MSU Women’s Basketball: 1-1 in the First Week of Big Ten Play

MSU Women’s basketball lost to an 8th ranked Maryland by a slim margin over the weekend, then beat Purdue by 18 to ring in the new year and bring us back up to a winning Big Ten record.

Photo Credit: Alfred Laurence, Beige Planet Photography

Jocelyn Tate

Tate did everything this week; in both games she brought the most energy to the court. She was leaping out of bounds to save possessions, forcing jump balls, leading our team in offensive rebounding, and hitting her threes. All that on top of her regular tenacious defense and relentless attack of the paint to finish with either hand, helped keep us in the game after an early deficit against Maryland, and led to a dominant first half against Purdue. In the two games combined she scored 26 points, 21 rebounds, 6 assists, 6 steals, and hit 4-8 from deep. That’s a level of production we haven’t seen from Tate in her season and a half in the green and white.

Photo Credit: Alfred Laurence, Beige Planet Photography

In the past when she showed this amount of effort some sloppiness came with it and she drew too many fouls; after beating Purdue she told us that her ability to communicate and receive feedback from refs has helped to clean up her game. The result is us getting the best version of Tate for upwards of 30 minutes a game, an impact that cannot be overstated.

Like many players on our team Tate has aspirations to play professionally, though she is less keen on the WNBA than others. Her undersized small forward game is strong and you have to be inches taller to guard her in the post, unfortunately, most WNBA teams have taller small forwards that would counter the best part of Tate’s play style. In Europe however, her all around skill set makes her a deadly option and she won’t be totally outmatched in size. She’s keeping in touch with her teammate from last year, former Spartan Mo Joiner, who is currently a rookie playing 25 minutes a game for Baxi Ferrol in the Liga Femenina de Baloncesto, Spain’s pro league. Wherever Tate ends up next year she’ll be an asset, and it’s already been exciting to watch all that she achieves in her senior season.