Can Spartans Compete For Big Ten Title?
The No. 21 Michigan State Spartans (12-2) have gotten out to one of their best starts in recent history and handled a great deal of their opponents through 14 games. With seven Big Ten teams ranked inside the top 25, will the Spartans have a shot at their first conference title since 2013?
The Spartans won their first 11 games of the season, including their lone ranked win of the season, knocking off the No. 21 Iowa Hawkeyes at home by two points. They have hit a rough patch of late, losing two of their last three games. They recently fell to No. 8 Maryland by just 6 points.
With a gauntlet of a conference schedule on the horizon, the Spartans will have elevate their play to match teams like No. 4 USC, No. 10 Ohio State and No. 1 UCLA. They will face four currently ranked Big Ten opponents down the stretch this season with several others that could potentially be ranked.
The Spartans are a legitimate competitor for a conference title with several of the top scorers in the country. Senior guard Julia Ayrault is ranked 11th in the conference in points per game (16.2) while freshman forward Juliann Woodard has been one of the best shooters in the country.
Woodard is second in the Big Ten in 3-point percentage at 63.6%, hitting 14 of her 22 3-point attempts. She is also fifth in the conference in total field goal percentage at 63.2%. Having a player like her could be game changing later in the year.
Michigan State is coming off its second conference win of the season, defeating the Purdue Boilermakers on New Year's Day. They will take a full week of rest to get ready for another tough road battle, facing the Nebraska Cornhuskers (10-4) on the road.
The upcoming matchup will be a good test to see if this Spartans team is a pretender or contender as a nationally ranked team and one of the best in the Big Ten. If Michigan State can continue to string along big-time conference wins, they will be able to compete at the top come early March.
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