Michigan State University Athletics
Balanced Attack Leads MSU Past Penn State Thursday
1/27/2022 10:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Spartans have now won three-straight games.
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - With five players in double figures, the Michigan State women's basketball team used a balanced attack to capture a 79-58 win over Penn State Thursday night at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pennsylvania.
The Spartans have won three-straight games to improve to 11-8 this season and 5-3 in Big Ten action, while Penn State falls to 9-10 overall and 3-6 in league contests.
MSU improved to 3-0 this season with five or more in double figures this season, as the Spartans were led by 16 points from senior guard Nia Clouden, who also added five assists and five rebounds. Junior forward Taiyier Parks and freshman guard/forward Matilda Ekh both scored 15 points. Playing at her former school, senior forward Alisia Smith added 12 points and six boards in the win. This is her second-straight season reaching double figures in her return, scoring 13 points in MSU's 78-65 win last season.
The Spartans were dominate on the glass against the Lady Lions, 45-18.
Penn State was once again led by Mckenna Marisa who scored 19 points.
After a Leilani Kapinus free throw the Lady Lions jumped out to an early 9-4 lead. MSU used a 10-0 run to put the Spartans on top 14-9. After the slow start, MSU rebounded to take an 18-11 lead into the second quarter. In the first 10 minutes of action, neither team took bigger than a six-point advantage. The Spartans established the domination on the glass early on, leading after the first period 15-8.
MSU took its first 10-point lead after a beautiful put-back by Parks in the second quarter. The Lady Lions responded with a 6-0 run of their own. In a very physical first half, the Spartans used a 9-0 run to re-establish a 36-25 lead. Michigan State dominated the boards in the first half, 26-13, led by Farquhar's eight. Smith and Parks combined for 18 points.
In the third quarter, MSU held Penn State without a field goal for over three minutes. The Spartans out-scored the Lady Lions 23-14 in the period, highlighted by solid play by Ekh and Clouden. Both hit two 3-pointers in the period with Clouden scoring nine points in their quarter and Ekh adding 11. Penn State had only one board in the period.
While MSU took as big a lead as 18 points in the third period, Penn State wasn't done yet, scoring 10 of the first 14 points in the fourth quarter. The Lady Lions were able to trim the Spartan lead to 12 points after a pair of Marisa free throws with 4:31 remaining in the game. The Spartans put the game out of reach with strong fourth-quarter play by Hagemann and Parks, who both scored six points.
MSU will conclude the road trip on Sunday, Jan. 30 at Rutgers at 2 p.m. on Big Ten Plus.
Post-Game Notes vs. Penn State
The Spartans have won three-straight games to improve to 11-8 this season and 5-3 in Big Ten action, while Penn State falls to 9-10 overall and 3-6 in league contests.
MSU improved to 3-0 this season with five or more in double figures this season, as the Spartans were led by 16 points from senior guard Nia Clouden, who also added five assists and five rebounds. Junior forward Taiyier Parks and freshman guard/forward Matilda Ekh both scored 15 points. Playing at her former school, senior forward Alisia Smith added 12 points and six boards in the win. This is her second-straight season reaching double figures in her return, scoring 13 points in MSU's 78-65 win last season.
The Spartans were dominate on the glass against the Lady Lions, 45-18.
Penn State was once again led by Mckenna Marisa who scored 19 points.
After a Leilani Kapinus free throw the Lady Lions jumped out to an early 9-4 lead. MSU used a 10-0 run to put the Spartans on top 14-9. After the slow start, MSU rebounded to take an 18-11 lead into the second quarter. In the first 10 minutes of action, neither team took bigger than a six-point advantage. The Spartans established the domination on the glass early on, leading after the first period 15-8.
MSU took its first 10-point lead after a beautiful put-back by Parks in the second quarter. The Lady Lions responded with a 6-0 run of their own. In a very physical first half, the Spartans used a 9-0 run to re-establish a 36-25 lead. Michigan State dominated the boards in the first half, 26-13, led by Farquhar's eight. Smith and Parks combined for 18 points.
In the third quarter, MSU held Penn State without a field goal for over three minutes. The Spartans out-scored the Lady Lions 23-14 in the period, highlighted by solid play by Ekh and Clouden. Both hit two 3-pointers in the period with Clouden scoring nine points in their quarter and Ekh adding 11. Penn State had only one board in the period.
While MSU took as big a lead as 18 points in the third period, Penn State wasn't done yet, scoring 10 of the first 14 points in the fourth quarter. The Lady Lions were able to trim the Spartan lead to 12 points after a pair of Marisa free throws with 4:31 remaining in the game. The Spartans put the game out of reach with strong fourth-quarter play by Hagemann and Parks, who both scored six points.
MSU will conclude the road trip on Sunday, Jan. 30 at Rutgers at 2 p.m. on Big Ten Plus.
Post-Game Notes vs. Penn State
- Michigan State had a dominating 45-18 rebounding advantage ... MSU's +27 rebounding advantage was its highest of the season topping the previous season-high of +22 vs. Florida Gulf Coast (12/20/21) ... the 45 rebounds was the Spartans' fifth game with 40+ rebounds, including second in B1G play, and matching the 45 boards vs. Nebraska (12/30/21) for the most in the conference game this season ... MSU had 14 offensive rebounds Thursday night, nearly matching PSU's total rebounds of 16.
- The Spartans out-scored the Lady Lions in all four quarters Thursday (18-11 in 1st; 20-18 in 2nd; 23-14 in 3rd; 18-15 in 4th), marking the second game out of the last three contests that MSU out-scored the opposition in each of the four quarters, also doing so vs. Northwestern (1/16/22).
