At Big Ten women's tournament, MSU seeks redemption, UM eyes stars' return

Michigan and Michigan State are entering the Big Ten women's basketball tournaments on different trajectories, but the only stat that means a darn thing now is 0-0.

It's a new season, the only one that matters.

"Oh, yeah," Dean Lockwood, interim head coach at Michigan State, said after practice Tuesday afternoon. "If you can't get excited about tournament time, you don't have red blood in your veins.

"There's a good energy to our team right now."

It's been an up-and-down season for the Spartans (15-13, 7-10 Big Ten), who lost three straight games after head coach Suzy Merchant was sidelined indefinitely because of an undisclosed medical issue. Michigan State opens the Big Ten tournament as the No. 9 seed and will start against No. 8 Nebraska (16-13, 8-10) at 12:30 Thursday in the second round of the tournament at Target Center in Minneapolis.

Michigan (21-8, 11-7) is the No. 5 seed and opens at 3 Thursday against either Minnesota (11-18, 4-14) or Penn State (13-16, 4-14), who play in Wednesday's first round.

Michigan State comes in having won four of five, while Michigan, ranked No. 17, has lost three of four — those streaks largely dictated by the competition.

Michigan has been playing without its two best players, fifth-year senior guard Leigha Brown (a consensus first-team All-Big Ten selection) and sophomore guard Laila Phelia (a first-team pick by media, second-team by coaches). Brown, who averages 18.2 points, 5.7 assists and 5.4 rebounds, has missed the last two games because of what the program has called an "internal" issue. She will be back for the Big Ten tournament, head coach Kim Barnes Arico said on the "Michigan Insider" radio show Tuesday.

"Leigha is available, which is great news, obviously," Barnes Arico said on the "Michigan Insider."

Phelia hasn't played the entire month of February because of a lower-body injury. Barnes Arico said she will be back "at some point" this season, which will include a bid in the NCAA Tournament for the Wolverines.

"She is super antsy," Barnes Arico said of Phelia, on the "Michigan Insider" show. "She is ready to go. She has been in my ear all day yesterday. ... She's really progressing well."

Barnes Arico said Phelia will meet with doctors at some point this week to determine the path forward, as the Wolverines, who made the Elite Eight last year, head toward their fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

Filling the void in the absence of Brown and Phelia has been graduate-student forward Emily Kiser, who is averaging 16.4 points this season. She scored 34 in a win over Rutgers on Thursday. Kiser was named first-team All-Big Ten by the coaches and second-team by the media.

For Michigan State, leading the way has been sophomore point guard DeeDee Hagemann (Detroit Edison; 8.7 points, 5 assists) and sophomore swing Matilda Ekh (12.3 points), who earned honorable mention All-Big Ten by the coaches and media, as well as graduate-student guard Kamaria McDaniel (Dearborn Heights Robichaud; 13.7 points), who earned honorable-mention honors from the media.

Michigan State lost at Nebraska, 71-67, on Feb. 2, Merchant's second game sidelined. She will miss her 10th game Thursday, and she isn't expected to coach again this season, following the one-car accident triggered by a medical issue.

"It's hard to measure that," Lockwood said of how Merchant's absence initially affected the team, on the court and off the court. Michigan State had lost four of five before the absence of Merchant, who continues to rest at home, but still is in regular contact with Lockwood as well as the players. "Certainly, the change in itself, and then the uncertainty at the time, everything was pretty much day-to-day. There was just some uncertainty."

Michigan State needs a big-time run in Minneapolis to avoid missing the NCAA Tournament for a second straight year, for the first time since Merchant took over in 2007. The Spartans' only loss since early February was to No. 8 Maryland, 66-61, on Feb. 18. Of all of Michigan State's Big Ten losses, only one has been by more than 10 points.

Of Michigan's Big Ten losses, only one has been to a team seeded lower in the Big Ten tournament.

Big Ten women's tournament

At Target Center, Minneapolis

WEDNESDAY

∎ No. 12 Minnesota (11-18, 4-14) vs. No. 13 Penn State (13-16, 4-14), 2 (BTN)

∎ No. 11 Rutgers (11-19, 5-13) vs. No. 14 Northwestern (9-20, 2-16), 4:30 (BTN)

THURSDAY

∎ No. 8 Nebraska (16-13, 8-10) vs. No. 9 Michigan State (15-13, 7-10), 12:30 (BTN)

∎ No. 5 Michigan (21-8, 11-7) vs. Minnesota-Penn State winner, 3 (BTN)

∎ No. 7 Purdue (18-9, 9-8) vs. No. 10 Wisconsin (11-19, 6-12) , 6:30 (BTN)

∎ No. 6 Illinois (21-8, 11-7) vs. Rutgers-Northwestern winner, 9 (BTN)

FRIDAY

∎ No. 1 Indiana (26-2, 16-2) vs. Nebraska-Michigan State winner, 12:30 (BTN)

∎ No. 4 Ohio State (23-6, 12-6) vs. Michigan-TBA winner, 3 (BTN)

∎ No. 2 Iowa (23-6, 15-3) vs. Purdue-Wisconsin winner, 6:30 (BTN)

∎ No. 3 Maryland (24-5, 15-3) vs. Illinois-TBA winner, 9 (BTN)

SATURDAY

∎ Semifinal 1, 2:30 (BTN)

∎ Semifinal 2, 5 (BTN)

SUNDAY

∎ Championship game, 5 (ESPN)

tpaul@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @tonypaul1984