MSU was off and running early when the Spartans went on a 24-3 run over a span of more than six minutes in the first quarter. The Spartans held a 27-7 lead going into the second quarter.

However, MSU struggled mightily in the second quarter, at one point missing 10 straight field goals and goign through a seven minute scoring drought. The Spartans’ misfortune ended after Tori Jankoska made her fourth  3-pointer of the night and gave MSU a 33-23 point going into the half.

"That's a good team in a good league in the SEC, they're not going to go away." head coach Suzy Merchant said after Monday's game. "You knew the were going to come back and I like the fact that we were able to be resilient in that second half and we came out stronger than they did." 

Georgia was able to capitalize on Spartan mistakes and went on to a 14-0 run spanning over five minutes. The Bulldogs defense forced nine turnovers prior to halftime.

Spartan defense was potent early on, limiting Georgia to a measly 28.6 percent field goal rate, and also limited the Bulldogs to 25 percent from behind the arc.

And although the Spartans enjoyed a lead for almost the entire night, the score was a lot closer than it needed to be. MSU was plagued by a flurry of fouls throughout the game. The Spartans had 14 fouls going into the half and 28 by the end of the game (54 between both teams). Senior center Jasmine Hines was ejected after her fifth foul.

But the Spartans gained a second wind in the second half. MSU picked up the pace of play and opened the game back up and at one point led by 27 points.

"Coach was telling us before the game things to emphasize," sophomore point guard Morgan Green said.  "You want to come out strong and you want to punch them in the mouth before they were to do it to us, which I think we were successful at, but we kind of backed off a little bit and then they went on their run.”

Junior point guard Tori Jankoska led the scoring for MSU, with 20 points. Redshirt sophomore Branndais Agee was also a major contributor with 14 points and 5 rebounds, and sophomore Morgan Green had her first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Green was only three assists shy of a triple-double.

“Morgan (Green) has a swag to herself," senior forward Akyah Taylor said.  "She’s a passer and we’ve all seen that, we know we have a guard that can push it, she can score too. Setting us up to be better scorers and being in the position to score as well has really helped us."

The bottom line looked good for the Spartan offence who shot 35.8 percent of their field goals, 33.3 percent of their threes and 80.8 percent from the line.

Another plus for MSU was the defense, who proved that its dominance is here to stay after being ranked first in the country after their victory against Western Michigan. The Spartans forced 18 turnovers and limited the Bulldog’s field goal scoring to 25.9 percent, and Georgia only making 8.3% of their three point shots.  

The Spartans will take a few days off to recoup before they take on the Idaho State Bengals on Saturday.  Tip-off is set for noon.