The No. 23 MSU women's basketball team ended its holiday season on a sour note with losses at No. 9 Penn State and to No. 10 Purdue.
The 77-67 loss to Purdue (11-2 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) was only the third of the season for MSU (10-3, 1-2), whose other two defeats each came by two points.
"We need to be a little bit tougher and more mature," MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie said.
"(Purdue) had four senior starters, and it showed."
The Spartans are an extremely young team. On a squad which can go as many as 10 players deep, the Spartans have five freshmen, two sophomores, two juniors and just one senior.
The Boilermakers' senior experience came through as they controlled the tempo of the game from start to finish.
"I have to compliment Purdue; they're an excellent team and they play very well together," McCallie said.
"I just boil the game down to the 14 first-half turnovers (MSU committed), because those led to transition baskets by Purdue. After that it's an even game, but after that it's too late."
The Spartans were in the game for the opening 12 minutes, but a six-minute scoring drought which ensued turned out to be the difference in the game.
During the stretch, Purdue outscored the Spartans 14-0 as MSU shot 0-7 and committed six turnovers.
Boilermaker forward Shereka Wright, a preseason All-American and National Player of the Year candidate, led the visitors with 28 points, adding four rebounds.
Purdue head coach Kristy Curry said she couldn't have asked for more from her best player.
"We just gave Shereka Wright the ball, and she makes things look good," said Curry.
"She's been doing this all year long, this game was no different."
MSU used a 3-point barrage in the second half to crawl back into the game.
Five Spartans had at least one bucket from behind the arc, as the team combined 9-for-14 shooting in the half. But Wright or one of the other three Purdue seniors seemed to answer for every MSU basket.
"Our defense wasn't where it should be and where it's going to be," senior forward Julie Pagel said. "The lesson we take from this game is, if we don't play defense, we lose games."
McCallie said if there was a carryover from the loss to Penn State (10-3, 3-0), it was negative, which is not a good sign for the future.
She added MSU might have the chance to buck that trend on Thursday at No. 22 Ohio State.
The two losses to top-10 teams is a measuring stick, one which the Spartans will be able to check later on in the season, when they have back-to-back rematches against the Nittany Lions and the Boilermakers on Feb. 22 and 26.
Despite the two losses, teams around the league are beginning to notice the success MSU has had this season and at least one coach, other than McCallie, is convinced the Spartans have what it takes to win the conference.
"Michigan State, I'm telling you what, they are a legitimate team and they have a bright future ahead of them," Curry said.
