Michigan State University
10-8,4-3Big Ten
Minnesota
9-11,2-6Big Ten
Clouden and Ekh Lift MSU Past Minnesota Sunday
1/23/2022 6:10:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Nia Clouden and Matilda Ekh combine for 48 points.
Michigan State head coach Suzy Merchant returned to the bench after missing the Northwestern game on Jan. 16 due to COVID-19 protocols.
The Spartans have won two-straight games to improve to 10-8 this season and 4-3 in Big Ten play, while Minnesota falls to 9-11 overall and 2-6 in league contests.
MSU had three players in double figures led by Clouden who scored 25 points to go along with five assists, five rebounds and two steals. Freshman guard/forward Matilda Ekh had her third 20+ game with 23 points and a career high six assists. Junior forward Taiyier Parks scored in double figures for the fifth-straight game with 11 points and two blocks. Senior forward Alisia Smith and graduate forward Tamara Farquhar were both in double figures in rebounds with 10 and 11 boards, respectively.
The Golden Gophers were led by a game-high 31 points from Sarah Scalia.
Both teams struggled early on with the Gophers taking an early 11-8 lead after a Deja Winters 3-pointer. Michigan State went nearly three minutes without scoring, before Parks hit back-to-back baskets to give the Spartans the 12-11 advantage. Minnesota responded with a 6-0 run of their own with two of their five treys in the quarter.
Minnesota jumped out to its biggest lead of the game with a 23-16 lead early in the second quarter after Scalia scored her 12th point of the game. The Gophers held the lead all of the second period as MSU's offensive struggles continued. Ekh gave the Spartans a big left with a long-range 3-pointer that beat the half time buzzer. This is the second-straight game that she provided the drama with a trey at the buzzer against Northwestern on Jan. 16. Despite shooting only 31 percent in the first half, the Spartans only trailed 34-30.
MSU's offense was stronger in the second half. A 3-pointer by Clouden with just under nine minutes left in the third quarter tied the game at 36-36. The Gophers used a 7-0 run to re-establish a 45-38 lead with 5:33 remaining in the period. Despite Scalia continuing to have the hot hand, the Spartans tied the game with under a minute left after a Parks layup. With 10 minutes left in the game, Minnesota led 54-52. Twenty of MSU's 22 points came from the combination of Parks, Ekh and Clouden.
Clouden the Spartans' first eight points of the fourth quarter to put MSU up 60-55. Minnesota bounced back with an 8-0 run to re-take the lead 63-62. Once the Spartans took 64-63 lead after a pair of Clouden free throws at the 5:07 mark, MSU would not relinquish the lead. With 1:07 left, the Gophers tied the game with a Scalia jumper, but the Spartans made their free throws down the stretch to earn the win. MSU went 10-for-14 from the charity stripe in the period.
Michigan State will now hit the road for a pair of games next week. The Spartans will take on Penn State on Thursday, Jan. 27 at 8 p.m. on the Big Ten Network. MSU will conclude the road trip on Sunday, Jan. 30 at Rutgers at 2 p.m. on Big Ten Plus.
Post-Game Notes vs. Minnesota
• Michigan State's starting line-up of senior guard Nia Clouden, freshman guard DeeDee Hagemann, graduate forward Tamara Farquhar, freshman guard/forward Matilda Ekh and senior forward Alisia Smith was the Spartans' sixth game this season with that starting five as part of MSU's fourth different starting line-up.
• MSU's 74 points was its most in a home game since 75 points vs. Illinois on Dec. 9, yet the Spartans improved to 9-3 this season when scoring 70 points ... the Green & White have won 166 of their last 194 (.856) when scoring at least 70 points, and the Spartans are 186-36 (.838) under head coach Suzy Merchant when hanging at least 70 points on the scoreboard.
• Michigan State overcame a 34-30 halftime deficit, marking the third time that the Spartans rallied for the win in the eight games when trailing at the half.
