Fans of Moira Joiner, who led Heritage High to state Division I girls basketball championships in 2018 and ’19, will have at least one more chance to see her in action.
She is wrapping up her senior season at Michigan State University, which opens the Big Ten tourney against Nebraska at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 2, on cable’s Big Ten Network, Spectrum Channel 59.
Joiner has been a regular player in the rotation for her entire four years and a frequent starter. She is the same 5-foot-10 as in high school, and so she has developed into more of an outside player. With 121 career three-pointers, she is near the top in MSU women’s annals.
Three main challenges that Joiner has faced are:
- The pandemic outbreak three years ago that cut short both her freshman and sophomore seasons.
- A concussion last winter, midway through her junior year, that was so serious, her athletic future was in doubt.
- A recovery, with treatment by specialists and hard work in the gym, that has made her senior season the best of her four.
The Spartans enter the tourney with a 15-13 win-loss record. They were looking stronger until a string of close defeats in January. Their longtime coach is Suzy Merchant, who got started at Saginaw Valley State University. Past Michigan State connections include Saginaw High’s Nanette Gibson Davis during the 1970s and then Annette Babers during the 1980s, both now on permanent display at the downtown Castle Museum as Saginaw County Sports Hall of Famers. More recently, during the past decade, Freeland High’s Tori Jankowski became MSU’s leading career scorer.
Most recently, Moira, like all at Michigan State, has been coping with the fatal shooting spree that was engaged by an East Lansing resident who was not a student, but who carried out the attack on campus. At Saginaw Daily, we still hope to reach her for a postseason update on her future plans. Meanwhile, among her top moments as she closed her career was an old-fashioned three-point play, near the basket more like her Heritage days, that clinched an overtime victory. Click here to watch the play on YouTube.
