After giving up a season-high 78 points in its last game to Iowa, the No. 20 MSU women's basketball team had something to prove Thursday night.
They did it, defeating Wisconsin, 72-47, at Breslin Center.
The Spartans (17-4 overall, 7-3 Big Ten) got back to their defensive ways against the Badgers (8-12, 2-8).
"It was a good game for us," MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "I think we wore Wisconsin out."
It was the 10th time this season the Spartans had held a team to 50 points or less. They had last accomplished the feat against Michigan on Jan. 18.
The Spartans were led by a very balanced attack, with four players in double-digit scoring.
Junior center Kelli Roehrig had a season-high 19 points on 8-for-10 shooting from the field and five rebounds. She battled down low all night against the tallest front line in the Big Ten.
"The guards looked for me tonight," Roehrig said. "Once you start going, they start looking for you more."
Three Badgers players averaged 6 feet 5 inches tall. The group was headed by starting center Lello Gebisa, who stands at 6 feet 7 inches - the tallest player in the Big Ten.
Despite Wisconsin's huge height advantage, the Spartans were able to control the glass, outrebounding the Badgers, 42-32. Of the total, 24 rebounds came on the offensive end, a season high for MSU and something the team had been working on all season.
"We really focused on boxing out and getting offensive rebounds," sophomore guard Lindsay Bowen said. "If we don't do that, we're not as good as when we go all out."
The Spartans received a huge spark off the bench from freshman guard Victoria Lucas-Perry and senior forward Julie Pagel. Lucas-Perry scored 11 points and Pagel chipped in with eight.
"I really liked our bench," McCallie said. "I thought that we got more intense as we substituted, and the level of play stayed very high."
Creating turnovers was the biggest difference in the game, as the Spartans scored 33 points off 20 Badgers turnovers. Wisconsin was able to score only eight points off turnovers, despite causing 17.
"We pushed the ball a lot, because we realized if we pushed it, we could get buckets because they weren't getting back on defense," freshman guard Patrice McKinney said.
McKinney had a career-high 10 points and was active on the boards and on defense, resulting in her best game as a Spartan.
J. Ryan Mulcrone can be reached at mulcron3@msu.edu.
