Cooks’ Career-High Helps No. 23 Spartans Ground No. 18 Gophers, 86-68

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Sophomore forward Sidney Cooks scored a career-high 21 points as the No. 23 Michigan State women's basketball team stopped No. 18 Minnesota, 86-68 at the Breslin Center on Wednesday night. The win was the Spartans' third win over a ranked team this season.

Michigan State used a combination of tying a season-high 28 assists and a season-low eight turnovers in the win. The Spartans improve to 12-3 this season and snapped a two-game losing streak. MSU is now also 2-2 in league play. Minnesota falls to 12-3 overall and 1-3 in the Big Ten.

The Spartans had four in double figures for the second-straight game led by Cooks career high. She also added three blocks and three rebounds. Freshman guard Nia Clouden scored 15 points to go along with a season-tying six rebounds and five assists. Senior center Jenna Allen added 13 points and tied her career high with six assists, while redshirt-junior guard Shay Colley contributed 12 points and six assists.

Minnesota was led by 20 points from Kenisha Bell, while Destiny Pitts added 15 points.

Michigan State got off to a fast start on the defensive end, forcing three early Gopher turnovers. Junior guard Taryn McCutcheon's first trey of the game gave the Spartans the early 9-5 lead midway through the first quarter. Back-to-back buckets from Allen increased the MSU advantage to 15-7 with 2:36 left in the quarter as the Spartan defense continued to shine. The quarter ended with a pair of runs as MSU went on an 8-0 run to take a 10-point lead, 17-7. The Gophers closed the quarter with a 7-0 run to only trail 19-16.

In the second quarter, Michigan State got the lead back to double figures at 31-21 after a Cook layup with 5:06 on the clock. Colley took control in the final 30 seconds of the half. After a missed shot she earned an offensive rebound that led to a basket by junior forward Nia Hollie. Colley then fought for a steal on the in-bound pass and converted the old-fashioned 3-point play. The Spartans took a 14-point lead into the locker room, 43-29.

The third quarter was a battle with both teams catching fire on the offensive end. Clouden converted a 3-point play with 3:28 left in the stanza to take a 62-45 lead. Minnesota out-scored Michigan State, 27-24, in the period, but MSU was able hold on to a 67-56 lead.

With 7:15 left in the fourth quarter, Michigan State went on a 7-0 run to jump out to a 77-59 lead. The Spartans out-scored the Gophers 10-3 in the first three minutes. After a Cooks jumper, MSU took its first 20-point lead of the game at 79-59. The run expanded to 11-0 as Minnesota went over five minutes without scoring. In the final minutes, MSU was able to get the bench some playing time as all 13 players that dressed got into the game.

After a brief one-game homestand, the Spartans return to the road to take on Ohio State in Columbus on Monday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

Post-Game Notes vs. Minnesota
• Wednesday's win over No. 18 Minnesota was Michigan State's third home win over a ranked team, joining No. 3 Oregon (88-82 on Dec. 9) and No. 16 Iowa (84-70 on Dec. 30), marking the first time since the 2013-14 season that the Spartans have defeated three ranked teams at the Breslin Center . . . in 2013-14, MSU beat No. 23 Dayton, No. 16 Nebraska and No. 19 Purdue.

• Overall, it was the second-straight season and fourth in last six seasons that the Spartans have defeated three or more ranked teams in the same season . . . last year, MSU beat No. 22 South Florida (neutral), No. 11 Maryland (away) and No. 21 Michigan (home) . . . in 2015-16, the Spartans topped No. 16 Northwestern (home), No. 5 Ohio State (home) and No. 9 Ohio State (neutral).

• The Spartans are now 3-1 this season against ranked opponents, improving to 22-15 overall at home vs. ranked foes under head coach Suzy Merchant.

• The Spartans are now 9-0 this season at home this season and have a 12-game home winning streak dating back to last year.

• Sophomore forward Sidney Cooks netted a career-high 21 points, for her first career 20-point outing of her career . . . it was her second-straight game in double-digits as part of her seventh double-figure scoring outing of the season and 23rd of her career.

• Cooks also had a game-high three blocks Wednesday, her second-straight game with three or more blocks and fourth time this season with multiple rejections.

• MSU's five blocks as a team marked the third-straight game with five or more rejections and the sixth time overall this season.

• The Spartans dished out a season-high tying 28 assists, matching 28 helpers from Florida Atlantic (Dec. 20) . . . Michigan State is now 8-0 this season when posting 21 or more assists and the Spartans are 12-0 when logging more helpers than the opponent.

• Michigan State's eight turnovers were a season-low, marking the first time this season in single-digits . . . the Spartan starters only combined for two miscues on the night.

• Wednesday's MSU starting lineup of Shay Colley, Taryn McCutcheon, Victoria Gaines, Nia Clouden and Jenna Allen was the eighth time with that starting five, improving to 6-2 this season with that quintet.

• Four Spartans scored in double-digits Wednesday in Cooks with 21 points, freshman guard Nia Clouden with 15 points, senior center Jenna Allen's 13 points and junior guard Shay Colley with 12 points . . . it marked the seventh time that four scored in double-digits, as MSU is 5-2 when doing so.

• Clouden posted double-figures for the second-consecutive game and the fourth in last five as part of the 11th time this season . . . she also tied her career-high with six rebounds, matching six at Oakland (Dec. 5) . . . Clouden also dished out five assists for her seventh game this season with five or more helpers.

• Allen's double-digit scoring outing was also her second in a row and fourth in last five games as part of 11th of the season nd 37th of her career . . . she also had a team-leading seven rebounds, marking the eighth game this season that she has topped or shared the team rebounding lead and MSU is now 8-0 when she does so . . . Allen also shared the team lead with six assists, which tied a career-high but new career-high in a home game, as she matched the six helpers from game at Hartford (Dec. 16).

• Colley's 12 points was her sixth double-figure outing of the season and 20th of her career . . . Colley tied for the top team honor with six assists, her third game this season with six or more helpers.

• Junior guard Taryn McCutcheon netted two 3-pointers Wednesday 11th game this season with multiple treys

• Redshirt-freshman guard Claire Hendrickson matched a season-high with two 3-points to tie her season-high of six points for the third time this season.

• The Spartans' 86 points were its highest in Big Ten action this season and the third-straight win when scoring 80+ points as part of the ninth time this season in scoring 80 or more points.

• MSU topped the 70-point plateau for the 13th time in the 15 games this season, snapping MSU's streak of two games below the 70-point mark . . . MSU has won 131 of its last 145 games when scoring at least 70 points and the Spartans are 148-21 under Coach Merchant when hanging 70 or more points on the scoreboard.

• Michigan State is 12-1 this season when having a lead with 5:00 left in the game, and the Spartans have won 185 of their last 196 games when leading with five minutes left, including 135 of the last 148 games . . . in Coach Merchant's tenure, MSU is 220-17 when holding a lead with five minutes to go.

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Team Stats

Sidney Cooks

Nia Clouden

Jenna Allen

Shay Colley

Players Mentioned

Jenna Allen

Nia Clouden

Shay Colley

Sidney Cooks

Victoria Gaines

Claire Hendrickson

Nia Hollie

Taryn McCutcheon