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Women's basketball defeats Indiana, 63-49, in Big Ten opener

December 30, 2011

Despite a rough shooting night, the MSU women’s basketball team (9-5 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) grinded out a hard fought road win against Indiana (5-9, 0-1) on Friday, defeating the Hoosiers, 63-49, to open the conference season.

Four Spartans scored in double figures with senior guard Taylor Alton leading the way with 12 points on 4-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc and senior forward Lykendra Johnson adding 10 points and three blocked shots.

MSU also got a spark off the bench from freshman center Jasmine Hines and junior forward Courtney Schiffauer, with Hines scoring 11 points and five rebounds and Schiffauer netting eight points and nine rebounds.

MSU started the game quickly, jumping out to a 14-2 lead with junior guard Jasmine Thomas scoring six of the team’s points during the run.

Thomas finished the game with 11 points and three steals, and she teamed with freshman guard Kiana Johnson in attacking the basket to create scoring opportunities for themselves and their teammates.

Freshman forward Becca Mills played well in helping the Spartans gain the early lead, hitting a 3-pointer and grabbing two rebounds, but she left the game early in the first half with an undisclosed injury and did not return. Mills was seen on the bench with an ice pack on her knee later in the game.

Turnovers and poor shooting by the Spartans allowed Indiana to hang around and eventually get within four points at 48-44 with just less than five minutes remaining in the game.

MSU turned the ball over 20 times and managed to shoot only 38 percent for the game, but the team used a 15-5 run to close out Indiana and secure the road win in its conference season opener.

The Spartans will return home to East Lansing and get ready to host Michigan at 7 p.m. on January 4.

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