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MINNEAPOLIS - Facing a halftime deficit and fourth loss in their last five games, the Spartan women's basketball team stepped up to help keep their NCAA Tournament hopes intact.
Kalisha Keane came off the bench to score 16 points to lead Michigan State to a pivotal 66-57 win over Minnesota on Sunday.
"I think we handled the pressure better and capitalized on more opportunites," coach Suzy Merchant said. "I thought the girls off the bench were big on scoring for us."
Lauren Aitch also came off the Spartan bench, adding 12 points and five rebounds.
The Gophers (11-8, 4-4) looked to be in command just over four minutes into the second half, leading by 10 points and forcing Michigan State into mistakes.
But the Spartans, just like the men's team had done the day before at Williams Arena, rallied back.
Minnesota led 46-44 with under nine minutes to play. Then the familiar shortcomings of an offensively challenged team - Minneosta ranks last in the Big Ten in field-goal success - surfaced. The Gophers had three field goals in a span of eight-plus minutes down the stretch, and when they weren't missing shots they were committing turnovers.
At the same time, Michigan State was able to solve a trapping Minnesota defense that forced 19 Spartan turnovers.
Keane benefited the most as the Spartans started passing over the top to open shooters.
The junior forward hit a pair of 3-pointers 31 seconds apart to put MSU ahead 56-50 with 5:31 to play. The Gophers never got closer than six after that.
"We didn't have the proper rotation to get steals, and we were leaving No. 32 (Keane) wide open for 3's,'' Minnesota coach Pam Borton said. "I thought defensively, we broke down a lot the last 10 minutes whether it was rebounding, letting the ball go into the post and just not making proper rotations."
The Spartans got hot in the second half to overcome a three-point Gopher halftimelead. Michigan State converted 15 of 26 second-half shot attempts while Minnesota made only 9 of 27.
The Spartans improved on a 40 percent shooting effort in the first half, improving to a stellar 57 percent from the field in the second half.
"Our offense kept their composure a little better (in the second half)," Merchant said.
Four Spartans scored in double figures. Along with Keane and Aitch, Lykendra Johnson chipped in with 11 points while Brittney Thomas had 10.
Johnson also grabbed 11 rebounds for Michigan State (13-7, 4-5).
Ashley Ellis-Milan led Minnesota with 12 points. Kiara Buford had 11 for the Gophers while Katie Ohm had 10 points.
Minnesota, once 4-0 in the Big Ten, was without guard China Antoine, who sat out her second consecutive game because of a knee injury.
The Spartans took advantage of their depth - especially down the stretch during the comeback - outscoring the Gopher bench 26-10.
"[Depth] was part of it,'' said Ohm, who replaced Antoine in the starting lineup. "But we couldn't get a stop [defensively]; it felt like they came down and scored every time. They were just tougher than us.
Dennis Bracken of the Minneapolis Star Tribune contributed to this report.
MSU 66, Minnesota 57
MICHIGAN STATE (66)
Player M FG FT R A F Pt
Johnson 37 5-11 1-1 11 2 2 11
Thomas, B 36 4-6 2-2 5 2 3 10
Jefferson 24 2-5 0-1 1 1 2 4
DeHaan 19 1-5 2-2 4 1 1 4
Thomas, J 18 1-6 0-0 2 1 1 2
Aitch 21 5-7 2-4 5 1 3 12
Keane 18 6-10 0-0 1 4 3 16
Washingtn 16 1-1 0-0 0 4 2 2
Poole 11 2-5 0-1 0 1 1 5
TEAM 7
Totals 200 27-56 7-11 36 17 18 66
MINNESOTA (57)
Player M FG FT R A F Pt
McCoy 39 2-6 5-6 5 7 4 9
Buford 36 5-13 0-0 2 3 2 11
Voigt 34 1-4 2-2 6 0 2 5
Ohm 30 3-8 1-2 3 0 2 10
Ellis-Milan 27 5-10 2-2 6 0 1 12
Harper 17 3-5 1-4 4 1 3 7
Mastey 13 1-4 0-0 1 0 0 3
Cotton 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Loberg 2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
TEAM 4
Totals 200 20-51 11-16 31 11 14 57
3-point goals--MSU 5-19 (Johnson 0-4, Thomas, B 0-1, Jefferson 0-2, Thomas, J 0-2, Keane 4-8, Poole 1-2), Minnesota 6-15 (Buford 1-5, Voigt 1-1, Ohm 3-8, Mastey 1-1). Turnovers--MSU 19, Minneosta 19. Halftime score--Minnesota 32, MSU 29. A--6,018.
