Dominating Third Quarter Lifts No. 17/21 Spartan Women Past EMU

East Lansing, Mich. - No. 17/21 Michigan State women's basketball used an explosive 32-point third quarter to pull away from Eastern Michigan and earn an 85-50 win in its season opener at the Breslin Center on Tuesday. MSU head coach Suzy Merchant improved to 4-0 against her former squad, as Merchant was the head coach of the Eagles from 1998-2007.

The Spartans have won five-straight season openers and seven of their last eight.

Michigan State had four players in double figures led by a game-high 23 points from sophomore guard Nia Clouden, who was just four points shy of her career high of 27 against Iowa last season. In her Spartan debut, freshman guard Alyza Winston added 14 points, while sophomore guard Tory Ozment and senior guard Taryn McCutcheon both added 10 points. Senior guard Shay Colley led the Spartans on the boards with eight. Twelve different Spartans scored in the season opener.

Eastern Michigan scored the first five points of the game, but a bucket by senior forward Nia Hollie gave the Spartans their first points of the season. MSU missed its first eight shots before getting on the board. Clouden led Michigan State with five points in the first quarter, but the Eagles led after one period, 13-9.

In the second period, the Eagles took as big a lead as nine points. Midway-through the period, the Spartan drained back-to-back 3-pointers by Clouden and Ozment to trim the deficit to three points, 23-20. An 11-0 run gave the Spartans their first lead of the game, 25-23. MSU took as big a lead as six points, but EMU scored the final four, as the Spartans took a 31-29 lead into the locker room. Clouden dominated in the first half, leading all scorers with 16 points.

Michigan State scored the first 28 points of the second half, highlighted by back-to-back treys by McCutcheon to open up a 59-29 lead. McCutcheon scored 10 points in the first four minutes of the third quarter. Freshmen Alyza Winston and Moira Joiner joined in on the fun netting their first 3-pointers of their MSU careers. During the game-changing quarter, the Eagles were 0-14 from the field, sinking three free throws. The Spartans were 11-of-18 from the field and 4-of-5 from long distance. Both McCutcheon and Winston scored 10 points in the period.

The three points were the fewest allowed in the third quarter by Michigan State. The previous low was five against Charleston on Nov. 19, 2017.

In the final stanza, redshirt-junior guard Laurel Jacqmain and freshman center Cydni Dodd added their first points of the season. Michigan State dominated the boards in the final 10 minutes, 14-8, with 10 different players grabbing a board. With a Dodd free throw with 36 second left, MSU took its biggest lead of the game with a 36-point advantage.

The Spartans will conclude its brief two-game homestand against another Great Lakes state team when they host Detroit Mercy on Friday, Nov. 8.

Post-Game Notes vs. Eastern Michigan

• Michigan State head coach Suzy Merchant was facing her former team for the fourth time at the helm of the Spartans, as Merchant was head coach at EMU from 1998-2007 ... Merchant improved to 4-0 vs. EMU, as Tuesday's game was the first meeting since the 2014-15 season-opener, won by MSU, 69-61.

• With MSU's win over EMU, the Spartans improved to 19-3 against the Eagles, having won the last five meetings ... Michigan State is also 12-1 vs. Eastern Michigan in East Lansing ... Tuesday's 85-50 scored was the third-most scored by the Spartans behind 92 (1994) and 88 (1983), but the most in East Lansing, as the 1994 and 1983 meetings were in Ypsilanti ... The 35-point margin of victory was the Spartans' second-largest in the series behind an 88-50 win in 1983 in Ypsilanti.

• Michigan State's 35-point win was the first time the Spartans have won by 30 or more points since Dec. 5, 2018, routing Oakland, 102-58.

• The Spartans won their season-opener for the fifth-straight season and the seventh time in last eight years ... Tuesday's 35-point margin of victory was also the fifth season-opener in a row winning by 30+ points.

• MSU has won 138 of its last 156 games when scoring at least 70 points, and MSU is 156-27 under head coach Suzy Merchant when hanging at least 70 points on the scoreboard.

• The Spartans have been extremely effective closing out games over the last couple years, winning 194 of their last 206 games (.942) when leading with five minutes left, including 144 of their last 158. In Coach Merchant's tenure, Michigan State is 229-18 (.927) when holding a lead with five minutes left.
• Four Spartans posted double-digits, led by sophomore guard Nia Clouden's game-best 23 points, followed by 14 points off the bench by freshman guard Alyza Winston in her Spartan debut ... senior guard Taryn McCutcheon and sophomore guard Tory Ozment netted 10 points apiece.

• Clouden's 23 points was shy of her career-best of 27 points ... she also matched her jersey number with her 24th career double-figure scoring game ... Clouden also netted a career-high three 3-pointers ... the sophomore guard also tied a career-best by swiping four steals, leading the way as the Spartans had 17 swipes in the game.

• Senior guard Shay Colley pulled down a game-high eight rebounds, leading MSU to a 49-38 rebounding advantage.

• Ozment netted three 3-pointers, one shy of her career-best and her fifth career game with multiple treys ... her three triples was part of the 11 3-pointers by MSU.

Players Mentioned

Nia Clouden

Shay Colley

Cydni Dodd

Nia Hollie

Laurel Jacqmain

Moira Joiner

Taryn McCutcheon

Tory Ozment

Alyza Winston