Thursday, March 28, 2024

FINAL: Spartans blow out rival Wolverines in front of record crowd

February 19, 2017
Senior guard Branndais Agee (10) falls back into the bench after making a shot during the women?s basketball game against Minnesota on Feb. 16, 2017 at Breslin Center. The Spartans defeated by the Golden Gophers, 85-69.
Senior guard Branndais Agee (10) falls back into the bench after making a shot during the women?s basketball game against Minnesota on Feb. 16, 2017 at Breslin Center. The Spartans defeated by the Golden Gophers, 85-69. —
Photo by Jon Famurewa | and Jon Famurewa The State News

Coming off a 85-69 win against Minnesota, the MSU women’s basketball team hoped to win its second straight game Sunday as the Spartans took on the No. 20 Michigan Wolverines on the road. There, the Spartans took care of business as they upset the Wolverines at the Crisler Center, 86-68.

The Wolverines never held a lead during the game until 20 seconds left in the first half. In the third quarter, the Spartans regained the lead, but the Wolverines responded right back. Eventually a 10-0 run in the third quarter by MSU would be the defining moment of the game as the Wolverines were never able to fully come back it.

Senior guard Tori Jankoska led the Spartans with a game-high 28 points and five assists in the win.

The Spartans made 35 of their 60 shots from the field, shooting 58 percent. The Wolverines made just 41 percent of its shots from the field, and 3-for17 from 3-point land

MSU never missed a free throw as it scored on all six attempts.

The Wolverines won the opening tipoff, but couldn't score on their first possession of the game as the Spartans forced a turnover.

On the ensuing possession for MSU, scored a basket on a jumper near the arc that gave the Spartans their first points of the game. MSU seemingly dominated in the early goings of Sunday’s game.

With 4:49 left in the first quarter, the Spartans were shooting 86 percent from the field off of six of seven field goals, while the Wolverines struggled to find the net.

The Spartans suffered an injury scare early in the game as Jankoska, the team’s leading scorer, went into the locker room after appearing to be hurt.

The fear dissipated minutes later as the senior from Freeland, Mich. came back to the bench before eventually heading back into the game later in the opening quarter.

At the conclusion of the first quarter, the Spartans led 26-18, and were shooting 67 percent from the field compared to U-M’s 37 percent.

The Spartans were strong on the defensive glass in the opening quarter as they recorded ten defensive rebounds, while the Wolverines were only able to muster three rebounds on the defensive side of the ball.

Early in the second quarter, Jankoska continued to add to her Spartan legacy. The senior guard nailed a shot from three-point range, which made her MSU’s all-time leading three-point shooter with 295 threes in her career.

The Wolverines, trailing since the beginning of the game, closed the Spartans lead to just one possession with 4:16 left in the first half.

Sophomore forward Jenna Allen committed a turnover. With it, the Wolverines capitalized by scoring on a layup by the Wolverines’ leading scorer Katelynn Flaherty to cut the lead to three.

20 seconds left in the first half, the Wolverines took their first lead of the game as Flaherty scored on a layup, giving U-M a 43-42 lead.

The Spartans closed out the first half on a two minute scoring drought, while the Wolverines made six of their last eight field goals.

At the half, the Spartans committed 11 turnovers, but were outshooting the Wolverines from the field — connecting on 17-for-29 field goals for 59 percent. The Wolverines went into the locker room shooting 43 percent from the field.

Jankoska registered a team-high 13 points for MSU, and sophomore guard Kysre Gondrezick netted four field goals and four free throws for 13 points for U-M at the conclusion of the first half.

The Spartans regained the lead with 8:18 left in the third period from a redshirt-freshman forward Victoria Gaines jumper from the right side of the court, but the Wolverines responded to take back the lead.

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Midway through the third quarter, a jumper from graduate student forward Taya Reimer began a 10-0 scoring run for the Spartans.

The Wolverines turned the ball over three times during the Spartans run, which gave MSU a 56-47 lead.

MSU entered the final quarter of regulation with a nine point lead over U-M. The Spartans continued their field goal shooting efficiency as MSU was shooting 60 percent from the field on 27-for-45 shots and connected on nine of 16 shots from 3-pointers. The Wolverines, however, were shooting 46 percent from the field and 23 percent from 3-point range.

The Wolverines never showed any realistic hope of a comeback in the final quarter as the Spartans managed to record their largest lead of the night to finish the game and complete the upset victory.

The Spartans will now face Penn State at the Breslin Center for the last home game of the season Wednesday at 7 p.m. It is also Senior Day for MSU’s seniors, while the game can be viewed on BTN Plus. 

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