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Jankoska scores 1,000th career point in MSU win over Idaho State

November 21, 2015
<p>With 12 points against Northwestern, Jankoska solidified double-figure scoring in each of the team's 15 games this season. Jankoska has scored double figures in 65 career games and has made a three-pointer in each game this season. Prior to the season, Jankoska ranked eighth all-time in three-pointers made with 132. Jankoska has scored a three-pointer in each game this season.</p>

With 12 points against Northwestern, Jankoska solidified double-figure scoring in each of the team's 15 games this season. Jankoska has scored double figures in 65 career games and has made a three-pointer in each game this season. Prior to the season, Jankoska ranked eighth all-time in three-pointers made with 132. Jankoska has scored a three-pointer in each game this season.

Photo by Alice Kole | The State News

The No. 23 Women's basketball team cruised past the Idaho State Bengals for its third victory of the season, by a final score of 79-60.

But one of the biggest stories to come out of Saturday’s victory was the performance out of junior point guard Tori Jankoska.

Coming into Saturday’s contest, Jankoska was averaging 20 points per game, 3.5 rebounds and averaging 33 minutes in two games this season. Jankoska started the contest with 991 career points, and her 18 point performance put her over 1,000 points, becoming the 25th player in team history to do so.

Jankoska’s 1,000 career point came on a 3-point shot roughly 30 seconds into the second quarter. But Jankoska credits her teammates for being able to set her up with success.

“I take what the defense gives me," Jankoska said. "If they’re going to slack off then I’m going to shoot it, and if I see someone open I’m going to pass it. I really want to be that special team that everyone thinks we can be this year so we’re doing whatever we can, or what I can to get to the spot that we need to be.”

The entire Spartan offense was also able look good all throughout the first half, leading by a score of 45-28 going into halftime. Michigan State shot a 54.3 percent from the field. Leading MSU with scoring was Jankoska, with 11 points and seven assists. Senior center Jasmine Hines was also helping the Spartan cause with 10 points and four rebounds.

“I think we had really good energy coming out the gates, but I think we need to carry that a little better throughout the game,” Hines said. “But I think we shot the ball well, we could have rebounded a little better. But a win’s a win so you can’t really say too many bad things about it but we definitely have some growing points.”

MSU’s defense was showing its presence yet again, with two blocks and seven steals (they finished the game with five blocks and 14 steals). The Bengals shot an impressive 45.8 percent from the field, and scored an alarming 57.1 percent of their  3-point shots. Idaho State did struggle to keep the ball in their possession however, with 13 turnovers in the first half.

On top of Jankoska’s stellar performance, junior Aerial Powers made her season debut after sitting out the first two games of the season due to achilles soreness. Powers’s presence adds versatility to the already potent roster and the depth of the Spartan roster can prove to be a lethal combination for opponents in the weeks to come.

“I love having the depth that we have,” head coach Suzy Merchant said to the media following Saturday’s game. "Everybody wants to play, I want to start every kid and play them forty minutes, but that’s not a reality so how we are going to respond to our roles is going to be incredibly important and I think so far we’ve done a decent job at that but it’s something we have to get better at.”

Despite MSU leading the way with their potent shooting power, Idaho State shot very well, despite what the final score said. The Bengals shot very seldomly, but ended up being 22-52 (42.3 percent) in total field goal attempts, and 8-14 (57.1 percent) of their 3-point shots.

All in all the Spartans looked good, yet again. They finished shooting a 48.5 field goal rate, including 31.8 percent from behind the arc. Jankoska finished with 18 points and nine assists, while Hines had 16 points and eight rebounds. Powers finished her season debut with 12 points, three rebounds and two assists.

MSU will now pack its bags and get ready for the Junkanoo Jam, where they will head to the Bahamas over Thanksgiving break to play Cincinnati and Baylor. The game against Cincinnati will be on Friday, with tip-off set for 5:45 p.m.

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