In the week leading up to its game against Illinois, MSU women’s basketball head coach Joanne P. McCallie was looking for someone to step into the spotlight.
On Saturday, sophomore forward Julie Pagel answered the call against Illinois (13-9 overall, 6-6 Big Ten) with a career high 25 points, and her teammates followed suit as the Spartans (15-9, 5-8) defeated the Illini 62-57.
Pagel averaged nearly a point a minute, despite suffering from lower back pains the entire 30 minutes she played.
But Pagel said she knew she had the hot hand.
“I was definitely feeling it,” Pagel said after Saturday’s game. “I was draining the open looks. I was dreaming about it last night, having the follow-through, and today it just happened.
“It’s not just any team on any given day, it’s any player on any given night.”
Freshman guard Kristin Haynie said she was excited with Pagel’s play.
“She did an awesome job tonight,” Haynie said. “Her shots fell and she got open, and she was just very consistent throughout the game.”
MSU only shot 39.1 percent from the field, including a dismal 0-9 effort from beyond the arch. Nevertheless, a tenacious defense forced 23 Illinois turnovers that turned into 30 Spartan points.
Illinois was playing without starting point guard Shavonna Hunter, who had an asthma attack earlier in the day.
“Usually when a team loses a player, the team rises pretty good,” McCallie said.
Pagel said the Spartans went with the same game plan, but with Hunter out, things were a bit easier.
“Before we even knew she was out and she wasn’t going to play, our strategy was ball pressure, ball pressure, ball pressure,” Pagel said. “We took advantage of the situation, and I think it worked for our advantage.”
The score was deadlocked 33-all at halftime.
But it was the Illinois that broke the tie with a 6-0 run early in the second half, forcing McCallie to call a timeout.
Haynie stopped the bleeding with a jumper that dangled on the rim before getting the lucky roll, making the score 43-39. But Illini forward Cindy Dallas drove to the lane on the ensuing possession for an easy layup.
Illinois took its biggest lead of the game at 51-43 when Dallas finished off a three-point play with 9:38 left in the game.
Trailing by eight points, Haynie said the Spartans knew the game wasn’t over.
“We knew we could get back in it and we just hustled,” she said. “The crowd was in it too for us and they led us down the stretch.”
MSU scored 13 straight points to swing momentum in its favor.
The run, highlighted by seven points from junior guard Vnemina Reese, put the Spartans up 56-51 with 6:10 showing on the clock.
During the run, Pagel, whose expression showed her back pain, made her first second-half appearance and added four points to the Spartan run.
The Spartans would never turn over the lead again.
MSU travels to State College, Pa., where it will square off with Penn State (16-9, 8-4) at 7 p.m Thursday.
Injury report: Earlier this week freshman center Kelli Roehrig slipped on a piece of ice and strained her lower back. She reaggravated the injury during the first half of Saturday’s contest and sat out the entire second half.
