Michigan State saw a two-game win streak snapped Saturday as the team dropped its Big Ten season opener to Nebraska. Falling 80-74 to the Cornhuskers, the Spartans fall to 7-2 on the season and begin league play 0-1.
The Husker victory improves UNL to 11-6 all-time against MSU and 4-5 in East Lansing. It also marks the seventh of 11 wins by UNL in the series to come by 10 points or less.
Moira Joiner led all scorers for the afternoon with 18 points, including 7-for-8 from the charity stripe. Joiner was just 1-for-8 from deep as the Spartans 3-point shooting proved disastrous on the day. Michigan State hit a season low of just 14.8% from beyond the arc, beating out by far the previous low by almost 14 percentage points when MSU went 28.6% against Miami (OH) last Sunday, Dec. 3. The team also shot a season low 40.3% from the field overall.
Theyrn Hallock was the only other Spartan to hit double figures scoring, notching a career-high 17 points. Hallock also led the team in steals with four. Julia Ayrault was tied with Tory Ozment for third in scoring with nine apiece, while Ayrault led the team in rebounds (6), assists (5), and blocks (2).
Nebraska saw a team effort in scoring as seven players scored eight or more, with four finishing in double figures. Alexis Markowski led Huskers in multiple stat lines with a double-double of 13 points and 17 rebounds, while adding three steals.
Jaz Shelley and Jessica Petria both finished with 11 points, while Shelley led in helpers with nine assists. Natalie Potts added 10 points and a team high two blocks.
Overall, the Huskers bested the team's season average from deep (33.2%) with a blistering 43.5% clip from 3-point range, finishing the day 10-for-23. That difference proved one of the key facets in Nebraska's win as Michigan State outscored Nebraska on turnover points (18-15), in the paint (44-36), had the overwhelming advantage in ball security (24 UNL turnovers to 12 by MSU), and narrowly trailed in second chance points (15-12). That second chance difference came despite a lopsided 46-30 rebounding advantage by the Cornhuskers.
MSU got on the board first with a layup by Jocelyn Tate on the team's opening possession, but UNL tied it up right away and then jumped out to a lead it would hold until around the midway point of the first quarter.
The opening stanza was a back and forth battle throughout, with the lead changing or score being tied 14 times, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Nebraska's Kendall Coley to take a narrow 21-19 lead. The Spartans had great ball movement to start the game, notching six total assists by five different players in the first quarter.
Nebraska was able to keep up its momentum at the end of the first quarter, stretching that buzzer-beater into a 10-0 run Michigan State couldn't stymie through the first two minutes of action in the second quarter. Finally a second-chance score by Ayrault snapped the run with 2:01 into the second stanza. The bucket sparked a 6-0 run for MSU that cut a nine-point Husker lead to three, trailing 28-25.
One more UNL run marked the final large swing for the visitors of the second quarter as Nebraska used a 8-0 run to open its first double-digit lead of the afternoon. Trailing 36-25, MSU was able to use a 6-0 run to bring it back within five with 3:29 remaining.
A late 6-0 run by the Spartans cut it to just 38-37 with one minute remaining, and the teams headed into the locker room at the half with Michigan State trailing 43-39. Joiner led the Spartans with 10 of her points on the day, while Pietrie scored all 11 of her points for the Huskers in the first half.
The third quarter was a slog for both teams they combined for the fewest points of the game. After initially trimming its deficit to just five in the opening minute and a half of action, the Spartans were unable to keep it any closer for the remainder. Nebraska would fluctuate its lead to as high as 10, but Michigan State never let the visitors run away with it and trimmed it to as few as six three times. At the buzzer for the third stanza, MSU trailed 60-52.
The fourth quarter was all Nebraska to start with as the Huskers jumped out to a double digit lead and kept it there until the final minute of the game. MSU trailed by as much as 17 with just 2:17 left, but a 14-1 run ensued in the closing minutes. Only broken up by a free throw by the Huskers, MSU over 1:52 in the closing moments was capped by by a free throw by Hallock to trim the Spartans' deficit to just 78-74 with :11 remaining. Michigan State was unable to find the final points needed as the team was forced to foul on the Nebraska rebound, and Shelley sunk both her free throws. A layup by Hallock with :03 left was rebounded by Potts for UNL and that was the game.
Michigan State will take the week off before hosting Central Michigan in non-conference play next Sunday, Dec. 17. Start time is set for 2 p.m. at the Breslin Center in East Lansing with the game being streamed on B1G+. League play will resume for MSU at the end of the month with a visit to Penn State on Dec. 30.
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