- Last game vs No. 2 seed Ohio State: 23 points on 7-for-16 FG and 2-for-10 3PT, eight rebounds, six assists
- Aerial Powers, 6-foot junior forward
- Wooden Award Top 15 Finalist
- Team’s leading scorer, averages 22.3 PPG and 9.2 RPG
- Last game vs No. 2 seed Ohio State: 31 points on 12-for-19 FG and 4-for-7 3PT, 12 rebounds
3-point Field Goals
- Team is shooting 31.6 percent from long distance on the season
- Quarterfinal vs PUR: 1-for-12 (8.5 percent)
- Semifinal vs OSU: 7-for-21 (33.3 percent)
Rebounds
- Michigan State averages 43.4 RPG and allows 31.7 RPG
- Quarterfinal vs PUR: MSU 39-33
- Semifinal vs OSU: MSU 48-31
