Michigan State University
Iowa
Spartans Fall at Iowa, 82-64
2/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 7, 2008
IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Michigan State women's basketball team fell to Iowa, 82-64, Thursday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes, who remained in a tie for first place in the Big Ten standings with the win, shot 56 percent from the field and hit nine 3-pointers. Iowa has now won seven straight games to improve to 16-7 (9-3 Big Ten) for the season, while MSU is 13-11 (5-7).
The Hawkeye trio of Wendy Ausdemore, Johanna Solverson and Kristi Smith combined for 49 of Iowa's 82 points. Ausdemore led all scorers with 19 points and Solverson connected for 18 points.
"Their big three really played well tonight," said MSU head coach Suzy Merchant. "Solverson really stepped up for them, and as a team they played extremely well. I think the biggest thing I was impressed with for them was that all five players on the court were active defensively."
Kalisha Keane led the Spartans with 16 points, marking the 17th time she has scored in double-figures this season. She now has 315 points this season, which is already fifth best in the Spartan freshman record book.
Brittney Thomas, who scored a career-high 18 points in the first meeting against Iowa, again collected a double-figure scoring effort with 13 points. Thomas was 5-of-6 from the field, grabbed three rebounds and had two steals. In the two games vs. Iowa this season, Thomas averaged 15.5 points, 4.0 steals and shot 69 percent from the field (11-for-16).
MSU forced 23 Hawkeye turnovers and had 12 steals, but only had a two-point advantage in points off turnovers, 21-19. Cetera Washington and Mandy Piechowski swiped three steals apiece for Michigan State.
The Hawkeyes, in addition to their excellent shooting, outrebounded the Spartans, 43-30, and had 22 assists for their 30 field goals.
Allyssa DeHaan was limited to single-figures in scoring for just the sixth time this season. DeHaan had eight points and seven rebounds but shot 3-for-10 from the field.
Michigan State scored the game's first five points, but Iowa responded by scoring 14 unanswered points over the next four minutes to go up, 14-5. The Hawkeyes would hold the lead the rest of the game.
MSU battled back to cut the lead to three on an Alisa Wulff jumper that made it 18-15 at the 10:37 mark. Iowa extended its lead to as large as 10 points in the first half, but after two Courtney Davidson free throws with 14 seconds remaining, MSU was looking at a manageable seven-point deficit at the half. However, Solverson nailed a 3 as time expired, putting the Hawkeyes up 39-29 at the break.
Iowa led in double-digits for the remainder of the game after shooting 63 percent from the field in the second half.
Michigan State returns to action Monday, Feb. 11 to host Purdue at 7 p.m. in the Breslin Center. The MSU Athletics Department wants fans to "Think Pink", as the night will be dedicated to raising awareness and money to fight breast cancer. The Spartans will be wearing pink apparel to show their support for the cause, and breast cancer survivors will be honored at halftime.
