Lady Spartans Get Revenge on No. 19 Purdue

The Spartans avenged themselves in their 89-73 win against No. 19 Purdue. Five of MSU’s players scored in double digits for the second straight game.

Junior Jasmine Hines came off of the bench and went 8-13 from the field. Hines had a season-high of 16 points and also added six rebounds.

“I obviously kind of had a little bit of a set back this year and I think mentally that it just kind of took a toll on me and I just was worrying about the wrong things,” Hines said.

“I just needed to realize that I just had to go out there and have fun and just play, and good things will happen.”

Redshirt freshman Aerial Powers recorded her sixth double-double with 19 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. Senior Klarissa Bell and freshman Tori Jankoska each contributed 15 points. Redshirt freshman Branndais Agee came off the bench and scored 10 points with a career-high three steals.

The game went back and forth in the first half. MSU trailed in the beginning of the half, but towards the end, the Spartans went on a 10-2 run to take the lead. The Spartans were up 39-35 with under 10 seconds to go in the half and then Purdue’s leading scorer KK Houser hit a three-pointer at the buzzer, cutting the MSU lead to one.

The Spartans controlled the second half. They began to pull away with 15:26 left in the game, going on a 14-4 run to put them up 55-44.

Purdue’s leading scorer, Houser, who scored 14 points in the first half, only scored three points in the second half before going down and exiting the floor with a knee injury. The score was 78-63 with 5:11 to go.

Purdue’s head coach Sharon Versyp said the sight in the locker room was not pretty that everyone was crying and praying for the last 30 minutes. It is 50/50 whether or not Houser tore her ACL. Versyp said she would worry about moving on without her later.

“Right now there’s too much emotion,” Versyp said. “She’s a fifth-year senior who’s played her heart out for Purdue and has led our team. I’m not even going there.”

MSU coach Suzy Merchant said that her team is getting better, but they play up and down.

“Really, like I said to the girls, you are only as good as the next one which means we have to move on already,” Merchant said.

“Unfortunately in this business, it is about that. So I like where we are at and I am happy that we won tonight.”

Merchant also said that her heart goes out to Sharon Versyp and the Purdue family in regards to Houser’s injury.

“I just want to say prayers for KK Houser and that situation, which doesn’t look good. She is a heck of a player who certainly means a lot to the Purdue Boilermakers,” Merchant said.

“I would like to let them know that the Michigan State Spartan family is thinking about them.”

MSU’s next game is on the road against Illinois. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.


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Sierra Williams is a multimedia journalist for Impact Sports.

Photo: Nubia Buckingham/Impact Sports