Michigan State University
Indiana
Spartans Blank Hoosiers In OT For 60-51 Win
2/29/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 29, 2004
By MICHAEL MAROT
AP Sports Writer
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - Michigan State coach Joanne McCallie had one instruction for her team before Sunday's overtime period started: Attack.
The Spartans followed McCallie's advice perfectly.
Lindsay Bowen scored 19 points and Liz Shimek hit a 3-pointer to ignite a 9-0 spurt in overtime as the 22nd-ranked Spartans pulled away for a 60-51 victory.
"We'd been there before and so I told them exactly what we needed to do," McCallie said. "We wanted to walk out of here feeling very good about what we had done."
The Spartans (20-7, 10-6 Big Ten) had reason to smile Sunday.
They snapped a three-game losing streak heading into the Big Ten tournament, produced their first 20-win season since 1996-97 and won their 10th road game of the season, the first time that's been done in school history.
But most of all, they played like McCallie wanted -- with relentless effort on defense while pounding Indiana inside.
Michigan State had nearly as many offensive rebounds (21) as baskets (23), forced 24 turnovers and took advantage of their stronger interior game when it mattered most -- in the five-minute overtime.
The combination was too much for Indiana (11-16, 4-12), which lost for the ninth time in 10 games.
"We played really great defense but we couldn't finish anything by keeping them off the glass," coach Kathi Bennett said. "We did everything else right, but you can't give them 21 offensive putbacks."
Part of the problem was Michigan State, which got 14 points and 11 rebounds from Kelli Roehrig and eight points and 10 rebounds from Shimek.
The other issue was fatigue, which was compounded when Indiana lost starting guard LeeAnn Stephenson in the final seconds of the first half.
Stephenson left after Julie Pagel ran her over, knocking her hard into the press row table. Team officials called it an upper chest injury although Stephenson sat near the end of the bench in the second half with a large ice pack draped over her right shoulder.
Bennett said Stephenson went to the hospital for X-rays after the game. There was no immediate word on how long she might be out.
Without Stephenson, the Hoosiers resorted to Plan B.
Jenny DeMuth, who scored 23 points, played 44 minutes. So did center Sarah McKay, who blocked seven shots and broke Indiana's freshman record for blocks in a season with 52. The previous record was held by Shirley Bryant, who had 47 in 1985.
Guard Cyndi Valentin, who had 16 points and tied the score at 51 with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to force overtime, played 38 minutes. She made all six of her free-throw attempts to set an Indiana record for men and women by extending her streak to 40 in a row. The previous school mark was 38, set by men's player Pat Graham during the 1990-91 season.
 Michigan State's Patrice McKinney (34) goes up for a shot after driving past Indiana's Annika Boyd (13) during the second half. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)  | |
"Losing LeeAnn was huge for us with our rotation," Bennett said. "When she was in, she handled the full-court pressure beautifully."
Michigan State took advantage of the Hoosiers' plight.
Shimek's 3-pointer from the right corner with 3:19 to go broke the tie. Roehrig followed that with a lay-up on the Spartans' next possession.
Indiana had to scramble to get back into the game, but was error-prone. It turned the ball over three times and missed two 3-pointers, and the Spartans sealed the win by making four straight free throws in the final 28 seconds.
"We really played well together and we won with boards and turnovers," McCallie said. "None of the shooting impressed anybody I'm sure."
By drawing 2,615 fans, the Hoosiers also broke their single-season record for attendance with 26,205. They set the mark last year with 26,101.
Spartan Notebook:
* Michigan State has earned the fifth seed for the Big Ten Tournament. The Spartans will play No. 4 seed Iowa Friday, March 5, in the day's second game at approximately 2:30 p.m. in Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
