The Northwestern women’s basketball team defeated Michigan State Tuesday 76-65, their second win in a row after a two-game skid.
The story of the game was Amber Jamison. For the second straight game since the passing of her friend and teammate Jordan Hankins, Jamison set a career high in scoring. She had 22 points (8-of-12 field goals, 5-of-6 three pointers) to go along with six rebounds (four offensive) and three assists.
As it did against Indiana on Saturday, Northwestern jumped out to a double-digit first quarter lead. Ashley Deary and Nia Coffey didn’t score a single point in the opening period, but the team still shot 53 percent from the field and held a 20-10 lead. Allie Tuttle bested her season high in points in the quarter with 6.
Northwestern got the lead as high as 13 in the second quarter, but Michigan State used the three pointer to hang in the game. The Spartans hit 8-14 threes (57 percent) in the first half, and they trailed Northwestern 36-37 at halftime.
Michigan State’s Tori Jankoska was on fire in the first half. She scored 14 points (4-of-7 from three) in the first half, and she was shooting from anywhere inside the half court line. The ‘Cats clearly put an emphasis on containing her shooting in the second half. She only made one three pointer in the second half, but she still finished the game with 25 points and eight rebounds.
After a back and forth third quarter, Northwestern was able to pull away in the fourth. Michigan State made a late run when the game appeared out of reach, but they eventually ran out of time.
In a game where Nia Coffey struggled to find a rhythm (seven points, 1-of-14 shooting) and Christen Inman did not play, Northwestern needed support from its role players, and that is exactly what it got. Jamison couldn’t miss from three, and Lauren Douglas put up a solid all-around performance with 13 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Ashley Deary was quiet in the game’s early goings, but she came through big in the second half. She had four steals in the second half alone, two of which led to easy layups. Deary played facilitator on the offensive end, dishing out seven assists and adding 20 points on 10-of-10 free throw shooting, as well.
With the win, Northwestern moves to 15-4 (4-2 B1G) overall and 12-1 in Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Wildcats’ will take over a week off before travelling to Ann Arbor to face the Michigan Wolverines on January 25th.