A game that had conference tournament seeding implications on the line at the State Farm Center, Jankoska finished 75 percent from beyond the arc en route to her 24-points, helping MSU clinch their second straight win, 67-65.

The Spartans (14-14, 6-11 Big Ten) opened up the contest strong offensively, garnering a 15-7 advantage with less than four minutes into the contest.

They would later heighten their lead to 11 following senior guard Anna Morrissey's second triple three minutes later. She finished fourth on the team in points with six, behind Becca Mills (12) and Powers (19).

The closest Illinois (14-15, 5-12 Big Ten) got to grabbing a lead change during the first 20-minutes of play was when Jacqui Grant converted both sets of free throws to cut the deficit to six. However, MSU regained a double-digit lead a minute later when Jankoska hit an uncontested layup underneath the basket.

It took over seven minutes in the second half before Illinois brought the deficit back down to single digits at the 13:19 mark, when Taylor Tuck came off the bench to pull up for a three at the key of the arc.

Illinois slowly fought their way to being down by just three thanks to a converted triple by Brittany Carter three minutes later.

Carter, the senior guard, finished the evening with 13 points, four rebounds and four assists.

The matchup didn't escalate until the 1:55 mark when Illinois' Kyley Simmons air balled a three-pointer from the corner while being down seven.

Before the ball went out of bounds, Carter sacrificed her body by soaring into the crowd to avoid a change of possession. Chatrice White would then proceed to knock down a quick jumper in the paint.

On the inbounds pass from Morrissey, Simmons redeemed herself from the botched jumper by stealing the ball and passing it to Ivory Crawford for the layup, cutting the difference to three.

Another turnover by the Spartans resulted in missed three-point try by Grant that would have resulted in a tie game with 1:23 remaining.

Morrissey's wide opened three-pointer on the following possession didn't even hit the rim, giving Crawford a set of free throws with eight seconds on the clock, knocking down the first of two.

A late second opportunity to clinch the win by Carter was well off the mark just as the buzzer sounded before her rocket shot near the half court line.

With the win tonight, MSU has further solidified their spot as the potential No. 9 seed in the Big Ten tournament in Hoffman Estates. Instate rival, Michigan, is guaranteed the eighth spot following their win over Purdue on Tuesday.

If the Spartans succeed in avoiding their third straight loss to the Wolverines next Thursday, they would face Maryland in the quarterfinals, the No. 5 ranked team in the country who almost fell to the green-and-white last week in East Lansing.