By AP
STATE COLLEGE, PA – Lykendra Johnson had a double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds and No. 11 Michigan State clamped down on No. 23 Penn State's offense in a 60-49 win Thursday night to take over first place in the Big Ten.
Taylor Alton added 12 points on four 3-pointers, and the Spartans (21-3, 9-2) frustrated the upstart Lady Lions with tough defense that forced the conference's top shooting team to rush or take bad shots.
Penn State finally settled down midway through the second half to narrow an 18-point lead to 51-45 with 4:23 left on two foul shots by Alex Bentley.
But Michigan State pulled away from there after the Lions fell back into their early mistakes, maligned by turnovers and sloppy ball-handling.
Mia Nickson had 22 points for Penn State (20-6, 9-3), which was held to 31 points below its Big Ten-best season average.