Champaign, Ill. - Despite their best comeback attempts, the Spartan women’s basketball team dropped their third straight game 72-66 to Illinois at Assembly Hall.
The Spartans (10-6 overall, 0-5 Big Ten) trailed by as many as 11 to the Fighting Illini (11-4, 4-1) and faced an eight-point deficit at halftime, before staging a second-half comeback that came up just short.
Spartan head coach Joanne P. McCallie said she was proud of her team’s fight and heart, but still saw things that needed to change.
“We need to do a much better job at trusting each other down the stretch and not rushing,” she said. “I felt we rushed some things and we rushed some shots, but that’s all part of the learning experience.”
Illinois, in contrast, remained patient in its half-court offense and didn’t rush many shots.
The Illini shot 70 percent from the field in the second half, squashing the Spartans’ comeback attempt.
“Part of it is just great shooting, but as a coach you question if defensively you’re in the right spots,” McCallie said.
Illini center Iveta Marcauskaite led all scorers with 21 points, while guard Shavonna Hunter added 15 points.
Sophomore forward Julie Pagel led the Spartans with 18 points, a season-high, and freshman Kelli Roehrig dropped in 16 points.
Junior guard Maria Recker added a season-high 10 points for the Spartans behind her three second-half three-pointers in the losing cause.
MSU’s leading scorer of the season, junior forward Syreeta Bromfield, was held to just eight points.
Pagel said the Spartan front court had been spending time on interior passing - a big reason for the boost in post production for the Spartans.
“We’ve worked on it, not taking quick shots and making the extra pass,” Pagel said. “Especially when Illinois trapped, when there’s two players guarding one player, someone’s open. And we did a better job at finding that person today.”
The Spartans opened the second half with an explosion, scoring nine unanswered points to take a 38-37 lead, their first advantage since a 6-4 lead early in the first half.
Rallying behind their home crowd, the Illini fought back with stifling defensive pressure and took a four-point lead at 51-47 on Marcauskaite‘s lay-in with more than 11 minutes left.
Another Spartan push, ending with a three-pointer by freshman guard Kristin Haynie, resulted in MSU‘s second lead in the half at 65-64 with 4:15 left to play.
But, a tough, hanging jumper by Hunter fell through the net, giving the Illini the 66-65 lead - the final lead change of the afternoon.
Illini head coach Theresa Grentz said she was impressed by the Spartans “scrappy” style of play which forced her team into 19 turnovers.
“You have to give (MSU) a lot of credit,” Grentz said. “They certainly don’t play like a team that is looking for wins in the Big Ten.”
On Thursday the Spartans travel to Ohio State, looking for their first Big Ten win.
