Box Score

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Loyola came out and more than held its own with No. 19/20 Michigan State in the early stages of this afternoon's contest at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Mich. before ultimately falling to the hosts, 76-47. The Spartans improve to 5-2 overall with the victory, while the Ramblers now sit at 2-5.

The Ramblers came out firing before an announced crowd of just over 5,700 in one of college basketball's iconic venues. Taylor Johnson converted on an acrobatic layup with 48 seconds gone to put the Maroon & Gold on the board first, 2-0, before knocking down a pair of free throws on Loyola's next trip down the floor. Brandi Segars converted on a fast break score shortly after to make it 6-0 and force Michigan State into an early timeout. Back-to-back layups from Dakota Vann and Taylor Manuel gave Loyola its largest lead of the afternoon, 12-2, at the six-minute mark. An Akyah Taylor bucket sparked a 12-0 Michigan State run that saw the hosts pull back to within one, 14-13, on consecutive Tori Jankoska triples with two minutes to go. Johnson's third make of the quarter pushed the margin back up to three, 16-13, before the Spartans rattled off six unanswered points to take a 19-16 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Vann opened the scoring in the second frame with 8:54 remaining, finishing in the paint, to cut the deficit back down to one, 19-18. Loyola continued to hang around as the quarter entered its middle stages before a put back from Taylor ignited another Spartan run that saw the Michigan State lead expand to 14 (35-21) after Aerial Powers finished under the basket at the 2:16 mark. Brandi Segars, who made her first collegiate start this afternoon, and Johnson connected on Loyola's next two possessions, respectively, before Taylor added her 12th and 13th points of the half with less than a minute remaining to send Michigan State into the break leading by a count of 37-25.

Loyola's deficit hovered between 12 and 14 points as the third quarter wore on. Following a jumper from Vann with 4:32 remaining that made it 47-33, Michigan State rattled off six unanswered points to push their lead up to the 20-point plateau, 53-33, at the 1:51 mark. Manuel split a pair of attempts from the charity stripe on Loyola's next possession to chip the margin back down to 19 (53-34) but the Spartans scored the final four points of the quarter to open up a 57-34 edge heading to the final quarter.

Manuel scored Loyola's first seven points of the fourth quarter as the Ramblers pulled back to within 20 (61-41) on her low-post score with 6:26 to go. Powers answered back with five unanswered points of her own to quickly reestablish a 25-point lead (66-41) for Michigan State with just over five minutes remaining in regulation. A second-chance score by Vann seconds later made it 66-43 but the Ramblers failed to get any closer before the final buzzer sounded as the Spartans picked up their fifth victory of the season.

Johnson and Manuel each finished 14 points to lead the Maroon & Gold on the offensive end in the loss, while Vann came down with a team-high six rebounds. Manuel was also active on the defensive end for the Ramblers as both she and Ryaen Johnson both recorded three blocks. Powers paced the Michigan State attack with a game-high 18 points and fell just a single rebound short of a double-double, collecting nine caroms.

Following a week of for final exams, Loyola will return to action next Sunday (Dec. 13) when it welcomes local rival No. 15/16 Northwestern to Rogers Park. Tip-off against the Wildcats is set for 2 p.m. from inside Gentile Arena.