Michigan State University
15-4, 6-2B1G
Purdue
15-5, 6-3B1G
No. 18 Michigan State Tops Purdue, 68-56
1/27/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) Aerial Powers scored a season-high 25 points and grabbed six rebounds to help No. 18 Michigan State beat Purdue 68-56 on Wednesday night.
"We had a good three quarters. We just settled a little bit at the end there, but it's a good Purdue team. They were down a man, and we were down a man. So to watch other kids have to go and step up and do some things was positive. A win is a win, right? Don't complicate winning," MSU head coach Suzy Merchant said.
Powers was 10-of-16 shooting from the field and hit 4 of 5 free throws.
Powers had 15 points in the first half as Michigan State jumped out to a 37-24 lead. She scored six of the first 10 Spartan points of the second half to extend their lead to 47-28.
Michigan State went on an 8-0 run for a 66-40 lead with 4:28 remaining, but Purdue closed on a 16-2 run.
Tori Jankoska hit four 3-pointers and scored 16 points for Michigan State (15-4, 6-2 Big Ten), which has won three in a row and 11 of its last 13. Branndais Agee added 11 points.
Torrie Thornton, Ashley Morrissette and Dominique McBryde each scored nine points for Purdue (15-5, 6-3).
Michigan State is back in action against Wisconsin on Sunday, Jan. 31 at 4 p.m. The game is on BTN Plus. This is the second meeting between the Spartans and the Badgers. MSU won the first battle 77-67 in East Lansing. Wisconsin is the first team that MSU has played twice.
Post-Game Notes vs. Purdue (Jan. 27)
● Junior guard Aerial Powers scored a season-high 25 points, shooting 10-of-16 from the field and adding six rebounds and three steals.
● Junior guard Tori Jankoska netted 16 points, sinking four 3-pointers in the matchup. Jankoska added five rebounds and five assists in playing a team-high 33 minutes.
● Freshman Jenna Allen and Purdue freshman Dominique McBryde were teammates at Bedford North Lawrence High School. Allen scored six points and grabbed a career-best eight boards in a career-high 23 minutes Wednesday.
● MSU moves to 3-0 when Branndais Agee, Jasmine Hines, Aerial Powers, Tori Jankoska and Akyah Taylor fill the starting lineup.
● Four Spartans (Hines, Jankoska, Powers, Taylor) grabbed at least five rebounds in the matchup. MSU out-worked Purdue on the boards by a palindromic, 43-34. The Spartans are now 14-3 this season when out-rebounding their opponent, logging a double-figure rebounding edge for the second game in a row and fifth in the last six as part of 15th time this season.
● The Spartans, who rank first in the Big Ten in 3-point field goal percentage defense, held Purdue to 2-of-11 (.182) from behind the arc, marking their second-straight game and 10th game holding the opposition under 20 percent.
● Michigan State shot 11-of-12 from the charity stripe, including a perfect 4-4 in the third quarter, good for a season-high 91.7 percentage.
