Michigan State University
Iowa
Women's Basketball Holds Off Iowa
1/21/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2000
Iowa City, Iowa - The Michigan State women's basketball held off a late rally by the Iowa Hawkeyes to claim an 82-77 victory and extend its winning streak to three games. With the win, the Spartans improve to 13-4 overall and move into a tie with Michigan for second place in the Big Ten with a 4-2 record. The Hawkeyes fall to 5-11overall and 2-5 in the league.
?That was a scary game for us,? MSU coach Karen Langeland said. ?Iowa did a great job. We didn't have an answer for their two guards in the second half. They got three's, they penetrated and they shot free throws. They did whatever they had to do to try and win the game. I thought they were outstanding.?
After the Spartans went into the half with a 36-27 advantage, guards Cara Consuegra and Lindsey Meder went to work for the Hawkeyes in the second half, scoring 43 of Iowa's 50 points in the final 20 minutes.
A pair of free throws by senior Maxann Reese gave MSU its biggest lead of the game at 66-50 with 8:43 left in the contest. Consuegra then rattled off 12 points during a 16-9 run by the Hawkeyes to pull Iowa within seven at 73-66 with 4:10 to go. The Spartans pushed the lead back to double-figures with less than a minute to go, but the Hawkeyes kept plugging away and cut the lead to 80-75 after a three-pointer by Consuegra with just 12.1 seconds to play. Maxann Reese hit a pair of free throws with 11.1 seconds left to secure the victory.
The Spartans shot 56 percent from the field in the game, including 60 percent in the second half, while the Hawkeyes struggled with a .348 shooting percentage. Junior Becky Cummings, who scored 12 of her 22 points in the first half, paced the Spartan shooting effort with a 7-of-7 performance from the field, while going 8-of-9 from the free throw line.
Maxann Reese scored 24 points and hit 8-of-8 shots from the free throw line to extend her consecutive free throw streak to 30. The two teams combined, went to the free throw line 67 times. Senior Kristen Rasmussen recorded her 10th double-double of the year with 12 points and 10 rebounds and contributed a team high six assists.
Consuegra ended the game with 28 points, while Meder added 25 for the Hawkeyes who outrebounded MSU, 36-33.
The Spartans return to action on Sunday, Jan. 23 when they host fourth-ranked Penn State at the Breslin Center at 2 p.m.
