EAST LANSING – Michigan State women’s basketball is set to play its third game of the season against the Youngstown State Penguins at the Breslin Center on Wednesday, Nov. 12. The Spartans have been dominant in the first two games they’ve had this season and plan to continue that trend.
This will be the first ever matchup between Michigan State and Youngstown State in women’s basketball. However, MSU head coach Robyn Fralick and YSU’s head coach Melissa Jackson have met before during their respective tenures coaching in the Mid-American Conference.
Fralick coached Bowling Green while Jackson coached Akron. Jackson won seven of the ten matchups while both were coaching in the MAC.
Another connection between these teams is the Penguins’ assistant coach Courtney Davidson. Davidson is a Michigan State alum and played for the Spartans from 2004 until 2008.
For MSU to remain undefeated this year, it will need junior guard Rashunda Jones to keep up what she’s been able to do so well in the first two games, and that is put pressure on the ball. The Purdue transfer has shown how her aggressive defense can be valuable for the Green and White this season. In the Spartans’ last game against Eastern Michigan, Jones notched five steals on the day and was the spark MSU needed to pull away in that game.
Senior guard Jalyn Brown is another Spartan to keep an eye on. Brown played a terrific game off the bench in her last outing. She put up 15 points against EMU and if she can be as productive against Youngstown State, MSU will be in a good position to win this game.
On the Penguins’ side, they’ll be relying on the veteran leadership of sixth year guard Casey Santoro. Santoro has been a big reason why YSU is 2-0 to start this year. She’s a big-time threat on offense and on the glass. Santoro is the Penguins’ leading scorer and averages the team’s second most rebounds, with seven a game.
Youngstown State came back to beat North Dakota on the road in its second game of the season and will finish this road trip in East Lansing before going home.
Both squads hope to keep their undefeated seasons alive, with tipoff scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 11 in East Lansing. Brian Rivers and Josh Lee will be on the call, and the game can be listened to locally on 88.9 FM or at https://impact89fm.org/.
