The No. 17 women's basketball team got blown out Sunday at Breslin Center by a very determined Ohio State squad.
The Buckeyes (15-8 overall, 7-5 Big Ten) opened the game with a 13-0 run and never looked back en route to a 72-53 win over the Spartans (19-5, 9-4).
"It was a great game by Ohio State," MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "They played very, very inspired."
Ohio State shot 64.3 percent from the floor for the game. The Buckeyes were led by guard Caity Matter, who was 6-for-9 from 3-point range, and finished with a game-high 23 points. It was her second straight 20-plus point game.
Matter dedicated the game to her brother Ricky, who was killed in a car accident less than 48 hours before the game.
"I wanted to go out and win for Ricky," Matter said in a written statement. "I want to thank my teammates, coaches, family and friends for their 100-percent support."
She not only got support off the court, but on it as well. Matter and the Buckeyes got major contributions from center Jessica Davenport and forward LaToya Turner. The two combined for 30 points and 20 rebounds, out-muscling the Spartans' inside players.
The difference for Ohio State might have been the return of Turner, who sat out the last meeting between the two teams - one of which MSU won by eight points.
"(Turner and Davenport) make a good duo," junior center Kelli Roehrig said. "When we had the high post covered, we didn't have the low post covered and when we had the low post covered, we didn't have the high post covered.
"They found the open spots inside, but we made the mistakes and allowed them to get easy points in the paint."
The Spartans struggled from the outset, with its first basket coming about six minutes into the game on a layup by Roehrig. The Spartans then went nearly two more minutes before scoring their next two points.
The team's leading scorer, sophomore guard Lindsay Bowen, was held to a mere six points on the day. She took just two shots in the second half, while Roehrig led MSU with 11 points.
MSU had its second-largest crowd of the season, 7,724 fans, but the Spartans could not muster up the energy to match the Buckeyes.
"The emotions of the game can always play in either team's favor," senior forward Julie Pagel said. "We failed to be tough and we took the victim role.
"We could have came out and answered them with some baskets and some stops at the beginning of the game, but we didn't and that set us up for failure."
The game was only the third time this season the Spartans have allowed their opponent to score more than 70 points. MSU has lost all three of those games by double-digits.
The Spartans have a midweek bye and do not play again until Sunday, when they travel to West Lafayette, Ind. to play No. 5 Purdue.
