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DeHaan shows fire in close loss

By: Matt Bishop Posted: 11/19/09 11:18pm Comments: 1

MSU women’s basketball head coach Suzy Merchant wanted more out of senior center Allyssa DeHaan heading into Thursday’s game against No. 5 Notre Dame.

Averaging eight points and five rebounds in the first two games, DeHaan responded with a 20-point, eight-rebound, four-block performance — and she played the final quarter of the game with a rolled ankle, finishing with 25 minutes.

“I think I finally grew a little bit as a person today,” DeHaan said. “(Assistant) coach (Rick) Albro was like, ‘This is the day you’re going to be known as Bad Al, not Nice Al — Bad Al.’ It was work in progress to hit first, before I get hit.”

DeHaan demanded the ball, hitting 7-of-16 shots while being hounded by the Fighting Irish all game. She shot nine free throws, although it could’ve been significantly more had the officials seen it that way.

DeHaan was even called for a foul — her only one of the game — for elbowing Notre Dame’s Becca Bruszewski in the face as she was being hounded after a rebound.

“It was great,” DeHaan said. “Too bad the refs called it.”

Getting DeHaan to play more aggressively has been something the team has been calling for since DeHaan came to campus. While one game is good, DeHaan needs to be consistently aggressive.

“For me to contribute to this team, I need to get more mentally tough and I think it came out a little bit today,” DeHaan said.

And the change in DeHaan wasn’t missed by Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw.

“I thought DeHaan played a little bit more than she had so far this year,” McGraw said. “I think she was a little more aggressive looking for her shot and she had a great game.”

DeHaan said her ankle did hurt after the game, but Merchant isn’t sure where she stands for Sunday’s game against Western Michigan in DeHaan’s hometown of Grand Rapids.

“I thought it was good that she came back in,” Merchant said.

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