But following an dominant 73-53 win over Nebraska on Feb. 23, MSU was just one win away from tying for second place in the Big Ten standings, and suddenly, Merchant was taking questions about finishing near the top of the conference.

Merchant wisely said her team should be concerned with what it could control, namely closing out the regular season with a road win at Northwestern — which the team did, 76-57.

The Spartans finished in a four-way tie for second place, but the tiebreakers left MSU as the only team of the group not to earn a first-round bye as the No. 5 seed.

It seems like a slight. It seems unfair for a team that has won seven of its last eight games and is the hottest in the conference to have to play an additional game with similar credentials to earn a spot in the second round.

But an easy path wouldn’t make sense for a team that’s stopped fighting itself and has turned its aggression to its opponents in recent weeks.

The Spartans have started to take on the persona of a heavyweight fighter, delivering an early haymaker to make the opposition dizzy and adding a powerful knockout punch as soon as a team thinks of rallying.

It’s not that MSU is an overwhelming behemoth that’s never lost a fight; but it’s more of a grizzled veteran that has been knocked around, earned a few shiners and now understands what it takes to win.

“Before, when we went to throw the punch, we didn’t know who was going to throw it,” she said. “Some of those trials and tribulations — where we didn’t know who it was going to be — have kind of put us to a point where now we have a better concept of our team and who’s going to step up.”

It’s a knowledge that makes MSU a dangerous team in the Big Ten Tournament that is actually aided by being the fifth seed.
Having to play fewer games is understandably desirable, but the Spartans are now in a bracket where they will face the teams they’ve already beaten.

They’ll open with No. 12-seed Indiana on Thursday. MSU beat the Hoosiers twice this year, and to continue the boxing theme, the game will be a perfect tuneup fight to give the Spartans momentum and confidence heading into the second round.

Then if the Spartans are able to get to the tournament’s semifinals, they will likely face No. 9 Penn State.

The Nittany Lions may be the conference champions, but two of their three conference losses are to the Spartans.

Suffice to say, it’s a really good draw for the Spartans, much better than if they had to worry about Nebraska, Iowa or Ohio State on the other side of the bracket — MSU is 1-3 against those teams — and gives MSU the chance to prove they truly are the Big Ten’s heavyweight champs.

Josh Mansour is the women’s basketball reporter for The State News. He can be reached at mansou13@msu.edu.