No. 21 Michigan State women dominate first half, defeat Purdue 77-59

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Jocelyn Tate scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Julia Ayrault also had a double-double and No. 21 Michigan State dominated the first half for a 77-59 win on Wednesday afternoon.

Ayrault had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Spartans (12-2, 2-1 Big Ten Conference), who had 18 steals and scored 23 points off 25 turnovers. Ines Sotelo added 16 points and Grace VanSlooten had 13 with three blocks. All eight players had at least one steal.

Destini Lombard and Lana McCarthy both scored 10 points for the Boilermakers (7-7, 0-3).

Tate had 13 points and Sotelo 11 at halftime as the Spartans took a 48-21 lead.

Sotelo made all four of her shots for nine points in the first quarter as the Spartans hit four 3-pointers and 6 of 9 free throws to take a 30-18 lead. Then they outscored the Boilermakers 18-3 in the second quarter, scoring the last 16 points with Tate getting 10.

MSU shot 50% with six 3-pointers in the second quarter, while Purdue was 1 of 12 with eight turnovers. Tate scored eight points with a pair of 3-pointers during the game-breaking surge.

The Boilermakers outscored Michigan State 38-29 in the second half, getting as close as 15 with three minutes to play in the game. Purdue shot 47% after the break with just seven turnovers while the Spartans shot 34%, going 1 of 16 behind the arc.

Purdue is home against No. 1 UCLA on Wednesday. The Spartans head to Nebraska next Thursday.

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