Michigan State women's basketball turned away at No. 17 Michigan

ANN ARBOR — Suzy Merchant made a few changes to the starting lineup for her Michigan State women's basketball team in the wake of a disappointing home loss Wednesday to Wisconsin.

And the veteran Spartan coach thought the additions of Moira Joiner and Taiyier Parks to the lineup could be beneficial based on the style of play they would encounter.

Merchant knew one of the keys Saturday for MSU would be taking advantage of its opportunities from the outside.

They weren't able to while suffering a 70-55 setback to No. 17-ranked Michigan in a Big Ten contest at the Crisler Center.

MSU (10-8, 2-5 Big Ten) hit just 3 of 19 3-pointers and also committed 22 turnovers while suffering a third straight loss.

"I thought there were times we made some poor decisions and didn't play the way we practice," Merchant said. "The second part of that is controlling the controllables, and one of the things we had to do was knock down shots from the arc. That was just something we had to be able to do against this defense and the way they play.

"It's what we knew going in."

Kamaria McDaniel had a team-high 12 points on 4 of 16 shooting and was the lone player to score in double figures for the Spartans. Matilda Ekh added nine points.

Leigha Brown had 17 points and Emily Kiser added 14 points to lead the Wolverines (15-3, 5-2 Big Ten).

The Spartans trailed 35-27 at halftime and never got closer than five points in the second half. The pivotal stretch came late in the third when Michigan finished on a 7-0 run to push its lead to 12. Kiser scored the opening basket of the fourth quarter to further stretch that lead, which got as high as 18 in the final quarter.

"I was really happy with the way that we scrapped and clawed and played tough in the second half and our ability to get on the ground and take charges and win the loose balls and get to the free-throw line," Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said. "That's stuff we didn't do in the first half and I thought we finished the game really strong against a team that typically comes back in the fourth quarter."

McDaniel said Michigan's key run was a matter of the Spartans needing to stay locked in and not have any lapses — especially against a ranked opponent.

Ekh agreed.

"We've got to play 40 minutes," Ekh said. "We have to play like we practice and just come together as a team."

Saturday's win marked the fifth for the Wolverines in the last six games in the in-state rivalry.

"It means a lot," Brown said. "Coming to Michigan, you know how much the rivalry means - especially when you're in it. We know we're going to get their best every game so we're gonna come out and want to play 40 minutes. Especially being able to secure the win here at home, especially in front of this amazing crowd, it was really special for sure."

Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @brian_calloway.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan State women's basketball falls to No. 17 Michigan