EAST LANSING, Mich.- Western Michigan women's basketball fell at No. 24 ranked Michigan State Sunday, 78-40, in the Broncos' first road game of 2015-16.

Western Michigan is now 1-1 after defeating UW-Parkside in the season opener at home this past Friday, 56-49.

It was the first outing of the season for Michigan State (1-0), which earned a No. 24 ranking in the Associated Press preseason poll on Nov. 2.

MSU is one of two top 25 opponents Western Michigan will face over its first four games. The Broncos return to Kalamazoo to host Chicago State on Wednesday, Nov. 18 (7 p.m.) and then travel to No. 19 ranked Northwestern on Sunday, Nov. 22 (3 p.m. ET).

“The score did not indicate it, but I thought we competed today a lot tougher than we have in years past against other BCS teams – last year at Ohio State and Michigan,"said WMU head coach Shane Clipfell. "We are a young team and Michigan State is top 25 for a reason.

“There are a ton of things we could have done better, shot the ball better, had fewer turnovers, but I am happy with the way we competed. The message we delivered to our team in the locker room was not to get frustrated, right now we have so many new faces there is a familiarity we don't have yet. The biggest thing we have to take away is our defense has to keep our offense in the game until we are comfortable with each other. We will get back in the gym and go to work.”

Michigan State started the game on a 12-0 run before senior Alex Morton broke the drought for Western Michigan with a pair of free throws with 3:37 left in the first quarter. Senior Jessica Jessing put WMU's first bucket down with a field goal on WMU's next possession.

Western Michigan's strongest quarter was the second, only being outscored by four in that 10-minute period, 14-10. Michigan State led 33-17 at halftime.

Jessing and sophomore Najee Smith combined for 12 of Western Michigan's 17 first half points. Jessing led the Broncos at the break with seven points and five rebounds while Smith had totaled five points.

Michigan State continued to add to its advantage outscoring Western Michigan 45-23 in the second half. The Spartan defense held WMU to 16.7 shooting for the game.

Playing in front of her hometown crowd, Lansing native and Western Michigan freshman Breanna Mobley totaled six points and three rebounds, almost all of which was recorded in the second half.

Sophomore Teagan Reeves hit six free throws in the second half and finished with six points and seven rebounds. Jessing finished with the seven points and a team-high nine rebounds. Junior Meredith Shipman tied her career high for the second straight game with seven rebounds.

Junior guard Tori Jankoska led Michigan State's offense with 20 points. Akyah Taylor (12 points/10 rebounds) and Jasmine Hines (10 points/10 rebounds) both recorded double-doubles.

During introductions, Michigan State paid a classy tribute to members of the Western Michigan coaching staff, welcoming Clipfell and his wife Connie, as well as Bronco assistant coaches Cetera Washington and Rick Albro back to East Lansing. Clipfell spent 14 years coaching alongside MSU head coach Suzy Merchant, nine of those at Eastern Michigan and five at MSU before taking over the Western Michigan program. Albro was also an assistant at Michigan State and Washington played at MSU, graduating in 2011.