No. 19 Northwestern women trounce Michigan State 85-55

Feb 11, 2020, 04:19 am

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Lindsey Pulliam scored 31 points and No. 19 Northwestern beat Michigan State 85-55 on Monday night for its third straight win.

Pulliam, a junior guard, also scored her 1,500th career point to become the first player in program history to reach that mark the fastest.

Veronica Burton scored nine of her 23 points in the first quarter, including a go-ahead pullup jumper amid a 17-0 run that put the Wildcats up for good, 10-9. Northwestern (20-3, 10-2 Big Ten Conference) made 4 of 5 3-pointers (80%) and led 24-14 at the end of the first quarter.

Pulliam scored seven straight points to open the second quarter and Northwestern led by as many as 24 before taking a 47-28 halftime lead. Pulliam scored 14 points in the second quarter.

Northwestern outscored the Spartans 19-8 in the third quarter and led by as many as 32 points with 1:32 left in the fourth.

Burton had 11 rebounds and Northwestern dominated down low, outscoring the Spartans 40-18 in the paint and scoring 24 points off of 16 Michigan State turnovers. Sydney Wood had four steals and made five assists.

Nia Clouden scored 12 points with seven rebounds for Michigan State (11-12, 4-8), which has lost five straight. Kayla Belles scored 12 points and Taryn McCutcheon had nine with eight rebounds.

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