- Four Spartan starters and five total MSU players posted double-figures, led by a team-high 16 points by senior guard Nia Clouden's 16 points, with junior forward Taiyier Parks netting 15 points off the bench, matching by freshman starting guard/forward Matilda Ekh with 15, followed by freshman guard DeeDee Hagemann (13) and senior forward Alisia Smith (12).
- MSU has now beaten PSU in the last four meetings, matching the longest win streak by the Spartans in the overall series, matching a four-game win streak from 2010-12 ... after last year's 78-65 win at University Park (2/13/21), the Spartans have now won two in the row on the Lady Lions' home court for the first time since 2015-16 ... MSU has now won eight of the last 11 match-ups with PSU, as part of 13 of the last 19 and 18 of the last 24 in the series, with the Spartans cutting the Lady Lions' series lead to 30-23.
- The Spartans improved to 9-0 this season when dishing out 20 or more assists with 22 helpers Thursday at PSU ... it also marked MSU's third game in a row with 20+ assists after 20 vs. Northwestern (1/16/22) and 22 vs. Minnesota (1/23/22) ... the three-game streak is the Spartans' longest since opening the season with four-consecutive 20-helper outings.
- 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' seventh game this season with that starting five as part of MSU's fourth different starting line-up.
- The Spartans' 79 points was their second-highest in not just a B1G game, but also in a conference road game this season, behind 83 at Ohio State (1/12/22) in 89-83 loss ... MSU improved to 10-3 on the season when netting 70 points ... the Green & White have won 167 of their last 195 (.856) when scoring at least 70 points, and the Spartans are 187-36 (.839) under head coach Suzy Merchant when hanging at least 70 points on the scoreboard.
- Michigan State led Penn State, 65-51, with 5:00 remaining in the game, as the Spartans moved to 10-1 this season when leading with five minutes left ... the Spartans have won 233 of their last 245 (.951) when leading with five to play, including 183 of their last 197 ... in Coach Merchant's tenure, Michigan State is 268-20 (.931) when holding a lead with five minutes remaining.
- Senior forward Alisia Smith, who transferred to MSU from Penn State after the 2019-20 season, made her second trip back to her old stomping grounds in a Spartan uniform, last doing so on Feb. 13, 2021, helping MSU to a 78-65 win ... With 12 points and six rebounds Thursday night, Smith has 22 points and 14 rebounds in three games vs. Penn State as a Spartan, averaging 7.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in those three outings.
- Smith tallied a team-leading 10 points in the first half, finishing with 12 points, marking her sixth double-figure outing of the season and 12th of her MSU career.
- Senior guard Nia Clouden's team-high 16 points marked her 18th double-digit game of the season and 89th of her career ... Clouden's 16 points gives her 1,684 career points, taking over sole possession of the No. 5 spot on MSU's career scoring list, pulling away from a tie with Kisha Kelley (1991-95) with 1,668
- Clouden netted three 3-pointers Thursday night, marking her third game in a row with three or more triples as part of six this season ... it was Clouden's ninth game this season with multiple 3-pointers ... the three triples gives her 36 for the season and 122 treys for her career, moving up to No. 12 on MSU's career 3-pointers list, passing Aerial Powers (2013-16) with 121 triples and just one shy from Eileen Shea (1987-91) at No. 11 with 123 and two shy from former teammate Branndais Agee (2013-18) at No. 10 with 124 3-pointers.
- Freshman guard/forward Matilda Ekh posted her fourth-straight game with a 3-pointer and finished with three treys, giving her 43 for her first season as a Spartan, moving up to No. 3 on MSU's list for 3-pointers by a Spartan freshman, passing Maxann Reese (1996-97) with 41 triples ... Ekh needs four more to catch Taryn McCutcheon (2016-17) at No. 3 with 47 3-pointers
- After tallying just two points in the first half, Ekh erupted with 13 second-half points, finishing with 15 points, for her fourth game in a row with double-figures as part of five double-digit outings in the last six games ... overall, Ekh recorded her 12th game with double-digit points this season.
- Ekh's 15 points at PSU gives her 233 for the season, now just 33 points shy of cracking 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) ... Ekh's three triples also moves her to 43.4 percent (43-of-99) 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).
- Junior forward Taiyier Parks continued her hot streak with her sixth-straight game in double-figures with 15 points, as well as her eighth in the last nine outings, after just one double-digit game in her first six contests and just two in the previous 10 games before her recent spurt ... Parks' 15-point game is her second-highest in a B1G contest this season behind her career-high matching 16 points vs. Purdue (1/9/22).
- Parks added eight rebounds, marking her third game in the last four outings with eight boards, as part of the ninth game this season with eight or more rebounds, including five of the last seven.
- Graduate forward Tamara Farquhar led MSU in rebounding Thursday night with 14 boards ... it was her fifth-straight game leading or sharing the team-lead on the glass ... Farquhar now has led the Spartans in rebounding in a team-high 11 games ... it is also Farquhar's second-straight game in double-digit rebounding as part of the fifth total time this season ... Farquhar was two points shy of a double-double with eight points Thursday night.
- Freshman guard DeeDee Hagemann was one assist shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine assists ... the 13 points was her seventh double-figure scoring outing and first in B1G play with a conference-contest season high output ... Hagemann's nine assists was also her most in a B1G game as part of her second-highest helper total of the year, with both coming on the road, behind career-best 10 assists at Oakland (11/26/21) ... the nine helpers was Hagemann's ninth-straight game with five or more assists as part of 12 outings in 17 games played.
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