EAST LANSING, Mich. - Using a strong fourth-quarter surge, the Michigan State women's basketball team pulled away from Marshall, 85-75, Sunday afternoon at the Breslin Center Sunday.

The Spartans have now won two -straight games, improving to 6-2 this season, while the Thundering Herd fall to 3-2.

For the first time since Dec. 12, 2020 against Iowa, Michigan State had two players reach the 20-point mark. Senior guard Nia Clouden earned her fifth-straight 20 point game with a team-high 24 points to go along with tying a season high with eight assists. Senior forward Alisa Smith set a new  MSU career high with 20 points also adding six boards. Freshman DeeDee Hagemann also had a new season high with 15 points. The Spartans were solid from the free throw line going 32-for-35, a new season best.

Marshall's Savannah Wheeler led all scorers with 30 points, including going 4-for-8 from long range.

Six quick points from Smith gave MSU the early 8-6 lead. Both teams were hot on the offensive end early on with Michigan State hitting its first four shots. An old-fashioned three-point play by Hagemann topped off an 8-0 run put MSU up 18-9 with four minutes left in the quarter. The Spartans ended the first quarter leading 24-19, going 9-for-10 from the charity stripe.

Foul trouble plagued the Spartans early on in the second quarter with five fouls in the first two minutes of the period. The Thundering Herd took a 30-26 lead, using an 11-0 run. Michigan State's scoring drought lasted nearly four minutes, before a Taiyier Parks layup broke the slump. Wheeler remained dangerous for Marshall, ending the half with 19 points. The Thundering Herd out-scored the Spartans 27-16 in the period to take a 46-40 lead in to the half.

In the third quarter, the Spartans scored 10 of the first 13 points to cut the Marshall lead to 51-50. A A Moira Joiner trey off the pass from Clouden gave MSU the lead 61-59 with 1:41 left in the quarter. Wheeler continued to be a force to be reckoned with and tied the game with a pair of free throws to end the period.

The teams traded baskets for much of the fourth quarter. MSU took the lead 71-69 after a pair of Joiner free throws with 4:06 remaining. The Thundering Herd suffered a scoring drought of over three minutes, leading to a timeout. From that point, the Spartans did not relinquish the lead with Clouden and Smith scoring eight points in the final 10 minutes to help complete the Spartan comeback. 

MSU ended the game with an 8-0 run over the final 35 seconds. 

Michigan State will remain at home to take on Notre Dame on Thursday, Dec. 2 at 6 p.m. as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

Post-Game Notes vs. Marshall

• Sunday was the first-ever meeting between Michigan State and Marshall. 
• Michigan State rallied from a 46-40 halftime deficit, marking the first time this season that the Spartans not only trailed at halftime, but rallied from a halftime deficit.
• Three Spartans posted double-figures, as MSU improved to 1-1 this season when three players score in double-digits.
• MSU trailed with five minutes left, 69-67, marking the third time this season the Spartans were down with 5:00 to go, but was the first time that they rallied for the win ... Michigan State has won 229 of its last 241 games, including 179 of their last 193 games, as part of improving to 264-20 under head coach Suzy Merchant when holding a lead with five minutes left.
• The Spartans also improved to 6-0 this season when scoring 70 or more points, as part of winning 163 of their last 188 games when posting at least 70 points on the scoreboard ... MSU is 183-32 under Coach Merchant when scoring 70+ points.
•  Sunday's 85 points was MSU's second-straight and fifth overall game this season with 80+ points.
•  Michigan State's starting lineup of Nia Clouden, Alyza Winston, Tamara Farquhar, Alisia Smith and Matilda Ekh was the fifth game with that starting five, moving to 3-2 on the season with that starting five.
• The senior duo of guard Nia Clouden and forward Alisia Smith both netted 20+ points with Clouden tallying 24 and Smith scoring 20, marking the first time that two Spartans scored 20 or more points since vs. Iowa on Dec. 12, 2020, when Clouden scored 21 and junior guard Alyza Winston tallied 25.
• Senior guard Nia Clouden posted her fifth-straight 20-point outing by matching her jersey number with 24 points ... Clouden continues to top her previous career-high for consecutive 20-point games of three from last season (Dec. 9-18, 2020) ... by netting 12 or more points in every game this season, Clouden has posted double-digits in all eight games this season and in 12-consecutive games dating back to last season as part of in 40 of last 43 games and part of 79 of 95 career games played ... Clouden also tallied a season-high 10 free throws on a season-high 11 free throw attempts ... she also matched her season-best by dishing out eight assists, last dishing out eight helpers vs. Bryant (11/19).
• Clouden's 24 points give her 1,437 for her career, holding down the No. 11 spot and closing in on the No. 10 spot on the MSU career points list, held by Kristen Rasmussen (1996-2000) ... her eight assists gives her 368 helpers for her career, also at No. 11 and closing in on the No. 10 mark of 371 by Spartan All-American Linsday Bowen (2002-06).
• Clouden has started all eight games this season as part of all 95 games played of her Spartan career.
• Senior forward Alisia Smith netted her MSU career-high with 20 points Sunday, topping her previous career-best of 19 at Wisconsin (1/24/21) ... the 20 points was her second-highest collegiate total, as she tallied 24 during the 2019-20 season at Penn State vs. NC Central (11/30/19) ... Smith was a perfect 6-of-6 at the free throw line, tying her MSU career-high for made free throws without a miss, matching a 6-of-6 outing at Michigan (2/16/21), and was also her second-best collegiate outing at the charity stripe behind a 10-of-10 performance at Princeton (11/18/18) while at Penn State.
• Freshman guard DeeDee Hagemann tallied a career-high 15 points, topping her previous mark of 11 points done two previous times, last at Fordham (11/19) and was her fourth double-digit scoring outing ... Hagemann also dished out three assists Sunday, marking her seventh time in the eight games this season with three or more helpers.
• Freshman guard/forward Matilda Ekh pulled down a game and career-high eight rebounds, topping her previous top mark of five vs. Saint Francis (11/23) ... Sunday's eight boards was her third-straight game with three or more rebounds.
• Junior guard Moira Joiner netted at least one 3-pointer for the seventh time in the eight games this season, after going scoreless behind the arc in MSU's last time out, at Oakland (11/26).