Sophomores Abbey Kimball and Theryn Hallock sparked a big third quarter that helped the Michigan State women’s basketball team pull away for its third straight victory.

The duo combined for 15 points in the quarter while helping the Spartans to an 82-64 victory over Rutgers on Tuesday night at Jersey Mike’s Arena.

The victory helped MSU match its win total from last season with eight games remaining in the Big Ten regular season.

Kimball had eight of her 16 points and Hallock had seven of her 16 points in a third quarter where the Spartans outscored Rutgers 25-11 to break things open after leading 42-35 at halftime. Their success was part of a third quarter where MSU shot 53.8% from the field and forced 10 turnovers.

“I’m proud of our road win,” MSU coach Robyn Fralick said. “I think coming off the first half we needed to make some adjustments. We were getting hurt inside in the paint. I thought our kids did a good job of executing that in the second half.”

Kimball and Hallock were among five players to score in double figures for MSU (16-5, 6-4 Big Ten). Julia Ayrault had a team-high 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and added six rebounds, while Moira Joiner and Tory Ozment each contributed with 10 points.

Destiny Adams had a game-high 28 points and added 10 rebounds for Rutgers (6-17, 0-10).

Contact Brian Calloway at [email protected]. Follow him on X @brian_calloway.