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Sports | Women's Basketball

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Comeback kid

Madison Williams already has suffered three anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, tears. But something is telling her she isn’t done yet. The redshirt junior center and former McDonald’s All-American only played in three collegiate games prior to this season. On Saturday night, a Breslin Center crowd of nearly 6,000 witnessed her play in her first game since Nov. 15, 2011. To a standing ovation from the crowd, Williams entered the game with about 15 minutes left in the first half. In two stints — one in the first half and one in the second half — Williams played five minutes and showed a glimpse of her potential when she scored six points, and recorded one rebound, one block and one steal. “(It’s) such a huge weight off,” Williams said about playing in her first game in two years. “All I’m thinking right now is I’m so thankful. God is so good to me just that I can get out there and I’m safe. He kept me safe in that game.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Women's basketball recovers from close first half, pulls away from Rice

After leading by only two points at halftime, the No. 21 MSU women’s basketball team made a 13-0 run midway through the second half that powered the Spartans through to a win against Rice on Saturday night at Breslin Center. Early in the first half, the Spartans (4-1 overall) got into foul trouble, which saw senior forward Annalise Pickrel head to the bench for most of the first half after picking up two fouls in just two minutes. In the second half, Rice (3-3) tied it right off the bat when forward Megan Palmer hit a layup, but back-to-back 3-pointers by senior guard Klarissa Bell and junior guard Kiana Johnson gave MSU the lead back, and the Spartans wouldn’t lose it again. With less than 10 minutes left, the Owls cut the lead to only four off an Alyssa Lang 3-pointer.