Madison, Wis. - Balance was the key once again for the No. 9 MSU women's basketball team as the Spartans had four players in double figures, picking up their sixth win in a row over Wisconsin, 84-60.
The Spartans (22-3 overall, 11-2 Big Ten) started to see their lead slip away early in the second half before junior guard Lindsay Bowen hit two 3-pointers in back-to-back trips down the floor to help pull away from the Badgers (10-12, 4-8).
"We played a very good game against a solid Wisconsin team that never gave up," MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "I was just very pleased with the effort we put in."
Bowen led the Spartans on offense with 18 points, including five 3-point field goals. Sophomore guard Victoria Lucas-Perry finished with 17 points, all of which were scored in the first half, and junior forward Liz Shimek added 13 points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Rene Haynes was the other MSU player in double figures, with 12 points.
"Michigan State is the real deal over there," Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone said. "They just find ways to get things done? They are a great team."
The Badgers were led by guard Jolene Anderson, who had a game-high 19 points, but it was not enough for Wisconsin, which had no other player score in double figures.
The Spartans had another good night of shooting, hitting 49 percent of their shots and holding the Badgers to only 34 percent from the field.
MSU also shared the ball well again, picking up 20 assists, but did turn the ball over 14 times. The MSU bench outscored the Wisconsin bench, 20-15.
MSU had two more players reach the record books in a year that has been filled with milestones. Shimek joined the 1,000-point club, joining the other three Spartans players that reached that mark earlier this year.
"We have had so many this year that it seems like the happening thing on our team," McCallie said. "Liz is a special player, and nobody works harder than her - and it is just a natural course of events, and she will continue to do even better things."
Senior guard Kristin Haynie joined only three other players in Big Ten history when she picked up her second assist of the afternoon. Haynie is the fourth player in Big Ten history to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 500 assists and 300 steals during her career at MSU.
"Her game is incredible, and it is getting better every game," McCallie said. "I just want her best ball to come at Michigan State because I truly think that her best things might come later down the road."
Haynie felt good about the record but knew who to thank the most for getting there.
"It means a lot to me to get in the record books, but of course you can't do it without teammates and they have done so much for me," Haynie said.
MSU wraps up its three-game road trip Thursday at Iowa before coming home to play Ohio State on Sunday.
