The MSU women’s basketball team spent its Thanksgiving weekend in Florida playing in the Tallahassee Democrat Seminole Classic.

The Spartans played in Sunday’s consolation game after losing to Virginia Tech 50-36 Saturday. Florida State earned a spot in Sunday’s championship game by beating Chicago State 85-45.

MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie said MSU had chances to beat the Hokies down the stretch but could not get the job done.

“It was a defensive battle,” McCallie said. “It was definitely an ugly contest and we had our opportunities down the stretch.

“I was disappointed that we did not capitalize as a team and fell short of playing 40 minutes of Spartan basketball.”

McCallie added that the Virginia Tech game was a lesson the team could learn from and it would get a chance to redeem itself in the consolation game. MSU took advantage of that opportunity when it beat Chicago State 101-52.

McCallie said Chicago State is a struggling team and did not apply as much pressure on MSU as Virginia Tech did.

After committing 19 turnovers against Virginia Tech, MSU cut that number to 12 against Chicago State. MSU also managed to improve its team assists from four against the Hokies to 24 against Chicago State.

Freshman guard Candice Jackson’s 26 points, 5 assists and 0 turnovers were a major reason MSU improved on its assist and turnover statistics Sunday.

McCallie said Jackson’s effort was not only the best of her short career, but was the main reason MSU played one of its best games this season.

“In terms of executing and taking care of the ball it (the Chicago State game) was our best game so far,” McCallie said. “(Jackson) gave us a lift - she was everywhere. She had her best game as a collegiate. She’s becoming a floor leader for us.”

The Spartans will return to Breslin Students Event Center at 7 p.m. Thursday when they face Detroit.