McDaniel Drops 28 as Spartans Lose Close Battle to No. 18/18 Oregon

PORTLAND, Ore. - Behind a season-high 28 points from graduate guard Kamaria McDaniel, the Michigan State women's basketball team lost a tight battle with No. 18/18 Oregon, 86-78, in the third-place game of the Phil Knight Invitational at Veterans Memorial Coliseum Sunday.

The Ducks led by as many as 17 points in the second quarter, but the Spartans battled back in the second half to make it a tight game.

With the loss, Michigan State stands 6-2 this season, while Oregon improves to 5-1.

McDaniel led all scorers with 28 points, just the second Spartans to break the 20-point mark after sophomore forward Matilda Ekh against Western Michigan. Off the bench, sophomore Isaline Alexander added 15 points in a career high 31 minutes. Despite returning from Sweden on Friday, Ekh added 14 points and a career-high three steals.

Oregon was led by 19 points by Endyia Rogers, while Phillipina Kyei added 16 rebounds.

The Ducks came out fast in the first quarter, jumping out to a 12-4 advantage as MSU took a timeout at the 5:48 mark. Oregon used a 9-0 run to jump out to a 27-12 lead at the end of the first period. Elliott led the Spartans in scoring in the first quarter with four points.

The Spartan offense came to life in the second quarter. MSU used an 8-0 run over 29 seconds to trim it to a 33-26 game with 5:33 remaining in the period. Michigan State got as close as five points, before Oregon got it back to 41-30 with 3:31 left in the half. The Spartans out-scored the Ducks 25-18 in the period, led by 13 points from McDaniel. The guard went 6-for-9 in the stanza.

Michigan State scored the first five points of the half to make it a 45-42 game which was close MSU had been since 7-4 at the 6:13 mark of the first quarter. The Spartans continued to battle in the third quarter led by strong minutes from Alexander who scored seven points in the period.

In the fourth quarter, an Ekh steal and a score with 7:17 remaining tied the score. The Ducks had a response with Taya Hurst and Ahlise Rogers from long range with Oregon re-gaining control 79-70, leading to a MSU timeout. From that point, Michigan State did not get closer than six points after an Alexander layup with 18 seconds remaining.

Michigan State will now return home to take on Georgia Tech in the ACC/B1G Challenge on Thursday, Dec. 1 at 8 p.m. at the Breslin Center.

Michigan State Women's Basketball Post-Game Notes: vs. Oregon

• Graduate guard Kamaria McDaniel netted 28 points Sunday, not only posting her first 20-point outing of the season, but doubling her previous season-high of 14, tallied three times, most recently vs. Florida A&M (11/17/22) ... McDaniel also registered her fourth-straight double-figure game and has posted 10+ points in six of the eight games this season ... McDaniel's 28 points is the most by an MSU player this season, as well as the Spartans' second 20-point scorer this season, joining 20 points by Matilda Ekh vs. Western Michigan (11/13/22).

• McDaniel also dished out a team and game-best seven assists, additionally registering a new season-high, topping her previous high of six helpers which also came vs. Florida A&M (11/17/22) ... McDaniel has distributed four or more assists in four games this season, as part of dishing out multiple helpers in seven of the eight games.

• Sophomore forward Isaline Alexander was MSU's second-highest scorer with 15 points, also her second-highest outing of her career and both have come away from home, behind her career-best 17 points at Central Michigan (11/19/22) ... Alexander has scored seven or more points in six of the eight games ... she added one block, giving her at least one rejection in six of the eight contests.

• Senior guard Moira Joiner had a double-seven game with seven points and seven rebounds ... Joiner's seven rebounds is a new season-high, bettering her previous top mark of the season of five, done twice, last vs. Florida A&M (11/17/22) ... Joiner now has snared three or more rebounds in each of the last seven games ... with the seven points, Joiner has scored five or more points in seven of the eight games.

• Sophomore guard Matilda Ekh returned to the lineup for the Spartans. After playing against Central Michigan on Nov. 19, Ekh traveled to Sweden for a National Team game against Israel. She arrived in Portland on Friday and scored 14 points for the Spartans today.

• In head coach Suzy Merchant's tenure, when two numbers on the scoreboard were achieved it typically has been a sign of a MSU win. The Green & White have won 176 of their last 207 games (.850) when scoring at least 70 points, and the Spartans are 196-42 (.824) under head coach Suzy Merchant when hanging at least 70 points on the scoreboard. This season, MSU is 6-1 this season when scoring 70 points. The loss to Oregon was the only time MSU reached the 70-point mark and didn't win.

• The Spartans' 10 turnovers were the fewest by the Spartans this season, just ahead of the 11 MSU had against Central Michigan on Nov. 19. The recovered from the season-high 19 against Iowa State on Nov. 24.

Players Mentioned

Moira Joiner