The No. 18 women's basketball team (7-3) was defeated 84-65 by No. 9 Baylor Bears (10-1) in the Florida Sunshine Classic on Saturday. A strong second half from Baylor led the Bears to a win over MSU.
At first glance most of the stats would suggest a close game, but the Bears pulled away late and built a large lead to close the game out, despite MSU holding the lead for a majority of the game with 25:14 of lead time.
MSU had 35 total rebounds compared to 36 by Baylor, and the Spartans shot 44 percent compared to 46 percent shooting by Baylor. The big difference in this game was the turnover margin, the Spartans turned the ball over 20 times compared to just 11 by the Bears.
The Spartans had a great first half going up 46-33 at halftime and leading by as much as 15 all while controlling the pace of the half.
The second half is where the game took a turn for MSU. The Spartans last lead of the game came at the 13:13 mark of the second half, the Bears reclaimed the lead going up 50-48 after a 12-0 run. After taking the lead the Bears would cruise to victory, outscoring MSU 51-19 in the second half.
Freshman guard and forward Jasmine Lumpkin led the Spartans in scoring, putting up 16 on 6-of-12 shooting to go with four rebounds and three assists. Senior forward Becca Mills led the MSU on the glass grabbing eight rebounds all while putting up 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
Baylor sophomore Imani Wright led the way for the Bears scoring all 18 of her points in the second half on 6-of-10 shooting total. The win gives Baylor a 3-0 advantage in the all-time series.
The Spartans are back to action tomorrow with a game against the Syracuse Orange (8-2). After the game against Syracuse, the Spartans have a week off before beginning Big Ten play against the Northwestern Wildcats (10-0) on Dec. 28.
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