Ann Arbor - MSU's 82-55 waxing of archrival Michigan on Sunday at Crisler Arena was anything but competitive as the Spartans swept the season series for the first time in seven years.
And to senior forward Syreeta Bromfield, nothing tastes as sweet as beating the enemy in its own domain.
"Oh man it feels so good," she said. "Wherever we play, that's our house, and it feels great to finally go (to Crisler and) beat them."
Bromfield sparked the Spartan offense in the first two minutes of the game, scoring eight of her 19 points to lead MSU (15-8 overall, 8-4 Big Ten) on a 21-4 run.
And the Spartans' stifling blue-collar defense didn't allow U-M (11-12, 2-10) to get much closer the rest of the way.
Everything came together for the Spartans on Sunday, as they shot a scorching 59.6 percent from the field and an even better 60 percent from 3-point range. The Spartan defense held U-M to 28 percent shooting in the first half.
"It was just a total team effort out there," sophomore guard Kristin Haynie said. "It feels really great and builds team confidence up going into the end of the season."
Haynie did damage on both ends of the court, tallying a team-and-career high 22 points, while adding six rebounds, eight assists and three steals.
She said the MSU fans in attendance were a big boost. Though the Spartan faithful were easily outnumbered, cheers of "Go Green! Go White!" were audible during every play.
A group of about 30 fans made the trek together from East Lansing to create a mini-fan zone, complete with matching green Izzone shirts and taunting cheers.
"They were great," Haynie said. "You could hear our crowd cheering when we hit the tunnel, we love our fans, they're a big part of our game."
Spartan fans definitely had more to cheer about than their counterparts.
The Wolverines shot a dismal 35.3 percent from the field and their fans found the 'Victors' losing more and more control of the game with each passing second.
And just when it seemed like things couldn't get worse for the Wolverines, it did.
After the break, U-M surrendered back-to-back 3-pointers from freshman guard Lindsay Bowen and Haynie. And the outcome could have been worse, if not for the efforts of U-M center Jennifer Smith. She rolled to game-highs of 27 points and 12 rebounds.
MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie was proud of her team's effort.
"We had great senior leadership from Syreeta and (center Jennifer Callier) out there and maintained a good level of intensity," McCallie said. "But the score doesn't mean anything at all until the end of the game.
"Finishing strong in February and March is very important, it's a lot of fun for the team to go out and find out what they can do."
MSU has won eight of its last 10 games.
