Iowa City, Iowa - In its final road game of the season, the MSU women's basketball team was able to turn back Iowa, 68-58, in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie said the win was important.
It wasn't as important, though, as the team establishing itself on defense and the boards. Against Illinois on Monday, MSU suffered its worst loss of the season, 75-65.
"I thought this was an excellent game," McCallie said. "I was very pleased with our team's defense and the way we got back to playing our style of basketball."
The Spartans (16-10, 9-6 Big Ten) outrebounded the Hawkeyes (14-12, 6-9) 43-31 and held Iowa to a season-low 21 first-half points while going the distance to snap it's own four-game losing streak to the Hawkeyes.
In a game of streaks, the Spartans jumped out to an early 12-3 lead behind baskets from sophomore center Kelli Roehrig and sophomore guard Kristin Haynie, along with four quick buckets by senior forward Syreeta Bromfield, who came off the bench in her final Big Ten road game. She tallied a team and game-high 18 points and nine rebounds.
Roehrig ended the contest with 17 points and six boards, while freshman guard Lindsay Bowen netted 14 points - 12 on four 3-pointers. She moved within four of the MSU single-season record, set by Maxann Reese in the 1998-99 season.
"When a shooter gets hot, I think that credit goes to the teammates," Bowen said. "You just have to credit them with finding you for good looks and helping you get open."
Prior to the half, with the Spartans up 21-11, the Hawkeyes closed gap to two with a 10-2 run, prompting MSU to burn a timeout.
After the huddle, the Spartans ended the half on a 5-0 run to head into the locker room with a 28-21 lead.
Iowa battled back to take a 39-38 lead with 12:11 left in the second half. But MSU made an 18-6 run of its own to take a 56-45 lead with 3:34 left in the game, which was too much for the Hawkeyes to overcome.
Iowa's leading scorer, guard Kristi Faulkner, who is also fourth in the conference in points per game, finished the night with 14 points and five rebounds. Hawkeye forward Jennie Lillis also finished the contest with 14 points and four blocked shots.
MSU's final game of the regular season will be against Northwestern at 2 p.m. Sunday at Breslin Center.
