BLOOMINGTON -- IU women's basketball (19-3, 10-2) scraped by Michigan State at Assembly Hall on Thursday night, turning 7 minutes of lead time into a 94-81 victory.

Chloe Moore-McNeil recorded just the fourth triple-double in IU program history, with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists. It is IU's first triple-double since Grace Berger in 2021.

Here are three observations:

Michigan State starts hot

There was no stopping the Spartans (17-6, 7-5) in the first quarter.

Michigan State ran a fast-paced offense, focusing on fast-break layups and quick-release 3-pointers. The pace was starkly different from the Hoosiers’ usual pace, which focuses on running methodical offensive sets.

The Spartans’ pace stumped the Hoosiers — IU got more and more frustrated as Michigan State breezed past them for easy layups. The Hoosiers’ paint defense especially suffered, as 18 of the Spartans’ 32 points came from under the basket.

MSU’s 32 first-quarter points tied IU’s program record for most points by an opponent — the last time that happened was against Ohio State in 2017. Despite that, IU only trailed by five points. The Hoosiers kept pace with MSU with timely 3-pointers, including three from senior Sara Scalia.

Third-quarter rally puts Hoosiers back in contention

IU was not looking good at halftime, down by 10 points. Michigan State had all the momentum with a 3-pointer from Julia Ayrault (who had 18 points at halftime) to end the first half.

But the Hoosiers took halftime to reset and prepare for a furious second-half rally. In the third quarter, they brought the momentum back to red.

The Hoosiers outscored the Spartans, 23-15, in the third quarter behind Mackenzie Holmes, who scored 10 in the paint. That still wasn't enough to put the Hoosiers back on top, but it got the crowd back into the game.

In the fourth quarter, the Hoosiers took the lead for the first time since the opening half with a 3-pointer from Scalia with 5 minutes left. Michigan State kept close with a full-court press, staying within four points the rest of the game. This time, tough, the Hoosiers broke the press to stay in the lead.

IU's defense vastly improved in the second half -- it can't get much worse than allowing 64.5% shooting from the field and 70% beyond the arc in the first half. IU held Michigan State to 50% shooting in the second half, while the Hoosiers shot a 70% clip from the field.

Mackenzie Holmes nears scoring record

Senior center Mackenzie Holmes came into Thursday’s game 44 points from Tyra Buss’ IU women’s basketball scoring record.

By the end of the night, she was 28 points closer.

Tyra Buss scored 2,364 points over her four-year IU career from 2014-18. In that time, she was a three-time All-Big Ten first team selection and led IU to a WNIT championship.

Holmes, a fifth-year player, currently has 3,448 career points. She will likely break the record in IU's next game if she keeps up her scoring average of 20.1 points per game.

Buss played in 135 games at IU. If Holmes breaks the record against Purdue on Sunday, she will do it in 138 games.

Holmes broke another IU record — the win over Michigan State was her 118th victory in an IU uniform, breaking Grace Berger’s record of 117 victories.

Indiana women's basketball box score vs. Michigan State

MICHIGAN ST. (17-6): Tate 1-7 5-6 7, Ayrault 9-11 2-2 25, Hagemann 7-10 3-4 19, Joiner 5-11 3-4 14, Kimball 1-3 0-0 2, Hallock 6-9 0-0 13, Ozment 4-5 0-2 11, Totals 33-56 13-18 91

INDIANA (19-3): Holmes 11-15 6-8 28, Bargesser 4-5 2-2 10, Garzon 8-11 0-0 20, Moore-McNeil 4-8 2-2 10, Scalia 6-10 4-4 21, Meister 0-0 0-0 0, Beaumont 1-1 0-0 2, LaMendola 0-1 0-0 0, Sandvik 1-1 0-0 3, Totals 35-52 14-16 94

Michigan St. 32 21 15 23 — 91

Indiana 27 16 23 28 — 94

3-Point Goals—Michigan St. 12-18 (Ayrault 5-6, Hagemann 2-2, Joiner 1-3, Kimball 0-1, Hallock 1-2, Ozment 3-4), Indiana 10-20 (Garzon 4-7, Moore-McNeil 0-2, Scalia 5-9, LaMendola 0-1, Sandvik 1-1). Assists_Michigan St. 14 (Hagemann 10), Indiana 25 (Moore-McNeil 11). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Michigan St. 19 (Ayrault 4, Joiner 4), Indiana 24 (Moore-McNeil 10). Total Fouls_Michigan St. 15, Indiana 12. Technical Fouls_None. A_8,580.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IU women's basketball scrapes by Michigan State for 10th Big Ten victory