Underclassmen Guide Michigan State Past Nebraska In Overtime, 78-70

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Behind five players in double figures, Michigan State women's basketball captured its Big Ten home opener, 78-79, in overtime on New Year's Eve at the Breslin Center. MSU trailed by as many as 10 points in the third quarter, but chipped away at the deficit.

With the win, the Spartans snapped a three-game losing streak and improve to 8-5 this season and 1-1 in league contests. Nebraska had its six-game winning streak halted and falls to 11-2 overall and 1-1 in the Big Ten. With Tuesday's Big Ten home opener victory, Michigan State is now 25-13 in B1G home openers.

Sophomore guard Nia Clouden had a strong second half for MSU to lead the Spartans in scoring with 16 points, scoring 14 of her 16 in the second half. She also added seven assists and five rebounds. Senior guard Taryn McCutcheon added 15 points, including going 8-for-12 from the free throw line. Freshman guard Moira Joiner scored a career-high 13 points, while sophomores Kayla Belles and Tory Ozment both added 11.

Nebraska was led by a game-high 19 points from Sam Haiby, while Kate Cain had a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds.

Early on for MSU, the post players took advantage of their opportunities, scoring eight of MSU's first 10 points, as the Spartans took an early 10-6 lead. The Huskers then used an 10-0 run to take a 16-10 lead with under three minutes left in the first quarter. A Mardrekia Cook lay up stopped the run, but the period ended with Nebraska on top 20-12.

The Spartans came out strong in the period, scoring six of the first eight points of the quarter. Michigan State was able to chip away at the Husker lead getting the deficit down to four points. Turnovers and early foul troubles plagued the Spartans, as both Taiyier Parks and Belles were called for their second fouls in the first half.

A Cook layup and a McCutcheon jumper made it a two-point game 39-37 with under three minutes left in the third quarter. McCutcheon then drained her first trey of the game to make it a one-point game with 94 seconds left in the period.

In the fourth quarter, a 7-0 run by the Spartans, highlighted by a trey from Ozment cut the Husker lead to 51-49 with 5:58 left. The run extended to 10-0 after a Belles old-fashioned three as MSU took its first lead since the first quarter. After the Huskers took a three-point lead, Clouden ended a four-minute Spartan field goal drought with a 3-pointer to tie the game. With 2.2 seconds remaining, Ozment drained a pair of free throws to send the MSU to its first overtime game of the season.

Overtime belonged to Michigan State, as the Spartans jumped out to a 66-60 lead after a steal and a McCutcheon layup with 3:04 left in extra time. Down the stretch, Michigan State went 7-for-8 from the charity stripe to secure the victory. McCutcheon scored seven of her 15 points in overtime.

Michigan State returns to the road but remains in the state, traveling to in-state rival Michigan on Sunday, Jan. 5 at 12 p.m. on ESPN2.

Michigan State Notes vs. Nebraska

• With Tuesday's Big Ten home opener victory, Michigan State is now 25-13 in B1G home openers.

• MSU snapped a three-game losing skien both overall and the series with Nebraska, and cut the Cornhuskers lead in the series to 8-4, while MSU leads, 4-2, in games played in East Lansing.

• Michigan State topped the 70-point plateau for the first time in its last four games, last doing so in its last win, a 93-48 rout of Morehead State on Dec. 15 ... MSU is 7-0 this season when netting 70+ points ... the Green & White has won 144 of their last 162 games (.889) when scoring at least 70 points, and the Spartans are 162-27 (.857) under head coach Suzy Merchant when hanging at least 70 points on the scoreboard ..

• The Spartans had a palindromic 53-35 rebounding advantage ... it was MSU's seventh game this season with a double-digit rebounding advantage and the Spartans are 7-0 when having a bigger number in the rebounding column ... the +18 advantage was tied for the third-largest advantage of the season behind +27 (Detroit Mercy, 11/8/19), +21 (Morehead State, 12/15/19) and matching +18 (Hartford, 11/24/19).

• MSU had 22 offensive rebounds, it's second-highest output on the offensive glass of the season behind 23 offensive boards vs. both Detroit Mercy (11/8/19) and Oakland (11/19/19).

• The Spartans' offensive boards advantage led to a 22-5 second-chance points advantage, as MSU is now 8-1 when it has more second-chance points.

• Michigan State took its first lead of the game at 52-51, capping a 10-0 scoring run, with 5:07 left in regulation and still led by that score with 5:00 remaining ... the Spartans have won 201 of their last 214 games (.939) when leading with five minutes left, including 151 of their last 166 (.910) ... under head coach Suzy Merchant, MSU is now 236-19 (.925) when holding a lead with five minutes to play ... the Spartans are now 8-1 this season when leading with five to go, with the only loss coming at Florida State.

• Tuesday's starting lineup of senior guard Taryn McCutcheon, sophomore guard Nia Clouden, freshman guard Moria Joiner, senior forward Nia Hollie and freshman forward Taiyier Parks, was Michigan State's seventh different starting lineup of the season.

• MSU had five scorers in double-figures led by Clouden's 16 points, followed by McCutcheon with 15 points, Joiner's 13 points and 11 points from sophomore forwards Tory Ozment and Kayla Belles ... it was the first time five scored in double-figures also since the Spartans' last win, a 93-48 rout of Morehead State on Dec. 15 ... MSU is now 3-0 this season when five score double-digits.

• Tuesday was Michigan State's first OT game of the season ... it was the Spartans' first extra period game since a 74-66 OT win last season over Hartford on Dec. 16, 2018.

• Joiner's 13 points was both her first time in double-figures and her career-high, topping previous high of nine points vs. Detroit Mercy (11/8/19) ... Joiner also pulled down a career-best six rebounds, topping her previous high of five boards done twice.

• After reaching the 1,000 career points mark last game vs. Indiana, McCutcheon's 15 points Tuesday give her 1,024 career points ... McCutcheon moves up to No. 27 on MSU's career scoring list, passing Jill Prudden (1974-78) with 1,012 points, and just 10 points shy of No. 26 spot held by Brenda Jezowski (1980-85). McCutcheon also dished out four assists Tuesday, giving her 511 for her career ... she also swiped three steals, tying her second-highest of the season and third game with three or more steals as part of her seventh game with multiple swipes.

• Clouden led MSU in scoring for the team-best seventh time this season ... the 16 points was Clouden's 11th-straight double-figure scoring outing in the 13 games, and has tallied double-digits in 12 of the 13 contests.

• Clouden also dished out a game-high seven assists, her second-highest helper total of the season behind eight at Florida State (12/5/19) ... it was her fourth game with five or more assists.

• The 11 points by Belles was her fifth game in double-figures and just one point shy of her career high of 12 points ... Belles also snared eighth rebounds, her second-highest of the season behind career-best 11 boards vs. Hartford (11/24/19).

• MSU's 20 assists was its third game with 20+ helpers this season.

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Team Stats

Nia Clouden

Taryn McCutcheon

Moira Joiner

Tory Ozment

Players Mentioned

Kayla Belles

Nia Clouden

Mardrekia Cook

Nia Hollie

Moira Joiner

Taryn McCutcheon

Tory Ozment

Taiyier Parks