Michigan State University
Oklahoma St
MSU Women's Basketball Drills Oklahoma State, 91-39
12/29/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2002
EAST LANSING, Mich. - In a dominating performance not seen at MSU since the early years of the program, the Michigan State women's basketball team hammered Oklahoma State, 91-39, in front of 4,316 fans Sunday in the Breslin Center. The 52-point margin of victory was the largest in a game for MSU since a 91-36 win against Wayne State, Jan 3, 1978. The victory, MSU's fourth in its last five games, improved the Spartans' record to 6-4, while Oklahoma State slipped to 3-7.
Senior Syreeta Bromfield (Kingston, Jamaica) had her second double-double of the season with 24 points and 12 rebounds and added five assists and five steals with no turnovers for MSU. Sophomore Kelli Roehrig (Papillion, Neb.) also had a double-double, the first of her career, with 10 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Freshman Lindsay Bowen (Dansville) had a career-high with 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting, while freshman Liz Shimek (Empire) added 16 points and nine rebounds.
MSU rolled to a 48-13 halftime lead, tying a Breslin Center record for fewest points allowed in a half, and allowed its fewest points in a game (39) since defeating Samford 63-35 Dec. 8, 2000. Offensively, MSU shot 50 percent from the floor (32-of-64) en route to its most points scored since getting 101 against Chicago State Nov. 26, 2000.
"Our team played very, very, very tough," said MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie. "Our kids really got out there and played well together as a team. Our team showed a lot of heart today. We distinguished ourselves as a very tough team."
The game was never close, as MSU scored the first seven points, and had built a 29-4 lead with 8:40 left in the opening half. A Bromfield bucket just before the half gave MSU its biggest first-half lead, 48-13, at intermission. MSU made seven-of-12 three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes, outrebounded OSU 27-13, and forced 14 turnovers while committing just five to build the big lead. Oklahoma State shot just 25 percent in the opening period, making six of its 24 shots.
The lead continued to build throughout the second half, growing to 40 points at 57-17 and 50 points at 77-27 with 5:19 still to play. Two free throws by senior Jennifer Callier (Indianapolis, Ind.) gave MSU its largest lead of 58 points at 91-33 with 44 second left as MSU threatened the school record for margin of victory, which stands at 61. However, six points in the final 30 seconds by the Cowgirls erased any chances of that happening, and also prevented OSU from setting a new Breslin Center record for fewest points in a game (38 by Indiana, 2/11/90).
MSU dominated the statistics, finishing with a 49-25 rebounding advantage, holding Oklahoma State to 28.1 percent shooting (16-of-57) and forcing 23 turnovers while committing 15. MSU made 19-of-24 free throws (79.2 percent) while OSU sank just four of its six attempts. The Cowgirls also made only three of their 14 three-point tries while MSU nailed 8-of-16, including four treys by Bowen and three by Bromfield.
Sophomore Kristin Haynie (Mason) added seven points, five assists, tied a career-high with five steals and had no turnovers for MSU, which collected 15 steals during the game.
"I liked the leadership element, especially by Syreeta defensively," stated McCallie. "We really worked hard defensively as a team. This was a total team effort."
Michigan State open the Big Ten season with the Spartans visit Northwestern Thursday, Jan. 2, at 7 p.m.
Spartan Notebook:
* Lindsay Bowen sank all four of her free throw attempts and is now 26-for-26 this season. Bowen's 26 consecutive free throws made is the fourth-longest streak in MSU history. The record is 35 by Maxann Reese.
* This is the first time this season that two MSU players have recorded double-doubles in the same game.
* Michigan State has now outrebounded nine of its 10 opponents this year and leads the Big Ten with a rebounding margin of +13.5.
* Junior Theresa Pusateri (Homewood, Ill.), a walk-on who joined the team in mid-season, scored the first point of her career by sinking one of two free throws in the first half.
