Friday, December 18
East Lansing, Mich.
5 PM ET
Michigan State University
5-0,2-0Big Ten
79
vs
70
Central Michigan
3-2,2-0MAC
1
2
3
4
F
Central Mich.
22
17
23
8
70
Michigan St.
20
20
20
19
79
Team Stats
CMU
MSU
FG%
.387
.482
3FG%
.395
.333
FT%
.700
.840
RB
34
36
TO
11
7
STL
6
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
19
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
7
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballFourth-Quarter Surge Helps Spartans Edge CMU, 79-70
12/18/2020 9:12:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Michigan State defense holds Central Michigan to only eight fourth-quarter points.
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State women's basketball used a 10-0 fourth-quarter run to pull away from a tenacious Central Michigan team, 79-70, Friday evening at the Breslin Center. The win helped MSU head coach Suzy Merchant defeat her alma mater for the second time during her Spartan career.
The Spartans remain undefeated, standing 5-0 overall for the first time since the 2013-14 season, when MSU began with an 8-0 mark. CMU falls to 3-2 with both losses coming against Big Ten opponents, after the Chippewas opened the season with a loss to Michigan.
For the third-straight game, junior guard Nia Clouden reached the 20-point mark, scoring 21 points to go along with six assists and three steals. Sophomore guard Alyza Winston continued her torrid scoring with 19 points. Sophomore forward Taiyier Parks also reached double figures with 11 points and six boards, while sophomore guard Julia Ayrault topped all players with a career-high 12 boards to go along with eight points.
Central Michigan was led by 26 points from Micaela Kelly, who went 6-for-12 from beyond the arc.
CMU started out strong using its sharp shooting from beyond the arc. The Chippewas took what was their biggest lead of the game at 8-2 after a pair of Jahan Smith free throws. Central Michigan led much of the first quarter, going 6-for-14 from beyond the arc in the first 10 minutes. The Spartans stayed close using balanced scoring as six different players added to the scoreboard.
The Spartans scored 10 of the first 13 points of the second quarter to take a 30-25 lead. Yet a trey by Anika Weekes put the Chippewas back on top, but that was short-lived after a response by Winston to make it 36-34, MSU with three minutes left in the half. The Spartans maintained control the rest of the half, leading 40-39 at the break.
In the third quarter, the Chippewas continued to do damage from beyond the arc, hitting six in the period. CMU used an inside-outside approach to take a 51-46 lead at the 6:22 mark. The teams exchanged leads several times throughout the period with the strong play of Kelly (11 points) and Winston (nine points) leading both teams, and the Chippewas had a 62-60 lead.
The Michigan State defense was solid in the fourth quarter, holding CMU to only eight points. The Spartans forced four turnovers led by two big steals by junior guard Tory Ozment. Parks made a layup at 5:54 to break a 65-65 tie, giving the Spartans the lead for good, and not only forcing a CMU timeout, but sparking a Spartan run that increased to 10-0 after an acrobatic jumper by Clouden, as the Spartans opened up their biggest lead of the night at 75-65 and hung on for the victory.
The Spartans have two remaining non-conference games, taking on Northern Illinois on Dec. 20 at 3 p.m., before closing out non-league action against Oakland on Dec. 22 at 12 p.m. Michigan State's game against Ohio State on Dec. 31 has been postponed due to the Buckeyes pausing basketball activities.
Post-Game Notes: Central Michigan
• MSU head coach Suzy Merchant is now 2-0 against her alma mater ... Merchant, a 1991 CMU grad, also faced the Chippewas in 2019 in the NCAA Tournament, played at Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., with MSU winning, 88-87 ... MSU legendary player and assistant coach Kristin Haynie was an assistant at CMU from 2014-17, and Friday night was her first time facing her old team.
• The Spartans improved to 5-0 with Friday's win, their first 5-0 start to a season since the 2012-13 season when MSU opened 8-0.
• MSU had a 24-to-7 assist-to-turnover ratio (3.43-to-1) Friday night, which was its highest assist-to-turnover ratio since a 28-to-8 (3.5-to-1) ratio vs. Minnesota on Jan. 9, 2019.
• The Spartans' seven turnovers Friday was a season-low, and the first time in single-digit miscues, as well as their fewest since five vs. Toledo on Feb. 19, 2018 in the WNIT.
• Michigan State's 24 assists were its third time topping the 20-helper mark in the five games this season, joining 25 in the season-opener vs. Saint Francis (Nov. 27) and 26 vs. Detroit Mercy (Dec. 2).
• MSU's starting line-up of redshirt-senior forward Mardrekia Cook, junior guard Nia Clouden, junior guard Tory Ozment, sophomore forward Julia Ayrault and sophomore guard Alyza Winston was the Spartans' second-straight game with that starting five.
• Ayrault and Winston both made their second starts of their career, after making their starting debuts last time out vs. Iowa ... meanwhile, Clouden made her 68th career start in playing in her 68th career game ... Cook made her 19th career start, in playing in her 90th career game, which leads all active Spartans ... Ozment started for the 17th time of her career in playing her 53rd game.
