UPDATE: EAST LANSING - It should have been a blowout... well according to the stats, but Michigan State who has had one of the better records in conference play struggled to shut down Northwestern, a team in the bottom tier of the conference, most of the game.

Put some of that blame on what Head Coach Suzie Merchant considers a "flat line" of energy, and the rest of it can fall in the hands of Northwestern's Danielle Diamont and two-time Big Ten Player of the Week Maggie Lyon.

With MSU trailing by as much as eight points early on in the first half, Northwestern was able to keep most of the game at their own pace.

It wasn't until midway through the second half that things started to tip into the Spartans' favor.

Annalise Pickrel would hit a three-point jumper to give them a seven-point 42-35 lead with under nine minutes left in the game. From that point on, Northwestern wasn't able to regain a lead.

Still MSU didn't exactly run away with it either. They allowed Northwestern to stick around until the end, as MSU wins it 54-45.

ORIGINAL STORY: EAST LANSING - Northwestern proves to be a pesky opponent, but the Spartans pull away in the second half to capture the win.