With Big Ten Tournament hopes hanging on by a thread, Northwestern (8-18, 2-13 B1G) suffered a lopsided 104-68 defeat to No. 18 Michigan State (21-6, 10-6 B1G).
The Spartans pulled away in the second quarter, outscoring the visiting Wildcats 32-14 after a back-and-forth first ten minutes.
Grace VanSlooten led the way for Michigan State, pouring in 22 on 10-for-17 shooting in addition to 7 rebounds.
Grace Sullivan scored 23 for Northwestern in the loss, and Casey Harter netted 14. Caroline Lau scored nine and dished out 10 assists to keep pace for the Big Ten assist title.
Despite dropping four of the last five prior to their contest with the ‘Cats, the Spartans led for all but one minute and shot 50% from behind the arc.
Turnovers were key in this one. Northwestern turned the ball over 17 times to Michigan State’s five.
Northwestern is still mathematically alive to make the Big Ten Tournament. The ‘Cats are one game back from Indiana and the No. 15 spot with three games to play. They’ll need to win two of their last three to have a chance at postseason basketball.
Casey Harter grabbed an easy basket to start the scoring in East Lansing. For the next two minutes, however, turnovers plagued the ‘Cats and the Spartans ripped off a 9-0 scoring run. After a missed jumper from Grace Sullivan, Tayla Thomas grabbed a board and lifted it in for a two to break the drought for the visitors. The ‘Cats tried to gain back momentum after a subsequent Caroline Lau three, Michigan State would stay hot, taking a 16-9 lead into the first media timeout.
Leaving the break, a quick steal at half court from Grace Vanslooten continued MSU’s dominance and the Spartans only continued to pull away thereafter. Lau and Xamiya Walton’s buckets didn’t do much to cut into the Spartan lead, as for every purple point, a green one followed. Michigan State led 23-14 after one, closing out the first quarter by forcing Northwestern’s sixth turnover in ten minutes.
Sullivan recorded her first four points of the day to start the second quarter, scoring twice in three minutes. Another steal and three-pointer from the Spartans extended the deficit to 13, Northwestern down 31-18 at the second media timeout.
Head coach Joe Mckeown made some adjustments after the stoppage, turning to Amparo López and Kat Righeimer. Amaro quickly made her presence known, shoving her way into the paint and knocking one in before hitting a three to bring Northwestern’s total past 20.
For the last three minutes of the half, Michigan State dominated scoring production, soaring past 50 points and ending the second quarter on a 12-2 run. Northwestern’s lone basket came courtesy of a left-handed layup from Harter as turnovers continued to plaque the overmatched Wildcats.
Michigan State carried a comfortable 55-28 lead into halftime.
VanSlooten broke her career high for most points in the first half with 16 and also led the Spartans with 6 boards. Marah Dykstra also collected 11 for MSU, providing a strong secondary option. For the green, 19 points came off turnovers and 13 in the fast break.
Northwestern clearly struggled to find rhythm in the first half, shooting just 45% from the field. Offensively, the scoring was evenly distributed with Sullivan, López , and Lau each netting five points, and Harter leading the way with six. Turnovers doomed the ‘Cats early, as Northwestern coughed up the ball 10 times in the first half. Michigan State turned the ball over just twice.
In order to spot a comeback, the ‘Cats needed to play a near perfect game. Leaving halftime, this proved to be a difficult feat.
Sullivan started the second half hot, scoring six straight for Northwestern to bring her scoring total on the night to 11, but she received no help from the rest of the Northwestern roster. Two missed jump-shots from Northwestern’s leading scorer and one from Walton resulted in a three minute scoring drought for the visitors.
As Michigan State eclipsed 70 points, five points from Harter and two more from Sullivan finally pushed Northwestern into the forties. By the end of the third, NU found glimpses of the momentum they dearly needed. In the last four minutes of the quarter, the ‘Cats led 11-8 to get within 30.
The fourth did little to inspire confidence. Harter and Lau each chipped in a point from the free-throw line, Thomas added a bucket before fouling out, Rachel Mutombo collected the first points of her Northwestern career and López tacked on two.
Sullivan took advantage of garbage time, scoring ten to finish with 23, but nothing was enough to cut the lead Michigan State had been forcing all game.
When the clock hit zero, Northwestern’s fate was sealed — a staggering 104-68 road loss that was decided long before the final buzzer.
Next up, Northwestern returns home to host in-state rival Illinois in a must-win game on Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. CST.