“(On) any dribble penetration, we foul and then we turn it over too much again, silly turnovers too,” she said. “We’re working at it, we’re aware of it, we just have to do a better job of people staying focused and stepping through the ball.”

MSU (3-0 overall) shot an icy 42.9 percent from the floor and 38.1 percent from behind the arc. But the Titans (0-2) couldn’t even come close to those numbers, shooting 26.4 percent from the field and just 14.3 percent from the behind the arc. The Spartans also grabbed 12 more rebounds than Detroit Mercy and dished out 15 more assists.

Junior forward Aisha Jefferson said she loves the fact Merchant pushes her since Jefferson returned from knee surgery last season, allowing her to become a vital part of the offense even sooner than she may have expected.

“I’m getting a lot more confidence in (my knee),” she said. “I do think I need to work on dribble drives a lot more, just staying with the play and not fouling. But my knee feels good right now.”

Detroit Mercy guard Zemora Davis led her team with 13 points and eight rebounds while shooting just 2-of-12 from the floor, making nine free throws on the night.

Only scoring three points didn’t affect sophomore guard Brittney Thomas in the slightest. She said she was overjoyed to be back in the lineup after injuring her right hand and missing more than a week of action.

In almost two weeks, Thomas says her elastic cast will be off for good and her shot will feel completely comfortable again.

“We have work to do and we know,” she said. “I’m just happy to see that everyone is playing hard and when we do turn it over, instead of sulking, it’s like, ‘OK, let’s get back! Let’s get it back on the other end of the floor.’”

Although the Spartans turned the ball over 15 times in the first half, they allowed just five field goals (5-for-29) and held the Titans to more than an 11-minute field-goal drought, scoring 22 points in that stretch.

Jefferson scored the first eight MSU points of the game, tallying 13 total before the team headed to the locker room at the break ahead 37-13.

The Green and White failed to out-rebound Detroit Mercy, as both teams grabbed 22 first half rebounds. However, MSU snagged eight steals, five blocks, 10 assists on 12 field goals and 15 points off turnovers.

But Merchant isn’t too concerned because she knows she has an advantage as a head coach with maturity in such young players, like her sophomores.

“(We have) awareness of everything we’re trying to accomplish,” she said. “We have a little more of an identity, more leadership, even in our younger players. We can rely on them to bring this team together because they’ve been there.”

MSU looks to keep its unbeaten streak alive when it hosts Dartmouth at 3 p.m. Saturday at Breslin Center.