No. 10 Spartans Overwhelm Wildcats, 101-40

Feb. 3, 2005

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Victoria Lucas-Perry fell flat on her face in the tunnel after pre-game warm-ups, then had the last laugh on everyone.

Lucas-Perry's 25 points nearly doubled her career-high and almost quadrupled her season average as No. 10 Michigan State matched the largest victory margin in school history with a 101-40 win over Northwestern on Thursday night.

"I tripped on my way to the locker room before the game," Lucas-Perry said after hitting her first eight shots, including three 3-pointers, and scoring 21 first-half points -- the same total as the Wildcats.

"Everyone was teasing me about it. They said they should trip me before every game."

Liz Shimek added 21 points, Rene Haynes 19 and Lindsay Bowen 12 for the Spartans (19-3, 8-2 Big Ten), who scored in triple digits for the first time in more than four years. It was the Spartans third-highest point total in conference play and their first 100-point game in the Big Ten since 1997.

Liz Shimek is fouled while driving to the basket. (AP Photo/Al Goldis)

"It was awesome to see everyone come off the bench and not have any let-ups," Shimek said. "But this is our house. Every opponent is the same to us. We're just happy to come in here and play 40 minutes of Michigan State basketball for once."

Samantha McComb had 11 points, and Sarah Kwasinski added 10 for Northwestern (5-18, 2-8), which handed Big Ten leader Penn State its first conference loss last week.

"We didn't show up to play tonight," Wildcats coach Beth Combs said. "I'm embarrassed for our team, our program and our university. I don't have a whole lot of good things to say about what happened tonight. And I apologize for that.

"What we did tonight is bad for the league and bad for women's basketball."

Michigan State led 36-9 in a 56-21 first half, when Lucas-Perry surpassed her career-high of 15 points with 4:58 left until halftime.

The Spartans shot 60 percent from the field, outrebounded the Wildcats 47-19 and had 28 assists in their most-lopsided win since an 84-23 victory over Notre Dame in 1975.

Northwestern shot 30.2 percent and had 20 turnovers, which led to 29 Michigan State points.

Victoria Lucas-Perry and Rene Haynes apply defensive pressure during MSU's victory. (AP Photo/Al Goldis)

"The 28 assists was a season-high for us and one of the highest totals we've had," Spartans coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "But what I loved about this game more than anything else was the focus we showed in both halves. We got something from every sub we made."

Combs call Michigan State "a heckuva ballclub."

"Coach McCallie has done a fantastic job with them. They're very experienced. They play an incredibly great game," she said. "But we knew that coming in. You've got to come out ready to compete every night. And we didn't do that.

"I don't know where we were tonight. But we definitely weren't here."

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Lindsay Bowen

Rene Haynes

Victoria Lucas-Perry

Liz Shimek