“I thought they were clearly the dominating team in transition offensively and defensively at our place (on Jan. 5),” MSU head coach Suzy Merchant said. “We knew we really needed to elevate both ends of our game this time around to win.”

Merchant said the team has started to unite and play with much more passion in the last few games.

Freshman guard Brittney Thomas opened the game with a layup 15 seconds in, sparking Spartan domination for the first half.

MSU traded baskets with the Nittany Lions (13-13, 4-10) for the first five minutes, resulting in two tie scores, before taking off on a 14-2 run to go up by 15 points.

Penn State guard Tyra Grant came off the bench to do what she could to produce momentum for her team, knocking down a layup and a 3-point basket back-to-back.

Nittany Lions guard Julia Trogele went on to add a jumper to Grant’s efforts to close MSU’s lead to eight points with five minutes left in the first half.

The seven-point run would be the only baskets the Nittany Lions would be able to string together, as the Spartans finished the first half on a 10-4 run to head into the tunnel with a 35-21 lead.

After the break, Grant led the Nittany Lions on their second and last run of the game with six points in a 10-4 stretch.

MSU continued to force turnovers and dominate in the paint, much like it did in the first half — from the 12-minute mark until the buzzer.

In the end, Penn State recorded more turnovers, racking up 22, than field goals, finishing with 13. MSU tallied almost half of their total points off Penn State turnovers, converting them into 31 points.

“It was a role reversal at our place the first time,” Merchant said of the Spartan’s 22 turnovers on Jan. 5. “But that was when we weren’t gelling well early in the Big Ten season. You’re seeing us taking care of it a lot better now and also defending better and working together.”

This victory marks the third straight win for the Spartans — their first win-streak of any kind in the conference — while it’s Penn State’s seventh consecutive loss.

“I think finally as a team something just clicked,” Thomas said. “We’re playing hard and fighting all 40 minutes, not just in spurts, which I think was our problem before.”

Penn State head coach Coquese Washington said the Spartans played with much more confidence than the MSU squad she saw Jan. 5, when Penn State ran the Spartans all around the court for a 69-57 win.

“We’re a very interesting team right now,” Washington said. “So much of this game is built on confidence and having the confidence in yourself and your teammates and coaches.

“We’re losing games not necessarily because of anything physical — a lot of it is confidence when things go wrong. We had a lot more confidence earlier in the season.”

Thomas and sophomore center Allyssa DeHaan each led the Spartans with 16 points.

MSU will attempt to complete a series-sweep of Northwestern when they host the Wildcats at 7 p.m. Thursday at Breslin Center.