Thursday, December 30
East Lansing, Mich.
3 PM
Michigan State University
72
vs
69
Nebraska
Short-Handed Spartan Women Stop Undefeated Nebraska, 72-69
12/30/2021 7:04:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Senior guard Nia Clouden continues her torrid streak with 32 points.
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Playing short-handed, the Michigan State women's basketball teams handed Nebraska its first loss of the season 72-69 Thursday afternoon at the Breslin Center.
Playing without junior guard Moira Joiner, freshman guard DeeDee Hagemann and senior guard Laurel Jacqmain, the Spartans were forced to use a bigger lineup. All five MSU starters played at least 29 minutes with freshman guard/forward Matilda Ekh leading the way with 39 minutes.
The Spartans snapped a two-game losing streak to improve to 8-6 overall and 2-1 in Big Ten play. After suffering their first loss of the season, the Cornhuskers stand 12-1 overall and 1-1 in league action. Nebraska was one of only five unbeaten teams remaining in NCAA DI women's basketball.
With a game-high 32 points, senior guard Nia Clouden moves to No. 7 all-time in Spartan career scoring with 1,596 points, passing Maxann Reese (1996-00) with 1,589 points and Kris Emerson (1983-87) with 1,590 points. Junior forward Taiyier Parks earned her second double-double of the season with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, as MSU won the battle of the boards 45-38. Freshman guard/forward Matilda Ekh added 12 points, while senior forward Alisia Smith scored 10.
Michigan State jumped out to an early 11-4 lead after the Huskers started the game 1-for-7 from the field. At the first media timeout, all the Spartan offense came from Clouden and Smith, as MSU had a 13-9 advantage. Behind Clouden's 10 first-quarter points, MSU took the 20-16 lead into the second quarter.
The Huskers scored the first six points of the second quarter to take a 22-20 lead, before an old-fashioned three by Clouden put the Spartans back on top. Michigan State used an aggressive 12-0 run to jump out 35-24 after a Jayla James bucket, as the Huskers continued to struggle from the field. MSU out-scored Nebraska, 17-10 in the period taking a 37-26 lead into the locker room. Clouden 19 points in the first half, while Nebraska was led by six points by Ashley Scoggin.
Nebraska came out hot in the second half using a 7-0 run to make it a 39-33 lead with seven minutes left in the third quarter. The Spartans rebounded to re-take a 10-point lead 47-37, but Clouden was called four her fourth foul with 4:23 left in the period. Nebraska got as close three points after a Jaz Shelley 3-pointer, before MSU scored the final four of the period.
Despite never taking more than a seven-point lead, the Spartans did not trail in the fourth quarter. The Huskers out-scored Michigan State 21-17 in the final 10 minutes, but MSU was able to hit its free throws late to seal the big conference win. The Spartan scored six of their 17 points of the period from the charity stripe, including its six of its final eight.
Michigan State returns to the road to take on Northwestern on Monday, Jan. 3 at 8 p.m. ET.
Post-Game Notes vs. Nebraska
Playing without junior guard Moira Joiner, freshman guard DeeDee Hagemann and senior guard Laurel Jacqmain, the Spartans were forced to use a bigger lineup. All five MSU starters played at least 29 minutes with freshman guard/forward Matilda Ekh leading the way with 39 minutes.
The Spartans snapped a two-game losing streak to improve to 8-6 overall and 2-1 in Big Ten play. After suffering their first loss of the season, the Cornhuskers stand 12-1 overall and 1-1 in league action. Nebraska was one of only five unbeaten teams remaining in NCAA DI women's basketball.
With a game-high 32 points, senior guard Nia Clouden moves to No. 7 all-time in Spartan career scoring with 1,596 points, passing Maxann Reese (1996-00) with 1,589 points and Kris Emerson (1983-87) with 1,590 points. Junior forward Taiyier Parks earned her second double-double of the season with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, as MSU won the battle of the boards 45-38. Freshman guard/forward Matilda Ekh added 12 points, while senior forward Alisia Smith scored 10.
Michigan State jumped out to an early 11-4 lead after the Huskers started the game 1-for-7 from the field. At the first media timeout, all the Spartan offense came from Clouden and Smith, as MSU had a 13-9 advantage. Behind Clouden's 10 first-quarter points, MSU took the 20-16 lead into the second quarter.
The Huskers scored the first six points of the second quarter to take a 22-20 lead, before an old-fashioned three by Clouden put the Spartans back on top. Michigan State used an aggressive 12-0 run to jump out 35-24 after a Jayla James bucket, as the Huskers continued to struggle from the field. MSU out-scored Nebraska, 17-10 in the period taking a 37-26 lead into the locker room. Clouden 19 points in the first half, while Nebraska was led by six points by Ashley Scoggin.
Nebraska came out hot in the second half using a 7-0 run to make it a 39-33 lead with seven minutes left in the third quarter. The Spartans rebounded to re-take a 10-point lead 47-37, but Clouden was called four her fourth foul with 4:23 left in the period. Nebraska got as close three points after a Jaz Shelley 3-pointer, before MSU scored the final four of the period.
Despite never taking more than a seven-point lead, the Spartans did not trail in the fourth quarter. The Huskers out-scored Michigan State 21-17 in the final 10 minutes, but MSU was able to hit its free throws late to seal the big conference win. The Spartan scored six of their 17 points of the period from the charity stripe, including its six of its final eight.
Michigan State returns to the road to take on Northwestern on Monday, Jan. 3 at 8 p.m. ET.
Post-Game Notes vs. Nebraska
- Senior guard Nia Clouden recorded 15 free-throws, tying her career best and the all-time Michigan State record (tied with Aerial Powers). She also went 15-for-17 from the free throw line against Florida Gulf Coast on Dec. 21.
- With 32 points, Nia Clouden moves to No. 7 all-time in Spartan scoring with 1,596 points, passing Maxann Reese (1996-00) with 1,589 points and Kris Emerson (1983-87) with 1,590 points. She is now 53 points away from tying Allyssa DeHaan (2006-10), who scored 1,649 points during her MSU career.
- Clouden is also now No. 8 in all-time Spartan assists with 387, passing Eileen Shea (382) and Kim Archer (381).
- Clouden and Tori Jankoska are the only two players in Spartans ranked in the Top 10 in career points and assists.
- Michigan State's 72-69 victory over previously unbeaten Nebraska is the Spartans' first win over a team with an undefeated mark of 10-0 or better since a Dec. 21, 2009 win over St. Bonaventure (11-0), 67-59.
- Junior guard Jayla James played a career-high 20 minutes.
- Junior forward Taiyier Parks earned her second double-double of the season and fourth of her career with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
- Michigan State tied a season-low with two 3-pointers with both Matilda Ekh and Nia Clouden hitting one. The Spartans also had two against Florida Gulf Coast on Dec. 21.
- Clouden had her team-leading 14th double-figure scoring game, including her ninth 20+ point game.
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