At her weekly press conference Monday, Merchant said she was disappointed by her team’s lack of tenacity and competitive fire in the loss.

“I think the thing that disappointed me most was in the Iowa game — I didn’t feel like we had a collective fight out there,” she said. “I didn’t feel like there was as good of leadership as we’ve had in the last few games, and that was disappointing.”

The Spartans also are looking for improved play from freshman guard Kiana Johnson, who is fighting through a slump.

She is averaging 4.3 points and 2.6 assists the last three games after having 12.6 points and 4.3 assists in the three games prior, and Merchant said she is concerned Johnson has hit the freshman wall.

“We’ve had conversations about that, (and) she doesn’t feel that way, but I’m kind of sensing it a little bit,” Merchant said. “I don’t feel like her fire was there as it was early, and I’m not sure why. We need to get to the bottom of that.”

Johnson was adamant after practice last week that she is not wearing down.

“Coming here, I knew what I was up against, I wanted the challenge, and I was ready for it,” she said. “I don’t believe there’s a freshman wall that I’m ever going to hit because, in my mind, I was never a freshman, so there was no wall for me to hit.”

Johnson and Johnson
It hasn’t been a typical season for Lykendra Johnson, who has battled conditioning issues and knee pain after giving birth to a daughter in August 2011.

The senior forward has struggled with sluggish first halves recently only to respond with strong seconds, but the trend didn’t continue against Iowa.

After playing a team-low six minutes in the first half and not making a shot, Lykendra Johnson finished the game with seven points on 3-for-10 shooting, and Merchant said the physical wear and tear may be affecting her senior.

“I think playing a couple games in a week, that grind maybe hits her a little bit harder,” she said. “That turnaround game for Sunday is a little bit harder … but we need 40 minutes out of her.”

Success in basketball is often determined by strong play from both a point guard and a post player, and Merchant said it’s no different for her duo of Kiana Johnson and Lykendra Johnson.

“We’ve got to get a better post presence, (and) we’ve got to get our point guard going again,” she said. “Those are the two areas where people have to elevate their game and show up for 40 minutes, and we’ll be fine. When we do, obviously, we can beat anybody.”