Women's basketball takes down Northwestern 72-58
Freshman guard Kiana Johnson puts all her effort into her layup while Wildcat guard Karly Roser tries to get her hands on it. The Spartans defeated the Wildcats 72-58 Thursday evening at Breslin Center.
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At the first media timeout Thursday night against Northwestern, head coach Suzy Merchant stood under the MSU basket at Breslin Center and shook her head.
With the Spartans off to another lethargic start, Merchant said was frustrated by her team’s lack of intensity.
“I just didn’t think defensively we did that great of a job,” she said. “I didn’t think we played very good basketball today, just good enough.”
After leading for just 20 seconds in the game’s opening 17 minutes, the MSU women’s basketball team (15-9 overall, 7-4 Big Ten) used a 12-2 run at the end of the first half to regain the lead before cruising to a 72-58 victory over the Wildcats (13-11, 3-8).
Senior guard Porsché Poole was one of four Spartans to score in double figures, leading MSU with 20 points and seven assists and said the game turned once the Spartans became the aggressors.
Photo: Freshman guard ...
“Coach told us in the beginning, she felt like they were attacking us, and we were a little passive on the offensive end,” Poole said. “We just had to settle down, get our composure and try to attack them more, and as soon as we started attacking them we got better looks.”
Poole led the run to end the half, along with freshman forward Becca Mills — who got a steal in the backcourt and finished a give-and-go with Poole on the fast break to put MSU in front 31-26 with 1:29 to go in the half.
Mills finished the game with nine points and four rebounds off the bench, and Poole said the freshman’s energy was critical to the comeback.
“I felt like we were a little sluggish at the beginning of the game, and I understand that I can get my points, but I want to make sure my (teammates are) getting better,” Poole said.
“I told (Mills), ‘You came in and gave us a ton of energy, which we were lacking.’ It gets the crowd into it, and then when the crowd’s into it, it kind of gets us pumped up.”
The Spartans continued to feed off the crowd in the second half, opening the period on a 9-2 run to extend the lead to 42-30 with 17:24 to go in the game.
After earning a lead in double digits, MSU never looked back, leading by as many as 18 points and never less than nine points.
Senior guard Taylor Alton finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, and she said the biggest difference between the first and second halves was a change in mentality.
“For us, it was kind of a mentality to switch (the focus) defensively,” she said. “Once we started getting a little more aggressive, getting into them a little bit more, it just really created our transition and our ability to push it (and) run our game.”