• MSU held a slim 64-63 lead with 5:00 to play, improving to 9-1 this season when leading with five minutes left ... the Spartans have won 232 of their last 244 (.951) when leading with five to play, including 182 of their last 196 ... in Coach Merchant's tenure, Michigan State is 267-20 (.930) when holding a lead with five minutes remaining.
• The Spartans improved to 8-0 this season when dishing out 20 or more assists, and Sunday was the second-straight game with 20+ helpers after 20 last time out vs. Northwestern (1/16/22).
• Senior guard Nia Clouden netted 25 points and freshman guard/forward Matilda Ekh tallied 23, marking the second time this season that MSU had two players with 20+ points, last doing so at Ohio State (1/12/22) when Ekh recorded 27 points and Clouden scored 21.
• With 20 points in the first half alone to finish with 25 points Sunday, Clouden posted her second 20-point game in the last three games, as part of five times in the last seven contests ... overall, it is Clouden's 11th 20-point outing of the season and 29th of her career ... it was also 17th double-digit game of the season for Clouden and 88th of her career.
• Clouden was 11-of-12 at the free throw line Sunday, marking her sixth game this season with double-digit free throw makes, and the 11 makes is tied for her second-most behind season-high 15 done twice (in a span of three games, vs. FGCU, 12/20/21; vs. Nebraska, 12/30/21) and matching 11 vs. Notre Dame (12/2/21).
• The 25 points by Clouden gives her 1,668 career points, tying her for No. 5 spot on MSU's career scoring list, matching Kisha Kelley (1991-95) with 1,668 points, and surpassing Alyssa DeHaan (2006-10) at No. 6 with 1,649 points.
• Ekh's 23 points was her second 20-point outing in the last three games, and second-highest of the season behind her career-high 27 points at Ohio State (1/12/22) ... it was Ekh's third total 20-point game this season, also netting 20 vs. Illinois (12/9/21) ... Ekh is now also tied for the most 20+ points games by a Spartan freshman since Clouden had three 20-point outings in 2018-19.
• Sunday was Ekh's third-straight double-digit game in a row and fourth in the last fifth game ... overall, Sunday was Ekh's 11th double-figure scoring game this season.
• Ekh also dished out a career-high six assists, topping her previous high of four, done twice in previous two games, at Ohio State (1/12/22) and vs. Northwestern (1/16/22) ... the six helpers was her third game in a row and sixth overall of the season with three or more assists.
• Additionally, Ekh swatted a career-high three shots, posting her first game with multiple blocks this season, after having one block in five different prior games.
• With 23 points Sunday, Ekh now has 218 points this season, needing just 48 more points to crack MSU's single-season scoring by a freshman Top 15 list, as the No. 15 spot is currently at 266 points by Bella Engen (1994-95) ... with a team-high five 3-pointers Sunday, Ekh now has 40 on the season, cracking into the Top 5 list for treys by a Spartan freshman, topping teammate Moira Joiner with 39 triples in the 2020-21 season for the No. 5 spot, and needing just one more to match Maxann Reese (1996-97) with 41 treys ... Ekh's five triples also moves her to 43.5 percent (40-of-92) for the season, currently good for the No. 2 spot on the freshman 3-point percentage list, just ahead of Joiner's .386 (30-of-101) in 2020-21, and behind the record holder Lindsay Bowen (2002-03) at .464 (77-of-166).
• Graduate forward Tamara Farquhar's game-high 11 rebounds and senior forward Alisia Smith added 10 rebounds, marking the second time this season that two Spartans had 10 or more rebounds, joining Florida Gulf Coast (12/20/21) when Farquhar had 16 boards and junior forward Taiyier Parks had 13 rebounds.
• Farquhar's 11 rebounds was her third double-digit rebounding outing in the last four games as part of her sixth overall this season.
• Smith's 10 boards was a new MSU career-high for the senior forward, topping seven boards, that she had done twice this season, last doing so vs. Nebraska (12/30/21) ... overall, it was Smith's ninth career double-digit rebounding outing, as she had a career-high 14 boards in a game vs. Jacksonville (12/2/18) during her time at Penn State, part of five double-digit outings in the 2018-19 season and three in the 2019-20 season.
