The MSU women's basketball team showed no signs of a long layoff Sunday as it defeated Pepperdine, 82-64, at Breslin Center.
Senior forward Liz Shimek had 28 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Spartans.
"Liz was doing her thing today, that's for sure," MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie said.
The Spartans (4-2) outscored the Waves 46-14 in the paint and Shimek thrived against the Pepperdine forwards.
"We didn't have an answer for Shimek," Pepperdine head coach Julie Rousseau said.
The win was MSU's 16th consecutive victory at Breslin Center, setting a school record. Shimek said the community has been an instrumental part of the home-court success.
"When we play here, the community has always been really supportive of us," Shimek said. "It doesn't go unnoticed and is very appreciated.
"It makes Breslin a little more of an adverse environment for our opponents to play in — it is amazing how it has grown over the last few years."
Pepperdine scored the first basket of Sunday's game, but the Spartans rattled off 11 straight points to take the lead and never looked back.
McCallie said she was impressed with how the Spartans passed the ball to get 23 assists.
"The big key is you have to be able to deliver the ball to your teammate and set your teammate up," McCallie said. "Now we've shown that we can do that and be creative."
The Spartans had 14 steals and two blocks in the win, something McCallie was impressed with and attributed to their physical play. But she said the team can become more efficient in this area.
"We were just a little better toughness-wise (today)," McCallie said. "I really want us to be absolutely dominating or dictating in that category and I think we are starting to move in that direction."
Shimek said the team takes pride in the type of hard-nosed, gutsy play that was exhibited Sunday.
"We always want to be the first ones to hit the floor diving for loose balls, being that blue-collar team we have always been known to be," Shimek said.
The Spartans had nine players score in the game. Senior guard Lindsay Bowen, however, didn't get her first points until about midway through the second half. McCallie said even though Bowen wasn't scoring, she controlled the game with her passing and court leadership.
"I'm excited about Lindsay because one day the assists, scoring and whole thing will drive together," McCallie said. "It is important for her to be able to create from all areas and all spots and be that scoring threat."
The Spartans will take on Detroit Mercy at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at Breslin Center.
Alex Abate can be reached at abateal@msu.edu.
