KALAMAZOO, Mich.-- The Western Michigan University women's basketball team will host Michigan State University on Sunday, November 17, at University Arena. Tip-off is slated at 5:00 PM, and the game will be available on ESPN+. Tickets to the game are available here.
Last Time Out
The Brown and Gold dropped its non-conference match against Southern Methodist University on the road 72-44 this past Tuesday. In the loss, redshirt senior Artemis Kouki scored a career-best 15 points and knocked down a career-high five three-pointers to lead WMU. Kouki's five three-pointers made are tied for the fifth most threes sunk by a Bronco in single-game program history. As of Friday afternoon, Kouki was tied for ninth in the Mid-American Conference with two three-pointers made per contest.
Defensively, Hannah Spitzley grabbed two steals and improved her career total to 131 swipes and counting. The graduate student guard needs six more steals to pass Michelle Fortier (1990-93) for 18th on the program's all-time steals list.
As for WMU's second graduate student Megan Wagner (226 assists), she needs four more assists to pass Ann Kasdorf (1975-78) for 17th on WMU's all-time assists list.
Scouting MSU
The Spartans enter the contest with a 4-0 record behind wins over Oakland, Yale, Eastern Michigan, and Eastern Kentucky. In their previous contest versus Eastern Kentucky on Thursday, MSU routed the Colonels 96-54. In the win, Julia Ayrault, Juliann Woodard, Grace VanSlooten, and Theryn Hallock scored a combined 64 points to lead the way in MSU's victory.
This preseason, MSU's junior forward VanSlooten was named to the Cheryl Miller Award watch list, as announced by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). The award honors the nation's top small forwards. VanSlooten is currently averaging 16.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game while shooting 58.6% from the field.
As a team, MSU is second in the nation in assists, averaging 24.3 per game. The Spartans are also fifth in the country in scoring margin (+52.3). MSU is currently receiving votes in both the AP and Coaches polls.
Series History
MSU leads the all-time series 20-11. The Brown and Gold are searching for their first win over the Spartans since 1982.
For all things WMU women's basketball, follow the team on Instagram @wmu_wbb, X @WMU_WBB, and Facebook @WMUWBB.