• Clouden netted her third-straight 20-point outing with a team-best 21 points Friday night after 25 points at Minnesota (Dec. 9) and vs. Iowa (Dec. 12) ... the junior guard now has 13 career 20-point games ... This was the first time that she has scored 20+ points in three-straight games having scored 20 points in two-straight games last season vs. Wisconsin on Jan. 12 and Ohio State on Jan. 16. Clouden has now posted double-figures in all five games this season as part of 16 games in a row dating back to last season
• Clouden now has 16-straight career games in double-digits dating back to last year, having posted double-figures in 32 of her last 35 games played, doing so in every game but three last season ... for her career, Clouden now has double-digits in 55 of her 68 games played.
• With 21 points Friday, Clouden now has 930 career points, closing in on the 1,000 career points milestone.
• Winston netted 19 points Friday for her fourth double-figure game in as many outings this season, as she missed the season-opener with an injury, and was her fifth double-digit scoring game of her career ... Winston netted two 3-pointers for her third multiple 3-pointer outing in the four games played.
• Friday was the third-straight game that Clouden and Winston combined for 40+ points, as the Spartan guard tandem has scored 45, 46 and 40 points in the last three games.
• Sophomore forward Taiyier Parks came off the bench to score 11 points, helping MSU to a dominating 23-5 bench-points advantage over CMU, as the Spartan reserves have out-scored their counterparts in all five games, and by double-figures in four of the five games ... Parks' 11 points was her third double-figure outing of the season and fifth of her career.
• Ayrault snared a career-high 12 rebounds, in helping MSU to a 36-34 rebounding edge, as the Spartans have out-rebounded the opposition in three of the five games ... Ayrault's 12 boards bettered her previous career-high of 11 vs. Morehead State (12/15/19) and was her third double-figure rebounding total.
• Six different players had at least two assists, led by Clouden's six helpers, as she has had six or more in three of the five games ... Ayrault added four helpers, tying her career-high for the third time this season, while junior guard Janai Crooms added a season-high four assists.
• The Spartans have topped the 70-point plateau in all five games this season ... the Green & White have won 151 of their last 170 games (.888) when scoring at least 70 points, and the Spartans are 169-28 (.858) under head coach Suzy Merchant when hanging at least 70 points on the scoreboard ... Michigan State is now 5-0 this season when reaching the 70-point mark.
• After holding a 69-65 lead with five minutes left Friday night, the Spartans have now won 214 of their last 227 games (.943) when leading with five minutes left, including 164 of their last 179. In Coach Merchant's tenure, Michigan State is 249-19 (.929) when holding a lead with five minutes left ... MSU improved to 5-0 this season when leading with five minutes remaining.
The Spartans remain undefeated, standing 5-0 overall for the first time since the 2013-14 season, when MSU began with an 8-0 mark. CMU falls to 3-2 with both losses coming against Big Ten opponents, after the Chippewas opened the season with a loss to Michigan.
For the third-straight game, junior guard Nia Clouden reached the 20-point mark, scoring 21 points to go along with six assists and three steals. Sophomore guard Alyza Winston continued her torrid scoring with 19 points. Sophomore forward Taiyier Parks also reached double figures with 11 points and six boards, while sophomore guard Julia Ayrault topped all players with a career-high 12 boards to go along with eight points.
Central Michigan was led by 26 points from Micaela Kelly, who went 6-for-12 from beyond the arc.
CMU started out strong using its sharp shooting from beyond the arc. The Chippewas took what was their biggest lead of the game at 8-2 after a pair of Jahan Smith free throws. Central Michigan led much of the first quarter, going 6-for-14 from beyond the arc in the first 10 minutes. The Spartans stayed close using balanced scoring as six different players added to the scoreboard.
The Spartans scored 10 of the first 13 points of the second quarter to take a 30-25 lead. Yet a trey by Anika Weekes put the Chippewas back on top, but that was short-lived after a response by Winston to make it 36-34, MSU with three minutes left in the half. The Spartans maintained control the rest of the half, leading 40-39 at the break.
In the third quarter, the Chippewas continued to do damage from beyond the arc, hitting six in the period. CMU used an inside-outside approach to take a 51-46 lead at the 6:22 mark. The teams exchanged leads several times throughout the period with the strong play of Kelly (11 points) and Winston (nine points) leading both teams, and the Chippewas had a 62-60 lead.
The Michigan State defense was solid in the fourth quarter, holding CMU to only eight points. The Spartans forced four turnovers led by two big steals by junior guard Tory Ozment. Parks made a layup at 5:54 to break a 65-65 tie, giving the Spartans the lead for good, and not only forcing a CMU timeout, but sparking a Spartan run that increased to 10-0 after an acrobatic jumper by Clouden, as the Spartans opened up their biggest lead of the night at 75-65 and hung on for the victory.
