ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Leigha Brown had 14 of her 17 points in the first half, Emily Kiser had 10 of her 14 in the second half and No. 17 Michigan handled rival Michigan State 70-55 on Saturday.
Laila Phelia added 12 points for the Wolverines (15-3, 5-2 Big Ten) and Maddie Nolan 10 with three 3-pointers, giving her 137 and moving her into the school’s top 10 for career 3s.
Michigan State scored the first four points of the second quarter to lead 15-14 but Phelia and Nolan hit 3-pointers and Michigan led the rest of the way. The Wolverines didn’t pull away until scoring the last seven points in the third quarter for a 51-39 lead. The lead was in double figures throughout the fourth quarter.
Kamaria McDaniel had 12 points to lead the Spartans (10-8, 2-5), who never got untracked offensively.
Averaging 81.4 points a game, Michigan State was 3 of 9 from 3-point range shot 13 of 42 through three quarters before making 7 of 15 shots.
MSU turned the ball over 22 times, which led to 22 points. Although the Spartans had a 38-30 rebounding advantage; 12 offensive rebounds only produced two second-chance points.
The game drew 10,534 fans, the first time Michigan had back-to-back crowds of 10,000.
Michigan State, which has lost four straight, is at No. 12 Iowa on Wednesday. The Wolverines are at Rutgers on Thursday.
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