April 3, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

Michigan State will play in its first Postseason WNIT championship game on Saturday as the squad faces Marquette at 4 p.m. ET at the Breslin Center. The game will be broadcast live on CBS College Sports Network with Thad Anderson and Tracy Warren on the call.

The Spartans received their fourth berth into the Postseason WNIT, earning a first-round bye and the right to host in each of the following rounds. Michigan State opened play with a 74-66 win over Bowling Green in the second round before besting Kansas, 58-54, in third-round action. Michigan State took on in-state and conference rival Michigan in the quarterfinals, advancing with a 45-40 victory over the Wolverines. In the semifinals, Allyssa DeHaan recorded the game-winning put-back with 11 seconds left on the clock to give her squad its first WNIT finals appearance by virtue of a 58-57 win over N.C. State.

The finals appearance is the sixth overall for the Big Ten and the conference's second in as many years as Wisconsin moved through the bracket to face Wyoming in the 2007 title game. The Big Ten also made consecutive appearances in the final game from 1998-2001, when a conference squad appeared in four straight WNIT championship contests.

With four postseason victories, Michigan State now owns a conference-leading overall wins total of 23. The mark is tied for the fourth-highest in MSU program history and ties head coach Suzy Merchant's single-season career high. Earlier in the tournament, Merchant became the second coach in Michigan State men's or women's basketball history to win 20 games in her first season at the helm. A 4-0 record in this year's WNIT also gives the Spartans 13 postseason wins in the last five years, which is the most of any Big Ten team over that time span.

A first-team All-Big Ten selection by the media, DeHaan has led the Spartans during the postseason, averaging 14 points, seven rebounds and 4.25 blocks per game during the tournament. The sophomore tied her own Big Ten single-season blocks record on Wednesday, swatting five against N.C. State to give her 145 on the year. She is the only player in conference history to record 100 or more blocks in two different seasons.

All-Freshman team selection Kalisha Keane has averaged 13 points and 5.3 rebounds per game for MSU in the WNIT, while Lauren Aitch has come off the bench to average 8.3 points and 5.0 blocks per game in the tournament.