Annalise Pickrel, a runner-up to freshman teammate Klarissa Bell in the Miss Basketball voting, can play guard or forward.EAST LANSING -- Michigan State women’s basketball coach Suzy Merchant wants her Spartans to play at a faster tempo this year, and keep pressure on the other team’s defense at all times.
Freshman Annalise Pickrel, a former Catholic Central star, fits perfectly in that regard, the coach said.
Pickrel, 6-foot-3 and on the run, feels the same way.
“Oh my gosh, yes, I love to run the floor, rebound and go,” she said. “Nobody likes to play a slow game.”
Pickrel, the 2009 runner-up in Michigan’s Miss Basketball voting to MSU teammate Klarissa Bell, is listed as a 6-3 guard on the roster. She might play guard, but right now she’s running at a forward spot.
“She really is the kind of player who can probably play all five spots, but right now we have her at the four because we graduated three of the four people who play at our four (forward) and five (center) spots,” Merchant said. “I really like her versatility.”
The Spartans have started practice and will take part in “Midnight Madness” at Breslin Center on Friday night. The first exhibition game is Nov. 4, and the season opens Nov. 13 against Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne at the Breslin.
Big Ten play, back to 16 games instead of 18 as in the previous two seasons, starts Jan. 2.
Michigan State has finished second in the Big Ten Conference the past two seasons and is one of two programs in the conference (Ohio State) to have won 20 or more games each of the past seven years.
Center Allyssa DeHaan of Grandville, the Big Ten defensive player of the year and second all-time in NCAA history in blocked shots, has graduated, but the Spartans return All-Big Ten point guard Britney Thomas, the Big Ten’s sixth man of the year in forward Kalisha Keane and junior forward Lykendra Johnson.
The new blood on the team is from a highly touted four-player freshman class, which includes Bell, Pickrel, guard Bryonna Davis and center Madison Williams, a 6-7 former Detroit Country Day star.
Keane, one of the team captains, said she expects to challenge defending champion Ohio State for the Big Ten title and make the NCAA tournament.
“We’re a different kind of team than the last two years, but just as talented and capable, I think, of doing even more,” she said.
Pickrel, who is running with the second team behind Keane in early practice sessions, just wants to play.
“I feel pretty comfortable with playing different spots,” she said. “There’s a big difference from high school. The girls are way quicker, but I feel I can adjust.”
Merchant said Pickrel will see the floor.
“I see her being able to run in transition,” she said. “We are playing her in the four-spot right now, at 6-3 or 6-4, she is a face-up four a little like Kalisha. We see her being able to get to the rim pretty quick, and hopefully open up our transition game. Annalise, I think, is one that fits our up-tempo and transition style.”
Pickrel, who averaged 14 points and 13 rebounds while leading Catholic Central to a Class B state title last year, said early practices have gone well.
“We want to pick up the tempo, so we’re doing everything at a dead sprint,” she said. “I like it. I feel it’s going to be a great year.”
E-mail Greg Johnson: gjohnson@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/gregjohnsongrp