Champaign, Ill. - The No. 8 MSU women's basketball team picked up its fourth consecutive win after knocking off Illinois, 62-42.
The Spartans (16-2 overall, 5-1 Big Ten) did not have much trouble defeating Illinois (11-5, 3-3) as they led almost the entire game. The Spartans took the lead with five minutes into the first half and never looked back, leading by as many as 25 points throughout the game.
The Spartans were led on offense by senior center Kelli Roehrig, who had 13 points and 11 rebounds on the night. Junior guard Lindsay Bowen added 11 points and senior guard Kristin Haynie added 10 to help lead the Spartans to their fifth conference victory.
"It was a very tough defensive battle for the whole game," MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie said.
Haynie said drawing attention inside the paint opened up the shooters on the outside.
"It is hard to stop a team that has both their inside and outside games working together," Haynie said.
The Fighting Illini came into the game averaging 69.7 points per game and were held to just 42 points by the Spartan defense, an aspect McCallie said is a accomplishment on the road.
Forward Angelina Williams, the Illini's leading scorer, and guard Tiffanie Guthrie each had 12 points to lead the way. Three other players each had four rebounds to lead the team, as well.
"It is hard to limit a team at home to such a low number of points," McCallie said. "We played solid defense all night and slowed, not stopped, their two offensive threats in Guthrie and Williams."
The Spartans outrebounded the Illini, 41-24. The Spartans bench was outscored 16-13, but it did not matter because all five starters had significant contributions.
Haynie's six assists broke MSU's career record for assists, and she will add to the milestone with each one she records the rest of the season.
"I have to just give credit to my team for that one," Haynie said about the milestone.
Illinois turned the ball over 21 times, while the Spartans made 16 turnovers.
"We just played our game tonight," Bowen said. "MSU basketball is all about defense from all over the court and we did it to a strong Illinois team tonight. We were in control the whole game and never let up."
For the game, the Spartans shot 44 percent from the field and the Illini were only able to hit close to 35 percent of their shots.
"The frustrating part is we weren't taking very good shots all night," Illinois head coach Theresa Grentz said. "If we took the shots that we practiced, then made or missed, they are good shots to take. We just weren't doing what we do in practice. And you have to credit the Michigan State defense for some of that too.
"We are not at the level of Michigan State right now. They are a very strong team that works very well together and they are a cohesive group with a lot of leadership."
The Spartans travel to Penn State on Sunday to take on the Nittany Lions, who are atop the Big Ten at 5-0.
