Michigan State University
Minnesota
Spartans Upset No. 10 Minnesota
1/23/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan 23, 2003
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Kelli Roehrig proved her coach right once again.
Roehrig came off the bench to score a career-high 27 points in 26 minutes to lead the Spartans to a 74-71 victory over No. 10 Minnesota on Thursday night.
``She is an extremely, extremely dangerous player in the Big Ten,'' Spartans coach Joanne McCallie said. ``She can take games over and she showed that tonight.''
Roehrig shot 13-of-16 to lead the Spartans (10-7, 3-3 Big Ten).
``I like seeing things at the beginning of the game,'' Roehrig said of not starting. ``Its just that much easier coming in because you know what's going on and you know what to expect.''
Corrin Von Wald scored 24 points to lead Minnesota (15-2, 4-2).
The Spartans used a 14-6 run in the final 6:37 to secure the victory.
After Michigan State's Kristin Haynie made two free throws to give the Spartans a 72-71 lead with 29 seconds left, the Gophers set up a play for All-American Lindsay Whalen. But when Whalen attempted to drive between two defenders, she had the ball knocked loose and stolen by Haynie.
Two free throws by Julie Pagel clinched the game for the Spartans with 2.4 seconds remaining.
Whalen, who entered the game averaging 24.5 points, was held to a season-low seven points on 2-of-9 shooting.
``We shut her down and shut her penetration down,'' said Haynie, who had 14 points, five rebounds and five assists. ``We had a lot of pinch help.''
Even with Whalen having an off night, Von Wald almost carried the Golden Gophers to their 16th victory of the season. Von Wald scored 15 of her 24 points in the second half.
``It's not going to be Whalen's night every night,'' Minnesota coach Pam Borton said. ``Corrin did a good job of knocking down some open shots.''
The win was Michigan State's second over a top-10 team this year. Earlier in the season, the Spartans defeated then-No. 7 Purdue, 67-62.
