The No. 8 MSU women's basketball team ran their home record to 8-0 after defeating No. 12 Minnesota on Sunday, 62-49.
The Spartans (15-2 overall, 4-1 Big Ten) were led by junior guard Lindsay Bowen, who had 20 points after only scoring two in the first half, and senior center Kelli Roehrig led the team in rebounds with nine.
"Lindsay was much more aggressive in the second half," MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "She really tried to attack at a higher level in the second half, and it was evident."
The game was close at halftime, as both teams played strong defensively. Combined, the two teams turned the ball over 16 times and neither team shot very well. MSU shot 37.5 percent, and the Gophers (14-3, 4-1) only shot 27.6 percent.
"This was a very tough effort by our team," McCallie said. "Everybody participated, whether they came off the bench or started, and that was very important for this game."
MSU took the lead about midway through the first half and never looked back. The Spartans started to take control at about the five-minute mark in the second half, when they started to extend the lead. The Spartans led by as many as 18 points late in the second half, holding a 13-point plus edge until the end.
"We wanted to really attack more in the second half," sophomore guard Rene Haynes said.
"We didn't feel that we were attacking enough in the first half and we were focused on working the ball around and waiting for the game to come to us."
Haynes had a big impact on the team coming off the bench, scoring 10 points in the first half, finishing the game with 17 points and four rebounds.
"Rene was a great source of energy in the first half, and she maintained it throughout the game," McCallie said.
MSU slowed Gophers star center Janel McCarville but could not stop her. She finished the game with 14 points and 15 rebounds, leading the Gophers in both categories.
"I never really thought about who I was playing so much as what I needed to do," Roehrig said. "You can't think about who you are playing. You have to just worry about executing and making your own plays and everything else will fall into place."
The Gophers got offensive contributions from eight different players, but only one scored in double figures. The Spartans only had five players score and three of them were in double figures.
The Spartans' bench outscored the Gophers' bench 17-12. MSU turned the ball over 14 times during the game and finished the game shooting 46 percent from the field. The big statistic for the Spartans was the 63.6 percent shooting from beyond the 3-point line, Haynes and Bowen contributing three each from that spot.
"The attack mode in the second half is something we have to unleash for a 40-minute period," McCallie said. "The team really was on another level in the second half."
