GREEN & WHITE BASKETBALL

Agee's career night, Jankoska's triple-double lead MSU women

Brian Calloway
Lansing State Journal
Branndais Agee

EAST LANSING - Branndais Agee's season may not have gotten off to the start she would have liked.

An injury played a part in that.

But the senior has been pushing toward a strong finish.

And that continued on Thursday.

Agee scored a career-high 30 points while leading the Spartans to an 85-69 Big Ten victory over Minnesota at Breslin Center.

Agee was 11 of 16 from the field and knocked down six 3-pointers during her career-best scoring performance while helping MSU (17-9, 7-6 Big Ten) end its two-game losing streak. She has scored in double figures in eight of her last 10 games as part of her late-season surge for the Spartans.

“At the beginning of the season I came off the injury so I was still trying to get back to my old self and play with rhythm and play with confidence,” Agee said. “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. I’m just going to keep continuing to play hard and finish strong.”

Tori Jankoska added a triple-double with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. The triple-double was the third in school history and first since Kristin Haynie recorded one in 2005.

“I was so excited,” Jankoska said of a goal she has been chasing all season. “That’s like my favorite accomplishment all year. I love being a versatile player and being able to score and get rebounds and pass the ball. I like setting people up.

“It was fun. Branndais played great. I’ve got to take her out to dinner because she gave me lots of assists tonight. It was a good win for us. We’re trying to make a push for the tournament and it was a big step forward today.

Minnesota was within five early in the fourth quarter. But Agee helped the Spartans take control. She knocked down a pair of 3s while scoring eight points during a 13-2 run that helped MSU put the game away.

“(Agee is) a kid that’s had some injuries early and it’s just harder for her to bounce back from some of that stuff,” MSU coach Suzy Merchant said.

“She was the one kid I thought played hard for 40 minutes out of the gates. I thought she brought a lot of really good energy on both sides of the ball.”

Jessie Edwards had 14 points off the bench for Minnesota (14-13, 5-9).

Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @brian_calloway