Michigan State women's basketball snapped a four-game losing streak Sunday, defeating Rutgers in dominant fashion in an 85-63 victory. The Spartans saw key contributions from freshman guard Abbey Kimball in the win.
The afternoon matchup at the Breslin Center was played in front of just over 5,000 fans and involved a celebration of Title IX as part of Alumni Day.
Following the win, MSU head coach Suzy Merchant along with senior guard Moira Joiner and Kimball all spoke to media.
Speaking about the strategy Michigan State employed against a skilled offensive rebounding team like Rutgers, Coach Merchant stressed the emphasis the coaching staff placed on defensive rebounding ahead of the matchup.
"We wanted to make sure they felt a little bit off balance" Merchant said. "And I think early in that first quarter, defensively, they were 15, 14 seconds on the shot clock. But one of the things I thought we did better than we’ve done – we’ve been harping on it and putting the bubble up – is our defensive rebounding."
The Spartans hauled in 14 offensive rebounds that led to 22 second-chance points while the Scarlet Knights managed just five offensive boards for two points. RU averaged 12.0 offensive rebounds coming into Sunday's matchup.
"These guys are 13-plus and a great offensive rebounding team" Merchant went on to add. "And to hold them to five (rebounds) and two (second-chance points) on defense I think is part of the reason why we were so efficient on defense is because we were able to get stops and keep our pressure on them in the transition game. Because our players, whether they were subs or starters, did a good job of pushing the tempo, making good decisions within that, not giving it back up to them when we had opportunities to get stops."
MSU scored 18 points on fast-break opportunities Sunday.
Joiner was happy to get the win Sunday, especially with the tough stretch of losses the Spartans have faced of late. The victory "meant a lot," Joiner admitted.
"Losing is not very fun, especially close ones like we have," Joiner said. "I think we’re a lot better team than what our record says, but it’s just a matter of getting the job done, which we haven’t done at the end of the game. So if we can spin those little things around and I think this was a good win to put on our backs to give us momentum."
Also noted by Joiner was the struggles the Spartans have experienced this season in the third quarter in games. The loss at Maryland on Jan. 7 was one of the worst examples of that this season when the Terrapins outscored the Spartans 30-11 (catch the post-game remarks by coach Merchant and Joiner here). On Sunday, Rutgers managed a less drastic 18-15 advantage in the third quarter. That marked the only period where RU outscored MSU.
"Yeah, I think basketball is a game of runs" Joiner voiced. "Teams are going to get little runs like that, but we just have to know that about ourselves and know that our third quarter may not be our strongest quarter so we have to come out with energy every time."
Joiner went on to note that, "There’s still a lot of season left. Then there’s the tournament and maybe more. That’s really all I’m focused on. We need to get some good quality wins under our belt and things move really fast. I think we can do that. I mean we have players like Abbey (Kimball) stepping up and filling roles."
Speaking about Kimball, both Joiner and Merchant had praise for the freshman who has overcome a bout with mononucleosis early in her start at Michigan State and then a back injury before emerging Sunday with a number of career-highs, including 13 points.
"(Abbey Kimball's) been playing well I think" Merchant said. "As I said on the radio show, early in the season, she was hampered with mono and that’s never good for anybody, but when its a freshman and it’s in the pre-season where you’re putting everything in and then she wasn’t able to do anything. It’s not like mono you can rehab and do other things.
"She really had to rest and then had a back injury, so she’s kind of had a couple things early. But she’s starting to kind of get into her groove a little bit. I think her basketball timing and everything has come back. And we saw that a little bit before Christmas and certainly felt that through this early part of January."
Overall, Kimball hit career-highs in points (13), minutes (16), field goals made (five), 3-point field goals made (two), rebounds (two) and assists (two) on Sunday.
"I’m definitely really proud of her" Joiner said about Kimball. "She kind of went through it mentally at the beginning of the year, coming in as a freshman getting sick right away is not ideal. We all knew what she could do, it was just when she decided she was going to do it and get out of her head and just play with confidence. She’s definitely going to help us down the line and I also could say that for (fellow freshman) Theryn Hallock. She’s been a spark for us as well."
Hallock also hit a career-high mark with four steals against Rutgers, matching sophomore point guard DeeDee Hagemann for the team-high.
You can catch Kimball's remarks, caught by David Harns of Spartans Illustrated, below:
Michigan State is off all week until it returns to the court on Sunday, Jan. 29 on the road at No. 21 Illinois. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. Eastern Time and the game will be carried on the Big Ten Network.
The matchup against the Illini is one of just two remaining games in the regular season scheduled on linear television for the season. The other is at Nebraska on Feb. 2, following the trip to Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.