Maryland women’s basketball coach Brenda Frese called a timeout with about three and a half minutes left in the second quarter after a Michigan State 3-pointer pulled the Spartans within five points.

Before play had even resumed, Frese’s team led by six points, as the officials reviewed Spartans guard Tori Jankoska’s triple and saw her foot was on the line. A little over two minutes later, Maryland was up by 14, and Michigan State coach Suzy Merchant called a timeout in an attempt to curb the Terps’ momentum.

The Spartans trailed by 11 at the half and never got back within single digits as Maryland secured an 89-72 victory for its 13th straight Big Ten win. Maryland seniors Brionna Jones (28 points) and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough (24 points) were the game’s highest scorers.

“For us, it starts and ends with Bri Jones and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough,” Frese said. “Two All-Americans that every night come ready to play and consistently put their team on their back.”

Guard Destiny Slocum made a deep 3-pointer on the first possession out of the timeout, guard Kristen Confroy hit a three of her own and Jones made a pair of layups to help Maryland distance itself from the Spartans before the break.

Until that point, Michigan State hung around. Jankoska scored 13 points in the first half, becoming the first Spartan in history to surpass 2,000 points, and she scored a bucket at the end of the first quarter as part of a 6-0 run to pull Michigan State within six points after the first frame.

“She’s a talent,” Frese said of Jankoska. “We had to run a lot of different things, a lot of different people in terms of defensively for her.”

Frese was proud of her team’s early-game adjustment to tight officiating. Referees called five fouls in the first two minutes and continued to blow their whistles throughout the game.

“Just seeing how the game was called early,” Jones said, “[I tried] to attack it and get to the basket.”

Jones shot 13 foul shots and made 10 of those shots. She was a big reason two Spartans fouled out in the fourth quarter. Maryland made its first nine free throws and hit 22 of its 30 (73.3 percent) total. Michigan State converted just six of its 15 attempts (40 percent).

Jones and Walker-Kimbrough dominated throughout the contest. Jones, the nation’s most-accurate shooter, went 9-for-12 from the floor, made her first seven shots and grabbed 15 rebounds. Walker-Kimbrough had 24 points, her third-consecutive 20-point game, and drained a trio of 3-pointers.

After Michigan State tied the game at 11, Maryland responded with a 12-2 run with scores by Slocum, Confroy, Jones and guard Walker-Kimbrough. Then, after the Terps separated themselves again late in the first half, Michigan State went ice-cold in the third quarter.

The Spartans scored just nine points in the period and shot 25 percent from the field without shooting any 3-pointers. Jankoska was scoreless in the third quarter.

“We wanted to defend [Jankoska] as soon as she got on the floor,” Frese said. “Find her in trans. D, she can shoot it deep. We went man, zone, triangle-and-2 in terms of trying to limit her touches. Really trying to make her take a lot of tough shots.”

Maryland also cooled down in the third, scoring 16 points on 40-percent shooting after making over 60 percent of its shots before halftime. Jones said her team’s handling of the slowed pace and different style of the third frame showed its versatility and improvement over the start of the year.

Michigan State entered the fourth quarter trailing by 18, but Jankoska scored eight points early in the period to get Michigan State back within 13 and caused Frese to use another timeout.

Again the Terps settled down, with Walker-Kimbrough making a steal and going coast-to-coast for a layup, Jones making an and-one reverse layup and the team locking Jankoska down.

After Michigan State came within 11, Walker-Kimbrough buried a pair of 3-pointers to extend Maryland’s lead to 17 as the game drew to a close.

“Us getting to the free throw line, playing through our two seniors and playing off of that,” Frese said, “that was the difference.”