Colley’s layup lifts Spartans over Chippewas
When crunch time came Saturday against her alma mater, Michigan State coach Suzy Merchant trusted a Canadian import to help the Spartans survive and advance into the second round of the NCAA Chicago Regional.
“We were looking for a bucket to win the game and coach trusted me to make that last play and I did,” said Shay Colley, a redshirt junior from Brampton, Ontario, whose driving layup with 7.6 seconds left lifted the No. 9-seeded Spartans to an 88-87 victory over No. 8 Central Michigan in South Bend, Indiana.
The Chippewas had one final chance, but Micaela Kelly’s off-balance, hurried 15-footer at the buzzer was off the mark. Central Michigan had taken an 87-86 lead on Presley Hudson’s 3-pointer with 20.3 seconds remaining.
Kelly’s miss sent Merchant’s Spartans (21-11) into Monday’s second round against top-seed Notre Dame, a 92-50 winner over Bethune-cookman earlier.
“It was probably a very entertaining game for our fans to watch,” Merchant said. “As coaches, we could have probably used a little bit more span of a victory.”
Colley, who had 13 points along with seven rebounds and six assists, was one of five in double figures for the Spartans, who got 21 points off the bench from Sidney Cooks on 10-of-14 shooting. Nia Clouden had 16 points, Taryn Mccutcheon 12 points on four 3-pointers and Jenna Allen added 10.
The quintet of scorers overcame 78 points from Central Michigan’s trio of Reyna Frost (34), Kelly (24) and Hudson (20), who earlier this season broke the school career assists record set by Merchant, a 1991 graduate. Kelly and Hudson each had five assists for Sue Guevara’s Chippewas, who closed the season at 25-8. NOTRE DAME 92, BETHUNECOOKMAN 50: Arike Ogunbowale scored 23 points and No. 1 seed Notre Dame (31-3) began its title defense with a victory over No. 16-seed Bethune-cookman (21-11) in South Bend, Indiana. Ogunbowale hit 8-of-15 shots while adding four assists and three steals as the Irish face Michigan State on Monday. MISSOURI STATE 89, DEPAUL 78: Alexa Willard and Danielle Gitzen each scored 20 points and 11th-seeded Missouri State (24-9) stunned sixth-seeded Depaul (26-8) in Ames, Iowa. The Bears will face No. 3 seed Iowa State on Monday.
BYU 73, AUBURN 64: Brenna Chase had 19 points, seven assists and three blocked shots, and seventh-seeded BYU (26-6) beat No. 10 seed Auburn (22-10) in Stanford, California. BYU will face Standord on Monday.