No. 20/19 Michigan State Hosts Clemson Tonight in Inaugural Big Ten/ACC Women's Challenge

SPARTANS HOST CLEMSON IN INAUGURAL BIG TEN/ACC WOMEN'S CHALLENGE The Michigan State women's basketball team (ranked 20th by Associated Press; 19th by USA

SPARTANS HOST CLEMSON IN INAUGURAL BIG TEN/ACC WOMEN'S CHALLENGE
The Michigan State women's basketball team (ranked 20th by Associated Press; 19th by USA Today/ESPN Coaches) hosts Clemson Thursday at 8 p.m. in the inaugural Big Ten/ACC Women's Challenge. It also marks the first-ever game for the Spartan women's team on the Big Ten Network. MSU will play at least eight games on the network this season.

The Spartans, who have played four straight on the road, come back to East Lansing riding a three-game winning streak. MSU (5-1) defeated Northern Illinois and Kansas State in last week's Caribbean Challenge in Cancun, Mexico, before topping Delaware State in Dover, Del., on Monday, 65-62. Sophomore center Allyssa DeHaan, who ranks first in the Big Ten with 32 blocks (5.3 avg), continues to lead the team in scoring (16.2 ppg) and rebounding (7.5 rpg).

Clemson (4-3) won the Coors Classic in Boulder, Colo., last weekend, defeating Rice, 62-59, and Siena, 77-67. The Tigers also own wins over Maine and Duquesne, and have losses to Western Carolina, Chattanooga and Vanderbilt. Clemson is led by senior forward D'Lesha Lloyd, who ranks first on the team in scoring (12.0 ppg) and rebounding (7.5 rpg). The Tigers are averaging 65.0 ppg and forcing nearly 23 turnovers a game.

MSU is in the midst of a stretch where it plays eight of 10 games on the road. After facing Clemson, the Spartans will travel Sunday to take on Old Dominion at 2 p.m. in Norforlk, Va. The Monarchs (4-2) are receiving votes in both polls and defeated Purdue in the Paradise Jam last weekend in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Their only losses are to Stanford and Connecticut.

QUICK LOOK AT THE SPARTANS
• Sophomore 6-9 center Allyssa DeHaan set a Big Ten record last season with 145 blocked shots. A preseason All-Big Ten selection, she was named second-team All-Big Ten last season and was tabbed the Big Ten Freshman of the Year after averaging 12.5 ppg and 7.5 rpg. Through six games, DeHaan leads the team in scoring (16.2 ppg) and rebounding (7.5 rpg). She ranks first in the Big Ten in blocks (32 total, 5.3 bpg). DeHaan is closing in on MSU's all-time blocks record - she has 177, just 17 shy of Kristen Rasmussen's record of 194.
• Sophomore center Lauren Aitch (7.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg), who received a medical redshirt last season due to a torn ACL, is back and healthy this season. She has scored in double figures twice this season.
• The Spartans will rely on a heralded freshman class for minutes this season. The class, ranked among the top 20 in the nation, features point guard Brittney Thomas (5.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 5.0 apg) and forwards Kalisha Keane (13.3 ppg), Cetera Washington (6.3 ppg) and Taja Wilson (4.0 ppg). Thomas, Keane and Washington have all started the first six games for MSU. The freshmen have combined for 45 percent of the team's points scored this season.

YOUNG SPARTANS GETTING HELP FROM FRESHMEN CLASS
With the losses of All-Big Ten guards Rene Haynes and Victoria Lucas-Perry to graduation, and Aisha Jefferson and Mia Johnson to injury, MSU is returning only one of its top five scorers from last season (Allyssa DeHaan).

The young Spartans are returning just 25 percent of their points (536), 24 percent of their rebounds (323) and 24 percent of their minutes (1,595) from 2006-07. Overall, MSU's 11 active players consist of nine freshmen and sophomores, and just two seniors (not including junior forward Aisha Jefferson, who is out for the season; and junior Mia Johnson, who is out indefinitely with a knee injury). The Spartans have started three freshmen (Kalisha Keane, Brittany Thomas and Cetera Washington) in every game this season.

Thus far, the freshmen have responded, accounting for 45 percent of MSU's points and rebounds. Keane is second on the team and 11th in the Big Ten in scoring with 13.3 ppg; Thomas leads the Big Ten in assists (4.7 pg); and Washington averages 6.3 ppg and 4.0 rpg. Off the bench, Taja Wilson is scoring 4.0 ppg in 10.8 minutes of action.

OF NOTE...
• Coach Merchant is the third coach in program history to begin her career 5-1 (Mikki Baile, 1972-73; Karen Langeland, 1976-77).
• Allyssa DeHaan leads the Big Ten in blocks with 32 (5.3 pg).
• DeHaan averaged 20.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 blocks at the Caribbean Challenge in Cancun.
• Brittney Thomas is first in the Big Ten with 4.7 assists per game.
• Courtney Davidson is averaging career bests in points (7.0) and minutes (24.2) and is fifth in the Big Ten in 3-point field goal percentage (.450).
• Kalisha Keane is averaging 17.3 points her last three games.
• MSU is 4-14 against current members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, including an 0-1 record vs. Clemson.