“You don’t really like them — you don’t even know them and you don’t like them, you know what I’m saying?” Bell said earlier this season before the second game.

Bell was a problem all night on Friday for the Wolverines on both ends of the floor as No. 4-seed MSU (23-7 overall) atoned for the regular season loss with a 62-46 win over No. 5-seed U-M in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten women’s basketball Tournament.

Her 20 points paced the Spartans, while perhaps more importantly, she held U-M (21-10) sniper Kate Thompson – the school’s single-season record holder for 3-pointers – to just eight points while shooting 21.4 percent from the floor and 1-for-10 from behind the arc.

Bell had an axe to grind with Thompson, who dropped in 20 points of her own in the last matchup —including four 3-pointers — and it showed on the floor at Sears Centre Arena.

“The last time against Michigan – I just had a lot of redemption, let’s say that,” Bell said on Friday. “(I) definitely wanted to D up Kate Thompson the way I knew that I could. … I think that showed.”

The Spartans never trailed at any point in the game and got off to a quick start behind Bell and sophomore forward Becca Mills by combining for MSU’s first 11 points.

Sophomore center Jasmine Hines checked in and picked up where they left off, scoring all eight of her points in a row throughout the next four minutes.

Akyah Taylor, a redshirt freshman forward, was injured after colliding with Hines on a layup and fell to the floor with about 11 minutes left to go in the half.

After the game, head coach Suzy Merchant said Taylor was taken to the hospital for what she believed was an eye injury.

Senior guard Jasmine Thomas put the Spartans ahead 24-12 on a jumper with 6:43 remaining in the first half for MSU’s largest lead to that point. The captain finished with 10 points and five assists while ensuring she didn’t end her career against U-M on a losing note.

“Oh, I’m more than happy,” Thomas said. “I mean, I thought it was the end when we lost to them by one point, but to get them again, it was a good feeling.”

The Wolverines closed out the first half on a 7-2 run, though, putting the MSU advantage at 30-25 going into the locker room.

Suffocating defense from MSU was the story of the second 20 minutes, as it has been throughout the season.

A 3-pointer from U-M’s Rachel Sheffer cut MSU’s lead to two with 17:11 left to play, but it would end up being U-M’s only field goal for nearly 10 minutes. The Spartans went on an 18-7 run during the Wolverines’ shooting drought from the floor to take a commanding double-digit lead.

After Brenae Harris’ triple broke the scoring slump for U-M with 7:46 on the clock, MSU still led 52-39.

Bell finished the game as strong as she began, matching senior forward Courtney Schiffauer with four points in the final seven minutes.

“(Bell) did a really good job defensively against Kate (Thompson) the last couple of times, but I thought she really stepped up her offense tonight as well,” first-year U-M coach Kim Barnes Arico said.

“She’s a good player.”

Thomas sunk a pair of free throws at the 2:09 mark to give MSU its final points and largest lead of the night, 62-44.

Merchant was pleased to see Bell playing the role of aggressor from start to finish against the Wolverines. Throughout the season, the coach has pleaded for more intensity and relentlessness from Bell, who can appear timid on offense at times despite her outstanding skill set.

“She has so much talent, but then she can overthink sometimes,” Merchant said of Bell. “And I think coming into this game, knowing that the most important gift she could give our team was the defensive side of the ball, and that’s where she really wanted a redemption.”

The Spartans advance to Saturday’s semifinals where they will meet regular season Big Ten champion and No. 1-seed Penn State at approximately 7:30 p.m. MSU lost both prior matchups with the Nittany Lions by 21 and 15 points respectively.