ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Junior guard Theryn Hallock scored 23 of her 25 points in the second half, as the No. 21 MSU women’s basketball team cruised past No. 24 Michigan, 88-58, Saturday afternoon at the Crisler Center. It was the biggest margin of victory for MSU against U-M in Ann Arbor.
The teams battled in front of the fourth-largest crowd in Michigan women’s basketball history.
The Spartans have now won five-straight games, improving to 17-3 overall and 7-2 in Big Ten contests. Michigan had its four-game winning streak halted and fall to 14-6 overall and 5-4 in league contests. MSU head coach Robyn Fralick is just the third Spartan head coach to win her first three games against the Wolverines along with Karen Langeland and Mikki Baile.
For the second-straight game, Michigan State had four players in double figures led by 25 points from junior guard Theryn Hallock, who has the led the team in scoring for the third-straight game. She scored 14 points in the third quarter alone. Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault and junior forward Grace VanSlooten both poured in 18 points. Ayrault earned her sixth double-double of the season adding in 13 rebounds. Graduate guard Jaddan Simmons was solid in the first half and ended the game with 11 points and six boards.
Michigan was led by 15 points from Olivia Hobbs.
It was a back-and forth battle early on with the game tied at 10-10 at the first media timeout. The Wolverines took advantage of early foul calls going 7-for-7 from the charity stripe in the first quarter. The Spartans missed five-straight baskets as Michigan took a 18-17 lead to end the first quarter. Simmons and Ayrault led MSU after 10 minutes with five points each.
In the second quarter, Michigan took a 27-23 lead after the Spartans were held without a field goal for over three minutes. After four-straight MSU points, the Spartans trimmed the Wolverine lead to 30-27 with under two minutes remaining. Despite not making any field goals in the 2:35, Michigan State only trailed at half time, 33-29.Simmons led the Spartans with nine points at the break, including going 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.
The Spartans re-took the lead after a pair of treys from Ayrault and Hallock, 35-33.MSU went on to score the first 15 points of the second half to take a 44-33 advantage, which was Michigan State’s first double-digit lead of the game. The Spartan defense got the offense going. The Spartans had four steals in the…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Michigan State University Athletics…