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No. 10 Michigan State beats Detroit 71-62

Nov 15, 2009 - 8:06 PM DETROIT(AP) -- Aisha Jefferson and Lauren Aitch provided the scoring and the poise that helped Michigan State secure its first victory of the season.

Jefferson scored 16 points and Aitch added 13 points and eight rebounds to help the 10th-ranked Spartans dominate the second half and top Detroit 71-62 on Sunday.

Jefferson and Aitch both scored during a 15-3 run early in the second half that put Michigan State in front for good.

"Everything is urgent and it doesn't need to be right now," Aitch said of the Spartans (1-1), who were upset 77-74 on Friday at Dayton in their season opener. "Right now we're not mentally where we need to be."

The Spartans struggled against Detroit's perimeter shooters and trailed 39-36 a minute into the second half when Jefferson got the decisive run started with a field goal. Courtney Schiffauer followed with back-to-back 3-pointers to give Michigan State a lead it never lost.

Detroit was 7 for 12 against the Spartans' zone in the first half, but managed just one more 3-pointer as the taller Spartans asserted themselves in the paint. Michigan State outrebounded the Titans (1-1) 46-33 and corralled 19 offensive rebounds en route to their 11th straight win over Detroit.

"I wish we had a few more players," said Titans coach Autumn Rademacher, who used just seven players Sunday after several expected contributors were knocked out by injuries in the early weeks of the season. "We ran out of gas."

Brigid Mulroy converted a three-point play with less than seven minutes to cut the lead to 60-56, but Schiffauer and Lykendra Johnson answered with consecutive 3-pointers to push the advantage back into double digits.

Mulroy finished with a career-best 27 points on 8-for-11 shooting. Sixteen of those came in the first half and the Spartans made it a lot harder for her to get open in the second.

"We're facing everybody's best effort, especially on the road," Michigan State coach Suzy Merchant said. "We just have to match that.

"I thought our mentality was a lot different in the second half."

Jalesa Jones hit one of Detroit's seven first-half 3-pointers seconds before the halftime buzzer to give the Titans a 37-36 lead at intermission. She finished with 10 points and Demeisha Fambro added 13.

Schiffauer had 12 points, six rebounds and four steals for the Spartans, who open their home season Thursday against No. 4 Notre Dame.