The Spartans sent a message to No. 10 Minnesota on Thursday night - no one comes to their house and pushes them around.
For the first time this season, the Spartans (10-7 overall, 3-3 Big Ten) remained calm under pressure, downing the Golden Gophers (15-2, 4-2) 74-71 on Thursday. It was the Spartans' second win this month over a top-10 team at Breslin Center.
MSU senior forward Syreeta Bromfield said whether at home or away, MSU should not be taken lightly.
"We feel more confident at home. This is our house," she said. "We want teams to be intimidated when they play MSU period."
Minnesota found out the hard way how vicious the defensive-minded Spartans can be.
With the Gophers up 65-59 and seven minutes remaining in regulation, MSU guards stuck with their game plan - pounding it inside to sophomore center Kelli Roehrig. Roehrig responded by draining nine points to the Gophers' four to pull the Spartans within one point with 2:59 to go in the contest. Roehrig had a career-high 27 points off the bench.
A layup from sophomore guard Kristin Haynie a moment later gave MSU the 70-69 edge - a lead they would hold for exactly 27 seconds until Gopher forward Kadidja Andersson put her team back on top, 71-70.
"It has been so disappointing to lose all those close games lately," Haynie said. "Tonight was a good change."
After a Gopher timeout, Minnesota guard Corrin Von Wald was whistled for a foul on the other end of the court, sending Haynie to the line, where she sank both ends of the 1-and-1 to give the Spartans a 72-71 lead with 29 seconds left in the game.
On the next possession, Gopher guard Lindsay Whalen collided with Bromfield on the perimeter, sending Whalen off-balance long enough for Haynie to strip the ball and pass to MSU junior forward Julie Pagel, who was fouled with 2.4 seconds remaining. Pagel stepped to the line and sank both free throws to give MSU the final 74-71 edge.
"I think we had an outstanding team effort, we just did the things needed at the times needed, and I'm so happy for our team, they've been working extremely hard, they deserve this," Spartan head coach Joanne P. McCallie said.
MSU travels to Indiana (9-6, 2-3) for a 2 p.m. tipoff on Sunday.
