East Lansing, MI. – The Lady Lions took an early 10 point lead in the first quarter against the Lady Spartans Monday evening and never looked back. Despite the Spartans fighting and clawing their way back in the game, they came up just short 79-71.
After a fast-paced first period, the Lady Lions were dropping threes in the second quarter extending their lead but the Spartans battled back to be down 42-34 at the half. Penn State had 6 treys made in the first half.
Early in the third quarter after a Spartan timeout Head Coach Suzy Merchant had her team pepped as they went on a tear closing the Lady Lions lead to just 5 points and outscored the Lions in the quarter.
In the final stanza, MSU got within five points before Penn State used a 7-0 run to re-establish the double-digit lead, 65-54. The Spartans started the fourth quarter cold only hitting on one shot out of the first 7 from the field. But halfway through the fourth quarter, the Spartans found their groove. Detroit Edison graduate and freshman DeeDee Hagemann nailed a huge 3-pointer and made it a 69-67 game but the Lady Lions then converted on a 3 point play putting them back up by 5. Down the stretch, the Spartans had to resort to having to foul and hoping for the rebound off the missed shots but the Lady Lions converted almost all its free throws to seal the win.
Senior guard Nia Clouden led the Spartan scorers with 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assist. Clouden is now number three on the Spartan’s all-time scoring list just now needing 6 points to be number 2.
Freshman guard Matilda Ekh had 14 points for the Spartans, Hagemann finished with 12 points and a career-high 8 rebounds. Tamara Farquhar put in 9 points and pulled down a team-high 13 rebounds.
Makenna Marisa led all scorers and the Lady Lions with 32 points, sinking 14 free throws and 2 3-point-goals. It was Marisa’s fifth 30 point game this season. Niya Beverly had 12 points, and Leilani Kapinus had 11 points and 6 rebounds in only 14 minutes of play. Anna Camden finished with 10 points and 7 blocked shots.
The 14-12 Spartans look to rebound as they travel to take on their arch enemies in Ann Arbor Thursday night, the 24th, at 6 p.m. The game will be featured on the Big Ten Network as they look to get the season sweep.
The 11-15 Lady Lions will travel to Columbus on Thursday the 24th to take on a very talented and tough Ohio State team. The game will be a 6 p.m. on Big Ten Plus.
