Northwestern beats No. 20 Michigan State

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State scored the first five points but Northwestern rallied with a 14-2 run and held on to upset the 20th-ranked Spartans 61-57 in a Big Ten Conference opener on Sunday.

Nia Coffey scored 15 points and Christen Inman added 13 as the Wildcats (11-1, 1-0) beat the defending conference champions despite 38 percent shooting, being outrebounded 51-39, and outscored in nearly every category.

That's because Michigan State (8-4, 0-1) hit just 29 percent of its shots - and just 9 of 37 in the first half. Becca Mills scored 21 with 16 rebounds, but shot just 8 of 20. Aerial Powers added 10 points, 13 boards.

Northwestern won 10 straight to open the season, its longest streak since 1995.

The Spartans closed to within 57-54 when Mills scored on a layup after a Michigan State timeout with 1:47 remaining. But the team wouldn't score again until the game was out of reach.