Michigan State women’s basketball hosted No. 8 Maryland Saturday afternoon at the Breslin Center hoping to avenge its 94-85 loss at Maryland on Jan. 7. The familiar third-quarter woes the team has struggled with throughout the season returned, and the Spartans' furious late rally in the closing minutes wasn't enough as the team lost 66-61.
Coming just days after tragedy struck the campus, Michigan State encountered one of its worst shooting performances of the season from the field Saturday, finishing just 32.2%. In Big Ten action, only the visit from Michigan on Feb. 5 was worse at 31.2%.
The loss drops MSU to 13-13 on the season and 5-10 in conference play, while Maryland improves to 22-5 overall and 13-3 in league action.
Just two players for Michigan State finished in double figures, led by Julia Ayrault's 15 points and eight rebounds. Matilda Ekh added 11 points, but struggled from deep, going just 3-of-11 from 3-point range.
DeeDee Hagemann was on double-double watch with nine points and nine assists, and had a team-high three steals.
Maryland's Diamond Miller led all scorers with 29 points, while Abby Meyers added 14 for the Terrapins. The team's 35.8% shooting from the field was the second-worst in Big Ten action by UMD on the season, shooting just 30.3% at Nebraska on Jan. 22.
Michigan State started off well enough, jumping out to a 14-9 lead by the end of the first quarter despite six turnovers in the opening period. The second quarter saw Maryland take advantage of the paint and score 10 of its 18 points in the quarter from inside the paint. By halftime, it was a narrow 27-26 UMD lead.
Familiar third quarter struggles returned for Michigan State, albeit not as lopsided as the visit to College Park earlier this season when Maryland outscored MSU by 19 points. MSU kept it closer at just a 12-point differential this time as UMD outscored the Spartans 27-15 and took its advantage to 54-41 by the buzzer at the end of the third quarter. A 3-pointer by Ayrault in the final minute snapped a 6-0 run by the Terps that saw Maryland open its largest lead of the game at 16.
Another furious comeback by the Spartans came in the fourth quarter, just like at Maryland last month, but fell short. UMD was able to take advantage of the free-throw line to snap a 7-0 MSU run that cut it to just 63-61 UMD with 22 seconds remaining. The game ultimately ended in a five-point victory for Maryland.
Michigan State returns to the court next on Feb. 22 when Minnesota comes to visit. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Eastern Time and the game will stream on B1G+.
