The Spartans are 5-2 and are coming off a 67-42 win against Oakland at home, which starts a four-game home stretch for them. Up next for the Spartans are the Eastern Michigan Eagles, who are currently on a three-game win streak.
For the Spartans, they are going to have to stop Tavelyn James as she is a dynamic scorer. The Spartans cannot take any plays off and they cannot let her get going offensively. Otherwise, it is going to be a long night for the defense. It’s going to be up to the guards to slow her down.
The Spartans will also have to use their size down low so they can try to win the rebounding battle. They come in averaging 45.6 rebounds while only allowing 30.6 rebounds and are led by Lykendra Johnson, who is averaging 9.9 rebounds a game.
If the Spartans are to win this game, though, they are going to have to cut down on their turnovers. They are averaging around 17.9 turnovers, and they cannot make mistakes with the ball or Eastern will take advantage of the opportunities.
Guard play will be the biggest thing for the Spartans in this one. In this game, it is going to come to down to whoever can do the fundamentals. The more prepared team will most likely come out of this one with the victory. The team that can avoid mistakes and own the boards will have the advantage.
These are two pretty even teams statistically so it will be interesting to see what team can capitalize on mistakes as both teams are going to have to be prepared for a tough physical 40-minute game.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Saturday in East Lansing.
