EAST LANSING– Penn State, entered the Breslin Center on top of the world after a top ten victory over then No. 9 Ohio State, got nothing short of handled against No. 21 Michigan State as the Spartans achieved their fourth straight victory.
Here are the takeaways from a B1G home win as MSU looks to carry the momentum into a rivalry weekend.
Tate and Hallock Take Over
Senior guard Jocelyn Tate stole the momentum in the first half, and junior guard Theryn Hallock ran away with it in the second.
“I think Theryn has incredible breakaway speed and I think Jocelyn’s lateral speed is some of the best I’ve ever seen.” MSU head coach Robyn Fralick said. “We love speed, we love versatility, we love the ability to guard different positions and guard in space, and they both can do that.”
Tate earned the hot start and put MSU in control by putting up 10 points in the first 10 minutes. She finished with 15 points while making a great two-way impact and all-around performance. Finishing with five boards, five assists, three steals, and a block.
“The motor, the energy, the deflections, her [Tate] ability to guard so many different players and so many different spaces,” Fralick said. “She had a nose for the ball, she did a good job getting deflections, finished well, so really an overall complete offensive and defensive game.”
To keep her motor running, Tate finds an interesting motivation that keeps her playing moving every second she hits the floor.
“I sleep good every night, just know that, I have the best sleep ever” Tate said. “My goal is to wear myself out so I can have the best night sleep.”
That left Hallock with put away duty as she put up 13 of her 17 points in the final 20 minutes. For the second straight game, Hallock finished as MSU’s leading scorer; accomplished through a 53.8% shooting clip from the field.
“Just next play mentality, been a very big working point for me, I think last year I got in my head too much,” Hallock said. “I’m in the gym working so I know my shots gonna fall eventually.”
Inside-Outside Pressure
Everything, everywhere, all at once was the story for MSU on both ends of the floor. In what was supposed to be a battle inside between the Spartan frontcourt and PSU sophomore center Gracie Merkle, MSU came out the aggressor and never looked back.
The Spartans shredded Merkle on the offensive block and she never got the help she needed. MSU put up 38 points in the paint which outscored the Nittany Lion’s output by 18, Merkle meanwhile was held to four on the night.
“With Merkle she’s just a big body, she’s a big girl, we obviously have some height but don’t have anyone who’s taller than 6 ‘4’,” Hallock said. “I think our posts did a really good job, and we doubled her a little bit and she got frustrated.”
While PSU found a lot of daylight in sophomore guard Moriah Murray, who caught fire by going 8-12 from three and finishing with 24 points, MSU answered once again. As a unit, the Spartans shot 48.1% from three and went 6-8 from distance in the third.
“So much of shooting though is shot quality, so the better the shot quality the better you shoot the ball,” Fralick said. “I thought our shot quality was in a good spot and then we were able to finish.”
13 made threes in the game ties a season high and is the most in Big Ten play. Graduate guard Julia Ayrault, Tate, and Hallock each hit three shots from beyond the arc while freshman center Ines Sotelo found range by going 2-2.
“They’ve [coaches, teammates] just been helping me stick with it, I think I got a little bit discouraged a couple times but then my teammates are also encouraging me,” Tate said. “I think it helps me on the floor be confident shooting it.”
The Spartans were able to find success inside and from deep by being well spaced and spreading the ball around. MSU finished with 23 assists, a plus seven margin over PSU in this category. Going to work inside opened shots from the perimeter, and the Spartans found heat and put pressure on both spots.
“We didn’t always necessarily know what they were in, if they were in man, if they were in zone,” Fralick said. “But we felt like if we could keep it simple and really focus on ball movement and spacing we could get some good shots.”
Rushing PSU, Forcing Mistakes
For a team that has the highest turnover rate in the Big Ten going up against an MSU squad ranking eighth in turnovers forced nationally, ball control was a huge priority for the Lady Lions. However, they were ravaged by a hungry and active MSU defense.
While the Spartans derailing opposing offenses is par for the course, they completely snuffed out any PSU rhythm at an alarming rate. The Lady Lions were pressed on every inbound and ball movement up the floor.
“I just thought our kids did a good job of pressuring them in a way that could help us,” Fralick said. “It takes five to do that, and then even if they broke it I thought we did a good job getting matched up and guarding in the half court.”
In the first half alone, PSU gave the ball up 18 times and finished with 26 turnovers. 14 of those were MSU steals as the Spartans turned the TO’s into 30 points and 21 on the fast break. While MSU dominated in other facets, this may have been the area that took PSU out of it early.
“We just know who we have to go up to that can’t dribble as much as their starting point guard, so we try to target the people and we try to get our traps early,” Hallock said. “We have a really good rotation and I think Jocelyn, Jaddan [Simmons], Nyla [Hampton], and the people that are up there, Ines, are doing a really good job of getting the deflection and I’m ready to go.”
For their next challenge, MSU will head down the road to take on No. 24 Michigan in a ranked collision that has a little extra juice.
“Practice is different, the weight room is different, locker room talk is different,” Hallock said. “We’re just excited because obviously the rivalry game is so much fun to be in, but we want to get the wins obviously, so we just gotta do a little bit extra this week.”
The Spartans and Wolverines will tip-off from Ann Arbor Saturday at noon, with the broadcast available on Big Ten Network.