GRAND RAPIDS - It was a symbolic 52-48 loss for the women’s basketball team Thursday in the Big Ten Tournament’s first round matchup against Ohio State.
It capped a season that began with fumbling play and stinging losses and ended with the emergence of a brighter side - a team which could battle defensively with anyone in the pack.
But despite that positive end to their regular season, the Spartans (10-18 overall, 4-13 Big Ten) learned one more time that defense alone can’t win championships, head coach Joanne P. McCallie said.
“There’s a lot of things we need to work on,” she said. “They played defense and they rebounded. They might not have always put the ball in the hole, though.”
Although MSU led 24-18 at halftime, lackluster intensity opened the second half and the Buckeyes’ 11-of-12 banked free throws in the final two minutes brought MSU’s season to an end.
Eighth-seeded Ohio State (17-10, 7-10) will advance to round two of the tournament, facing the Big Ten champions, No. 1 seeded Purdue.
The first five minutes of the second half Thursday may have been what sunk the Spartans.
Their six-point halftime lead quickly shrunk as Ohio State guard Jamie Lewis stole the ball twice and the Spartans turned the ball over three times in a row.
“I think the first five minutes were symbolic,” McCallie said. “We were not as intense.
“And it was very critical.”
That type of play led to Ohio State’s first lead since the opening basket, when Buckeye forward Courtney Coleman went to the line and made both shots, staking a 28-26 lead.
The score knotted up six more times in the half, the final being a 41-point tie at 2:01, coming from a three-pointer by freshman forward Julie Pagel.
Pagel led all players with 16 points and nine boards.
MSU’s defense shut out the Buckeyes on the next possession, getting the ball back with 1:26 to play. But a foul on senior center Erin Skelly from an out-of-bounds pass took Ohio State sophomore D'wan Shackleford to the line with 1:14 remaining.
Her two buckets put the Buckeyes back up 43-41. Lewis then yanked another steal and went to the line herself with 43.7 left. She was good for two as well.
Senior guard Christie Pung drove down the lane on the next play and not only made her layup, but forced a Buckeye foul. After she made her one shot, the score was 45-44 Ohio State, with 36.4 seconds left. That was as close as it would get.
The Buckeyes hit seven more from the stripe, and MSU couldn’t muster a last second chance to win.
“We wanted to start the second half out strong, and we just didn’t,” Pung said. “It was something due to us, and our lack of hustle.”
That hustle was evident in the first half, when MSU moved quickly into a 14-6 lead over the Buckeye team when junior forward Abby Salscheider capped a 5-0 MSU run with a quick offensive board and a lay-up, with 12:12 left.
But the Buckeyes cut the lead to six, 24-18, before halftime, with a short 5-0 run mid-half.
Overall, the Spartans defense out-powered the Buckeyes in the first half. MSU hit 45.5 percent to its opponent’s 33.3 percent in the first half. The Spartans also out-rebounded Ohio State 17-12, tallied three more blocks and four more assists.
MSU finished with 44.2 percent from the field and a commendable 85.7 percent from the line.
The Buckeyes were 77.4 percent at the line, but took 31 freebies to the Spartans’ seven.
The loss brought the end of five MSU senior careers.
“It’s been fun,” Skelly said. “I wish I could stay here longer. We should’ve won this game.”
Krista Latham can be reached at lathamkr@msu.edu.
