Sophomore center Alyssa DeHaan and freshman forward Kalisha Keane box Northwestern freshman center Shantina Boyd in during the women’s basketball game Thursday night at the Breslin Center.
MSU head coach Suzy Merchant had no reason to be “scared to death” going into Thursday night’s game against Northwestern at Breslin Center.
The MSU women’s basketball team could do no wrong as it ran the Wildcats into the ground, 65-40, extending its winning streak to four games, which ties a season best.
Even though the Wildcats (4-23 overall, 0-15 Big Ten) had nothing to lose with their poor Big Ten record coming into the game, they failed to do anything to contain the Spartans in the first half.
The Spartans (17-11, 9-7) ran the table in the first 20 minutes, holding the Wildcats to 18 points.
Sophomore center Allyssa DeHaan notched 12 points before the break and finished with a game-high 20.
Wildcats center Amy Jaeschke, who scored 26 points against the Spartans on Jan. 17, was held to two points.
“For Amy, it was just one of those nights,” Northwestern head coach Beth Combs said. “Tonight DeHaan got the best of her and she got into kind of a funk.”
Merchant said containing Jaeschke and her cousin, center Ellen Jaeschke, was a big factor in the 25-point win.
“We talked about taking out that high-low attack, which those two really do a nice job of looking at,” Merchant said. “Amy and (Ellen) have become the focal point in the inside for (Northwestern).”
The Spartans started the game with a one-on-one block strategy on both Amy Jaeschke and Ellen Jaeschke early in the game, but decided to start doubling up on both players as the clock wore down.
“Our word right now is ‘fight,’” DeHaan said. “We’ve just been coming and fighting together ? and our defense has taken itself to a new level.”
MSU is back in action at 1 p.m. Sunday to take on Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind.
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