Michigan State University
Illinois
No. 18 Spartans Edge Illini, 58-56
1/29/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan 29, 2004
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - Michigan State coach Joanne P. McCallie called it an ugly win, but the 18th-ranked Spartans defeated Illinois 58-56 for their third straight Big Ten road victory Thursday night.
"We've been challenged at every turn," McCallie said. "I just think it's a real credit to our team to fight hard and execute down the stretch."
Michigan State (16-3, 6-2 Big Ten) overcame a 12-point first-half deficit to hand Illinois its sixth straight defeat. The Illini had the ball with 4 seconds remaining but could not get a shot away, even though a play had been set up during a timeout.
"Either we slip the screen or we get a three," Illini coach Theresa Grentz said. "We didn't execute properly."
Lindsay Bowen led Michigan State with 17 points and Liz Shimek and Kelli Roehrig scored 12 points each.
Tiffanie Guthrie scored 17 points for Illinois (7-12, 1-7). Cindy Dallas added 12 points and 15 rebounds, leaving her only 14 rebounds shy of the school record of 933.
Illinois started strong, hitting its first three shots to build a 7-0 lead. The Illini controlled the boards early and at one point in the first half had out-rebounded the Spartans 14-3.
"We just came out flat," said Bowen. "We didn't have any energy. We weren't throwing the ball around."
A basket by Dallas put Illinois up 25-13 with 4:28 to go in the first half, but Michigan State scored the next 10 points during a 13-2 run, keyed by three baskets from Roehrig, and erased the deficit. Illinois led 27-26 at halftime.
The Spartans hit only 9-of-28 shots in the first half, but four were 3-pointers.
Michigan State took its first lead when Shimek's basket with 14:22 to go made it 35-33. After that, the lead changed hands four more times, with the Spartans taking it for good at 54-53 on Shimek's basket with 2:08 remaining.
"We had to pick up our defense and buckle down," Roehrig said. "I think we did that."
Grentz said her team matched up well against Michigan State, but failed to execute in key situations such as the final play.
"We had the open looks," she said. "We may not have gotten the ball to the open looks, but they were there. The key word for this game, I would say, execution."
Michigan State has defeated Northwestern in overtime, Minnesota by three and now Illinois by two points during its longest road stretch in the conference schedule. McCallie said the close victories have provided a big confidence boost.
"I think to be successful on the road you have to have leadership and good chemistry," McCallie said. "I think our team enjoys each other's company, I think we have fun on the road, and I think that helps ease the difficulty of playing away."
