ANN ARBOR >> It was an early tip time, and Michigan State got rolling a little late. But late was better than never for the Spartans, and it was more than enough.

Michigan State’s women’s basketball team scored the first 15 points of the second half, including three 3-pointers by three different players, to seize command of the rivalry game and eventually drub Michigan, 88-58, on Saturday afternoon at a packed Crisler Center, which was boisterous early and pretty darn quiet late.

A crowd of 10,873 was on hand to watch the rivals, marking the fourth-largest home attendance in Michigan women’s basketball history. The top four crowds all have been for UM-MSU games, and all have been since 2017.

“These rivalry games have a lot more meaning than some of the other games,” said Michigan State junior guard Theryn Hallock, a Grand Rapids native who grew up an MSU fan, and who had a monster game — more accurately, a monster second half — early Saturday afternoon. “I love rivalries. Today was something special.

“We stay together, we trust each other. We just worked our butts off.

Hallock finished with a game-high 25 points as the Spartans (17-3, 7-2 Big Ten) won for the third consecutive time against the Wolverines (14-6, 6-4), as second-year Michigan State head coach Robyn Fralick improved to 3-0 in the rivalry. This marked the 99th meeting between the teams, and the first ever when both teams are ranked in the Associated Press top 25. MSU is 21st, and UM is 24th.

Michigan State extended its winning streak to five, while Michigan’s four-game winning streak was snapped.

Eventually, the Spartans’ defensive intensity, depth and experience caught up to the Wolverines, who are led by star freshman experiencing the rivalry for the first time.

“Today was like, ‘Whoa, welcome to the rivalry,’” said Kim Barnes Arico, who is in her 13th season as Michigan’s head coach, and whose team dropped to 1-6 on the season against top-25 opponents. “Sometimes, it happens.

“It’s a learning experience. It’s growth.”

The Wolverines led by four at halftime, 33-29, after the Spartans struggled to control the ball in the opening two quarters, but Michigan State came out of the half hot, on a 15-0 run — paced by 3’s from graduate-student guard Julia Ayrault (Grosse Pointe), Hallock and freshman center Ines Sotelo. Michigan didn’t score its first point of the second half until nearly 5 minutes had elapsed.

Freshman guard Olivia Olson then made a 3 for Michigan, which clawed back to within 45-38, but every time the Wolverines made a dent in the third quarter, the Spartans had an answer.

Hallock had a steal and a fastbreak layup to make it 53-38, and after freshman Mila Holloway hit a 3, Hallock hit a 3 of her own to push the lead back to 15, at 56-41. Hallock made a layup at the end of the third quarter to make it 60-45 Michigan State, which didn’t have a turnover in the third quarter, while Michigan had six.

In fact, Michigan State didn’t have a turnover in entire second half, after having 11 in the first half.

“The way we play, you gotta stay with it for 40 minutes — 40 minutes of engagement and effort and pressure,” Fralick said. “The first half was a little bit choppy and frustrating, but we hung in there.

“I thought we played tougher.”

Hard to argue with that.

Michigan State scored the first five points of the fourth quarter, on a 3 from Ayrault and a fastbreak layup from junior forward Grace VanSlooten to push the lead to 20, at 65-45.

The Spartans trailed by as many as seven in the first half, but then led by as many as 32 in the second half.

“At halftime, we kind of regrouped, took a deep breath,” Ayrault said. “(We) wear people down. Forty minutes is a long time. Eventually, they start to feel it.”

Graduate-student guard Nyla Hampton made a basket to make it 76-49 about halfway through the fourth quarter, and, that prompted a timeout from Barnes Arico as many fans started to head for the Crisler Center exits (while the good showing of MSU fans stayed and enjoyed the finish).

Then, after the timeout, VanSlooten made it 78-49 to cap an 18-4 run for Michigan State.

“We couldn’t get stops … which never really allowed us to get in the flow,” Barnes Arico said. “Sometimes, it happens. … I think our men’s basketball team is one of the best teams in the country and I’m watching last night’s game (a 91-64 loss at Purdue) and going, ‘Holy cow.’

“Their execution (MSU’s) was great, but we’ve gotta get better defensively.”

Hallock led the Spartans with 25 points, matching the second-highest total of her career (she scored 26 in a game early this season), while Ayrault, who also grew up an MSU fan, had a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Ayrault also had three blocks and four assists, and Hallock had four assists. Michigan State had 23 assists and 32 made field goals, to eight assists on 19 made field goals for Michigan.

“That’s what’s so special about this game. … They are Spartans,” Fralick said, specifically of Hallock and Ayrault. “They feel so much about this game. They grew up green from the minute they were born.

“It’s special to be a part of that (rivalry). There’s a feeling to it, and I thought our players played with that feeling.”

VanSlooten added 18 points and eight rebounds, and graduate-student guard Jaddon Simmons had 11 points for the Spartans, who dominated in pretty much every statistical category, including bench points (25-10) and paint points (44-24). The Spartans outrebounded the Wolverines, 40-33.

Senior guard Jordan Hobbs led the Wolverines with 15 points, Olson scored 14, and Holloway had 13 points to go with three steals. Michigan’s other standout freshman, guard Syla Words, was held to four points; she’s averaging 15.2 points, second on the team. Junior guard Brooke Quarles Daniels, an Oakland transfer, had eight rebounds.

Michigan returns to action Wednesday at Wisconsin, while MIchigan State plays Thursday at home against Oregon.