Women's tipoff: Penn State at MSU

• When: 7 p.m. today

• Where: Breslin Center, East Lansing

• TV/radio: None, but game will be on a pay-per-view stream at BigTenNetwork.com/WVFN 730-AM

• Records: MSU is 14-7, 5-5 Big Ten; Penn State is 15-6, 7-4.

• Coaches: Suzy Merchant is 59-32 in her third season at MSU and 260-152 overall in 15 seasons. Coquese Washington is 39-42 overall in her third season at Penn State.

• Series: Penn State leads 24-9 after defeating MSU 68-60 on Jan. 17 in State College, Pa. MSU also trails 8-6 all-time in East Lansing.

• Projected lineups

MSU

Pos. Name PPG

G (20) Brittney Thomas (5-10) 6.8

G (1) Jasmine Thomas (5-9) 6.0

F (30) Lykendra Johnson (6-1) 9.2

F (22) Aisha Jefferson (6-1) 7.3

C (41) Allyssa DeHaan (6-9) 12.4

Penn State

Pos. Name PPG

G (20) Alex Bentley (5-7) 11.6

G (1) Tyra Grant (5-11) 19.5

F (11) Julia Trogele (6-2) 7.6

F (33) Meredith Monroe (6-1) 5.2

C (54) Nikki Greene (6-4) 7.0

• MSU update: Having gone through the January doldrums, which included two home conference losses, the Spartans enter today's game on a modest three-game conference win streak and can keep pace in the muddled Big Ten race. Not surprisingly, it's been a return to defensive-minded basketball that's helped the recent surge. MSU has held those teams - Purdue, Minnesota and Northwestern - all to under 60 points. "Defensively, we've really stepped it up," junior Cetera Washington said. "Basically, we're playing defense like we did when we ended the year last year, and that's a key part to the games we've been winning." The Spartans are limiting opposing shooters to just 35 percent from the field. The last time they allowed 60-plus was in the loss to Penn State, the last of a three-game losing streak. MSU also was in an offensive funk that game, going the final 8:16 without a field goal. DeHaan, the reigning Big Ten player of the week, now needs just 13 blocks to become the NCAA's all-time leader. She had one of her finest games of the season againts Northwestern with 24 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks.

• Penn State update: Just when they started break into the national rankings, the Nittany Lions dropped out courtesy of a two-game losing streak. Still sitting in second second place in the conference, Penn State continues to struggle on the road, having won five of nine overall and holding a 3-3 away mark in Big Ten play. Grant continues to be a consistent scoring threat and is one of 10 finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, announced Wednesday. The Nittany Lions' defense still ranks first in the league by holding opponents to 34.5 percent.

• Prediction: A brief stop home in between four road games should help MSU keep its momentum going, with a better defensive job against Penn State's complementary players to Grant. DeHaan, who was sick during the first meeting, needs to provide a similar game as she did last week at Northwestern.

• Make it: MSU 66, Penn State 59

-- Chris Solari