No. 19 Michigan St. 67, N. Illinois 40

11/21/2007 3:26 PM

By CARLOS RODRIGUEZ
Associated Press Writer

CANCUN, Mexico (AP) -Allyssa DeHaan scored 17 points to lead No. 19 Michigan State to a 67-40 victory over Northern Illinois on Wednesday in the opening game of the Caribbean Challenge.

Kalisha Keane added 15 points and Alisa Wulff 11 for the Spartans (3-1), who bounced back from a 64-41 loss to LSU last week in the preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament.

``We really beat ourselves in that game,'' said Spartans coach Suzy Merchant. ``LSU is a great team, no doubt, but we did not play very well. This was a chance for us to come out and redeem ourselves.''

The Spartans opened the game with a 26-1 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Wulff with 6:17 left in the first half. DeHaan, a 6-foot-9 sophomore center, scored eight of her points during the surge.

Kylie York had 14 points for Northern Illinois (2-2), which closed the first half on a 10-3 run and got within 35-23 early in the second half. But the bigger, stronger Spartans dominated on the boards and slowly pulled away.

``Any victory is a good victory,'' Merchant said. ``We need to keep working. Our kids played hard. We won the defensive battle on the boards, that was the key.''

Michigan State will play again Thursday against Kansas State.