The MSU women’s basketball team is still looking for one thing - consistency.
They couldn’t find it Sunday when Illinois, (9-8 overall, 4-1 Big Ten), spanked the Spartans, (8-8, 2-3) at Breslin Student Events Center, 72-59.
It seemed every time MSU was about to go on a run, Illinois would either stop it with their unbreakable zone defense or the Spartans’ shots wouldn’t land.
Even senior guard Christie Pung’s and sophomore guard Vnemina Reese’s 11 point performances couldn’t get the Spartans started.
“Pung did nice things to step up, but she wasn’t a consistent threat,” head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “We come with a different game every night. It’s a complete team effort of not playing tough ball.”
The Spartans will now travel to West Lafayette, Ind., to face Big Ten leader and No. 6-ranked Purdue (15-3, 5-0) on Thursday.
The first half Sunday opened with a 19-5 Illinois run, closed by an Aminata Yanni basket with 8:09 left. Yanni scored a game-high 17 points off the Illinois bench.
The Fighting Illini bench scorched MSU’s, racking up 36 points, while MSU’s bench contributed 25, paced by freshman forward Julie Pagel, with 10.
After a 20-second time-out, MSU seemed to muster up some offense and found Pung and Reese open behind the arc.
Soon after, the Spartans managed to bring the game within three, 27-24, with a layup from junior forward Abby Salscheider with 2:21 left in the half.
But Illinois used those few minutes to go on an 11-2 run, heading to the locker room up 38-26.
“I thought we were going to go on a couple of runs, but it just didn’t happen,” McCallie said. “We just didn’t attack the way we should have.”
The second half showcased more intense Illinois defense and a slow-moving, struggling MSU offense. Illinois extended their lead to as much as 20, paced by junior forward Yanni, junior forward Dawn Vana, who finished with 12, and junior guard Allison Curtin with 13.
An 11-4 run mid-way through the half clenches the Fighting Illini victory.
Reese had only three points in the half before she fouled out with 3:03 left.
MSU’s leading scorer, senior forward Becky Cummings, was contained to only four points.
“They played a really nice zone defense - that’s a very effective defense against us,” McCallie said. “They did a nice job disrupting things.”
Several holes in the MSU zone defense led her team to open shots, Illinois head coach Theresa Grentz said.
“MSU came in here with a zone defense and they wanted us to shoot,” she said. “I just took a look at them defensively and said these spots are places you want to be and the players started to get great looks there.”
The loss came in front of the largest home crowd of the season, with 3,352 fans - many of them local girl scout and brownie troops.
“Frankly, I’m really disappointed that we couldn’t give the fans something to cheer about,” McCallie said.
Some players said the large crowd was a nice change, but they too wished the outcome had been different.
“To hear the crowd out there, it’s really like the sixth player,” Pung said. “The girl scouts are always a lot of fun, and it’s hard to see them and know they came to support you and leave them with a disappointing loss.”
