Michigan State women's basketball hosted arch-rival No. 18 Michigan Sunday afternoon hoping to upset the Wolverines. A strong first-half performance that saw the Spartans lead by as much as 12 wasn't enough as MSU fell 77-67, with the hated opponent playing spoiler on the team's National Girls and Women in Sports Day, where all the MSU women's teams were celebrated at half time.

The loss extended Michigan State's losing streak to three-games with head coach Suzy Merchant still missing from the sideline as she recovers from a car-crash on Jan. 28. The Spartans dropped to 11-12 overall and 3-9 in Big Ten action. It also marked the 12th loss this season by 10 points or less.

Matilda Ekh and Moira Joiner combined to lead Michigan State in scoring Sunday afternoon with 12 points each while Joiner tied DeeDee Hagemann for the team lead in steals with six each and Isaline Alexander for second in rebounding with six boards apiece. Hagemann was third in scoring with 11 points and led the team in helpers, falling just shy of a double-double with nine assists.

Taiyier Parks led the team on the glass with eight rebounds and was third on the team in steals with three. Kamaria McDaniel added nine points as well. Ekh's 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range was tied for her highest percentage shooting in a game with at last four attempts this season and her second straight of at least 50%+. It also marked just her third game of at least 50% or better since Jan. 2 at Northwestern.

Michigan's Leigha Brown led all scorers with 29 points, falling just shy of a triple-double with 12 rebounds and eight assists. Maddie Nolen added 22 points for the Wolverines.

The Spartans started off hot, jumping out to a 10-0 lead in the first three minutes of game action before the Wolverines could finally get on the board. MSU was able to keep the lead in double-digits for most of the first quarter, leading 19-7 with 3:38 left before UM was able to trim it to just six in the closing moments. A pair of free throws by Nolan cut it to 21-15 at the end of the opening stanza.

The second quarter settled into a game of runs as Michigan was able to cut into MSU's lead multiple times before the Spartans would respond. The Wolverines were able to tie it up at 31-31 with 3:02 remaining, but Michigan State dug in and ended the period on a 9-2 run to head into the locker room up 40-33.

The third quarter struggles that have plagues Michigan State for much of the season did not surface in Sunday's matchup to the extent they have all season, but Michigan was able to finally take the lead in the third stanza. An 8-1 run by the Wolverines to open the period saw UM manage to tie it up at 41-41 with 6:45 to go before MSU's McDaniel managed to respond with the first field goal of the second half for Michigan State. The teams traded the lead or tied it up six times to close out the third period with Michigan narrowly leading 56-55 thanks to a buzzer-beating half-point shot by Hagemann.

Things fell apart for Michigan State in the final quarter as the Wolverines pushed the visitor's lead out to as much as 13 three times in the final minutes. The Spartans were forced to resort to fouling late as Michigan ended the game on a 5:45 field goal drought.

Michigan State returns to action next at Wisconsin on Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The game will be available to stream on B1G+. In the meantime, join in on the conversation about the game in the Spartans Illustrated Message Board here.