The Spartans have two remaining non-conference games, taking on Northern Illinois on Dec. 20 at 3 p.m., before closing out non-league action against Oakland on Dec. 22 at 12 p.m. Michigan State's game against Ohio State on Dec. 31 has been postponed due to the Buckeyes pausing basketball activities.
Post-Game Notes: Central Michigan
• MSU head coach Suzy Merchant is now 2-0 against her alma mater ... Merchant, a 1991 CMU grad, also faced the Chippewas in 2019 in the NCAA Tournament, played at Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., with MSU winning, 88-87 ... MSU legendary player and assistant coach Kristin Haynie was an assistant at CMU from 2014-17, and Friday night was her first time facing her old team.
• The Spartans improved to 5-0 with Friday's win, their first 5-0 start to a season since the 2012-13 season when MSU opened 8-0.
• MSU had a 24-to-7 assist-to-turnover ratio (3.43-to-1) Friday night, which was its highest assist-to-turnover ratio since a 28-to-8 (3.5-to-1) ratio vs. Minnesota on Jan. 9, 2019.
• The Spartans' seven turnovers Friday was a season-low, and the first time in single-digit miscues, as well as their fewest since five vs. Toledo on Feb. 19, 2018 in the WNIT.
• Michigan State's 24 assists were its third time topping the 20-helper mark in the five games this season, joining 25 in the season-opener vs. Saint Francis (Nov. 27) and 26 vs. Detroit Mercy (Dec. 2).
• MSU's starting line-up of redshirt-senior forward Mardrekia Cook, junior guard Nia Clouden, junior guard Tory Ozment, sophomore forward Julia Ayrault and sophomore guard Alyza Winston was the Spartans' second-straight game with that starting five.
• Ayrault and Winston both made their second starts of their career, after making their starting debuts last time out vs. Iowa ... meanwhile, Clouden made her 68th career start in playing in her 68th career game ... Cook made her 19th career start, in playing in her 90th career game, which leads all active Spartans ... Ozment started for the 17th time of her career in playing her 53rd game.
• Clouden netted her third-straight 20-point outing with a team-best 21 points Friday night after 25 points at Minnesota (Dec. 9) and vs. Iowa (Dec. 12) ... the junior guard now has 13 career 20-point games ... This was the first time that she has scored 20+ points in three-straight games having scored 20 points in two-straight games last season vs. Wisconsin on Jan. 12 and Ohio State on Jan. 16. Clouden has now posted double-figures in all five games this season as part of 16 games in a row dating back to last season
• Clouden now has 16-straight career games in double-digits dating back to last year, having posted double-figures in 32 of her last 35 games played, doing so in every game but three last season ... for her career, Clouden now has double-digits in 55 of her 68 games played.
• With 21 points Friday, Clouden now has 930 career points, closing in on the 1,000 career points milestone.
• Winston netted 19 points Friday for her fourth double-figure game in as many outings this season, as she missed the season-opener with an injury, and was her fifth double-digit scoring game of her career ... Winston netted two 3-pointers for her third multiple 3-pointer outing in the four games played.
• Friday was the third-straight game that Clouden and Winston combined for 40+ points, as the Spartan guard tandem has scored 45, 46 and 40 points in the last three games.
• Sophomore forward Taiyier Parks came off the bench to score 11 points, helping MSU to a dominating 23-5 bench-points advantage over CMU, as the Spartan reserves have out-scored their counterparts in all five games, and by double-figures in four of the five games ... Parks' 11 points was her third double-figure outing of the season and fifth of her career.
• Ayrault snared a career-high 12 rebounds, in helping MSU to a 36-34 rebounding edge, as the Spartans have out-rebounded the opposition in three of the five games ... Ayrault's 12 boards bettered her previous career-high of 11 vs. Morehead State (12/15/19) and was her third double-figure rebounding total.
• Six different players had at least two assists, led by Clouden's six helpers, as she has had six or more in three of the five games ... Ayrault added four helpers, tying her career-high for the third time this season, while junior guard Janai Crooms added a season-high four assists.
• The Spartans have topped the 70-point plateau in all five games this season ... the Green & White have won 151 of their last 170 games (.888) when scoring at least 70 points, and the Spartans are 169-28 (.858) under head coach Suzy Merchant when hanging at least 70 points on the scoreboard ... Michigan State is now 5-0 this season when reaching the 70-point mark.
• After holding a 69-65 lead with five minutes left Friday night, the Spartans have now won 214 of their last 227 games (.943) when leading with five minutes left, including 164 of their last 179. In Coach Merchant's tenure, Michigan State is 249-19 (.929) when holding a lead with five minutes left ... MSU improved to 5-0 this season when leading with five minutes remaining.
Robyn Fralick | Women's Basketball Selection Show Press Conference | March 16, 2025
Sunday, March 16
Robyn Fralick | Women's Basketball Press Conference | Mar. 04 2025
Tuesday, March 04
Michigan State Women's Basketball vs Minnosta | Cinematic Highlight
Sunday, March 02
Coach Fralick Post Game Comments | MINN | Mar. 1 2025
Saturday, March 01