The Gophers women's basketball team played a tough, competitive first half Monday night, one that ended with the score tied.

After halftime was a different story, and it continued a trend during Big Ten play.

Tori Jankoska fell three assists short of a triple-double, finishing with 20 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists, and Michigan State used a big second half to beat the Gophers 93-74 before an announced 3,490 at Williams Arena.

"They increased their intensity and we didn't match it," Gophers coach Marlene Stollings said. "We've got to be on the opposite side of that, where we're increasing our intensity and forcing them to match ours. It continues to be part of our growth and maturation process, but we've got to start getting there."

The Gophers fell to 11-11 on the season and 2-7 in Big Ten play. All seven losses have come by double digits.

The teams were tied 40-40 at halftime, and the Gophers took a 43-42 lead on a Whitney Tinjum three-pointer early in the third quarter. It was still 49-48 Michigan State with 5 minutes, 56 seconds left, but the Spartans then went on a 19-7 run to close the period, getting seven points from Lexi Gussert — her only points of the game. The Gophers never got within single digits again.

Michigan State (15-7, 5-4) outrebounded the Gophers 48-35, had 21 second-chance points to the Gophers' 14 and outscored them in the paint 44-34.

"They were getting three and four shots at the basket late in the fourth quarter," Stollings said. "There's not really a lot strategically about that, that's stepping up and going and getting the ball."

The last time the Gophers wore white-and-pink jerseys for their annual breast cancer awareness game, Rachel Banham hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer for a 78-76 victory over Iowa last Feb. 15.

No such drama this time. Taryn McCutcheon added 15 points for the Spartans. Branndais Agee and Taya Reimer each had 11. Nia Hollie, an All-Metro player at Hopkins High School last year, finished with nine.

Kenisha Bell had 24 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and Bryanna Fernstrom had 18 points and 10 rebounds in 21 minutes off the Gophers bench. Carlie Wagner also scored 18 points, moving into 10th in Gophers career scoring with 1,444 points, but she shot only 6-for-15 from the floor.