No. 10 Michigan St. 86, Western Carolina 61

11/20/2005 6:01 PM

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Liz Shimek's double-double helped rout Western Carolina.

Shimek had a career-high 28 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 10 Michigan State past Western Carolina 86-61 Sunday.

``Liz did so many good things, I could talk about her all day,'' Spartans coach Joanne P. McCallie said. ``She's very efficient, isn't she? She wants to go to a higher level. To me, she's the best 4 player in the country.''

Shimek shot 13-for-16 from the field, had four assists and three steals in 26 minutes for the Spartans (2-0). She eclipsed her 26-point performance Friday in a win over UC Santa Barbara.

``We made a lot of effort plays, like diving out of bounds for balls,'' Shimek said. ``We need to take that blue-collar attitude with us when we play Tennessee Thursday in the Virgin Islands.''

Michigan State beat Tennessee last April in the semifinal of Final Four. They'll meet again at the Paradise Jam.

Lindsay Bowen, Rene Haynes and Maggie Dwyer each had 11 points for the Spartans, who led 42-28 at halftime.

``Liz Shimek is good,'' Lady Catamounts coach Kellie Harper said. ``But this Michigan State team knows who to get the ball to and can really finish.''

Michigan State had a 48-34 rebound advantage. Freshman Aisha Jefferson had 13 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end.

``It's my job to get every rebound I can and not be intimidated, whether we're playing Western Carolina or Tennessee,'' Jefferson said.

Freshman Lauren Powell led the Lady Catamounts (0-2) with 20 points and hit six 3-pointers. Chevon Keith added 13 points.

Shimek didn't like her team's defense against Powell.

``To let (Powell) hit that many open 3's was just ridiculous,'' she said. ``We're better than that.''