EAST LANSING – Once Michigan State women’s basketball hit a four-point lead, it left Northwestern in the dust leading the Spartans to another Big Ten win, 91-72, and pushing them to 3-3 in conference play.
“I think winning in the Big Ten is always a challenge and I loved our start to the game,” MSU head coach Robyn Fralick said. “I really thought we set the tone for the game.”
The first half featured the Spartans doing what they do best, racking up points and forcing turnovers. The Wildcats turned the ball over 11 times and gave away 17 points off those turnovers.
In the last seconds of the second quarter, junior forward Jocelyn Tate was charged with a technical foul. While the referees reviewed the play, Tate danced with her teammates to get the team energy going.
“Something that stands out about Jocelyn is when she plays, she’s all over the court,” Fralick said. “She always impacts winning, and I think she impacts winning because she’s got a motor and really she’s super highly engaged in the game.”
Stoppages were the story of the third quarter. There were eight personal fouls between the two teams. Graduate guard Julia Ayrault was in foul trouble with four and her co-captain graduate guard Mo Joiner had three.
MSU outlasted Northwestern in the fourth quarter and clinched its fourth straight win over the Wildcats with good ball movement and strong defense. The Spartans had 26 assists and 34 rebounds.
“We create a lot of offense through ball movement,” Fralick said. “We create a lot of offense through player movement and we’ve got an unselfish team.”
Junior guard DeeDee Hagemann and sophomore guard Abbey Kimball made their presence known after flying under the radar the past few games. Hagemann sunk a three from behind the arc, while Kimball was shooting at 47% for the game.
“She’s always creating space because she’s a threat to be able to score from so many different spots on the court,” Fralick said about Kimball. “She’s solid. She takes good care of the ball and it was good to see tonight.”
Up next, MSU will head back on the road to take on Minnesota on Jan. 20 at 3 p.m. ET.
