Enquirer staff, wire reports

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Defense was the key again for No. 23 Michigan State, which got 12 points from Lindsay Bowen in a 55-43 victory Monday night over Cincinnati.

Liz Shimek added 11 points for the Spartans (9-1), who limited the Bearcats (7-5) to .313 shooting while winning for the fifth time in a row. Michigan State has allowed just 47.6 points a game and .297 shooting since a loss at Oklahoma State on Dec. 2.

Cincinnati's Valerie King had 14 points.

The Spartans trailed 17-16 with 7:28 left in the first half, then took control with a 12-0 run.

The Bearcats couldn't draw closer than seven points in the second half, despite Michigan State missing 10 of its first 14 free throws and shooting .292 from the field in the last 20 minutes.

Kristin Haynie added 9 points and six assists for Michigan State. Reserve Victoria Lucas-Perry added 9 points, and Kelli Roehrig had 8 points for the Spartans.

Debbie Merrill had 10 rebounds for Cincinnati.

MICHIGAN STATE 55, CINCINNATI 43

Cincinnati (7-5)-Harvey 0 2 2, Merrill 2 0 4, Young 1 0 3, King 5 2 14, Stephens 2 2 6, Slaughter 3 1 7, Ashley 1 0 2, Humphries 1 3 5. Totals 15 10 43.

Michigan State (9-1)-Pagel 0 2 2, Haynie 3 2 9, Bowen 3 4 12, Roehrig 4 0 8, Shimek 4 2 11, Haynes 1 1 3, Lucas-Perry 4 1 9, Grantham 0 1 1. Totals 19 13 55.

Cincinnati	20	23	-43
Michigan State	29	26	-55

3-point goals: Cincinnati 3 (King 2, Young), Michigan State 4 (Bowen 2, Haynie, Shimek).

NKU 69, Wayne State 62

Karmen Graham scored a career-high 28 points and made four free throws in the final minute as Northern Kentucky held on for the road victory.

Graham made 11 of 15 shots from the field and also pulled down 11 rebounds.

Connie Myers scored 17 points and grabbed 18 rebounds for NKU, which improved to 7-3.

NKU, which won despite making only three of 16 3-point shots, plays Indianapolis at home Friday.

NORTHERN KENTUCKY 69, WAYNE STATE 62

Northern Kentucky (7-3)-Perkins 1 2 5, Burrows 3 3 10, Myers 4 9 17, Graham 11 5 28, Brock 2 0 4, Creager 1 1 3, Woods 1 0 2. Totals 23 20 69.

Wayne State (3-7)-Vincent 4 3 11, Bethany 0 1 1, Rogers 4 0 10, Young 6 11 25, Ralhanee 5 0 10, Crystal 1 0 2, Pettway 1 0 3. Totals 21 15 62.

Northern Kentucky	29	40	-69
Wayne State	23	39	-62

3-point goals: Northern Kentucky 3 (Perkins, Burrows, Graham), Wayne State 5 (Rogers 2, Young 2, Pettway).

Wisconsin-Stevens Point 91, Thomas More 61

Brooke Warner scored 21 points and had eight rebounds, and Joanna Bess scored 16 points for Thomas More, which fell to 9-4.

UW-STEVENS POINT 91, THOMAS MORE 61

UW-Stevens Point (10-0)-Nechuta 10 2 22, Scott 4 0 8, Schmitt 5 5 18, Heuer 4 1 13, Kraemer 6 2 16, Schultz 4 1 9, Ison 0 0 0, Hawkins 1 0 2, Berry 0 1 1, Lechault 1 0 2. Totals 35 12 91.

Thomas More (9-4)-Hoffman 3 0 7, Clift 1 1 3, Bess 6 2 16, Byars 1 4 7, Warner 6 7 21, Wood 1 2 4, Person 1 0 3. Totals 19 16 61.

UW-Stevens Point	40	51	-91
Thomas More	27	34	-61

3-point goals: UW-Stevens Point 9 (Heuer 4, Schmitt 3, Kraemer 2), Thomas More 7 (Bess 2, Warner 2, Hoffman, Byars, Person).