Nia Clouden named First-Team All-Big Ten, DeeDee Hagemann and Matilda Ekh earn All-Freshman honors

Michigan State Spartans senior guard Nia Clouden was named first-team All-Big Ten today by both coaches and media, earning unanimous honors from the coaches. She becomes just the seventh women’s basketball player at MSU to earn All-Big Ten accolades all four years in East Lansing.

Clouden, ended the regular season ranked fifth in the Big Ten in scoring, averaging 20.4 points per game. Her 88.8 free throw percentage is first in the Big Ten. Clouden’s 4.0 assists per game is also good for ninth in the league and she ranks ninth in field goal percentage, hitting 43.4 percent from the field. Most impressively, the senior averaged 40.8 percent from three-point range this season.

Hailing from the northern Baltimore suburb, Owings Mills, in Maryland, Clouden has captured All-Big Ten honors for the fourth-straight season after earning honorable mention as a freshman. Clouden earned second-team honors as a sophomore and first-team accolades as a junior to mark four-straight years in East Lansing earning All-Big Ten honors.

Freshman guard/forward Matilda Ekh and freshman point guard DeeDee Hagemann both earned All-Big Ten Freshman team and All-Big Ten honorable mention honors.

Ekh hails from Vasteras, Sweden, and averaged 11.5 points per game. She currently ranks third in the Spartan freshman record book with 62 made three-pointers, and her 39.2 three-point field goal percentage is good for eighth in the Big Ten. She made a career-high six field goals on 10 attempts against Northwestern on Jan. 16.

Detroit, Michigan native Hagemann finished the regular season averaging 7.9 points per game. Her 135 assists ranks third by a freshman at Michigan State. Hagemann’s 5.4 assists per game is fourth-best in the conference. She also holds a 1.8 assist/turnover ratio, good for 10th in the Big Ten. Hagemann had a career-high 10 assists at Oakland on Nov. 26 and a career-high 15 points against Marshall on Nov. 28. Against Michigan on Feb. 24, she hit a career-high five field goals.

The freshman duo of Ekh and Hagemann is the first at MSU since the 2007-2008 season that has had two Spartans named to the All-Freshman team. Clouden was also on the All-Freshman squad in 2018-2019 season, becoming the the first Spartan to be named to the All-Freshman team since Aerial Powers earned the honors for the 2013-2014 season.

Senior forward Alisia Smith was named Michigan State’s Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree.

Michigan State earned the No. 8 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and will face No. 9-seeded Purdue in the second round. The game is scheduled for Thursday, March 3 at 11:30 a.m. at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.