This season has been something special for the No. 9 MSU women's basketball team - from records being broken all the way to picking up win after win.
It's only fitting that senior guard Kristin Haynie get some of the spotlight she has deserved.
And Haynie seems to create her own spotlight, doing so quietly, even if no one else is watching.
"She is a great player," junior guard Lindsay Bowen said. "She is a lot of fun to play with. We always look for each other on the floor and pretty much know where the other one is all the time."
During her career at MSU, Haynie has had quite a few accomplishments and has led the Spartans on and off the floor.
She has been one of the main reasons the Spartan program has been turned around in the last four years.
Haynie has played in 115 games since coming to MSU and has started 111 of them. She is averaging 9.2 points per game, 4.6 rebounds per game and 4.4 assists per game for her career. She also is the career leader in assists and steals at MSU.
However, it might be her improved ability to communicate with her teammates that has helped this soft-spoken player become the leader of a top ten team.
"My vocal skills have gotten so much better, and I have learned to be a better leader," Haynie said.
"Overall though, my all-around game has improved each year, too. But I also know that it can get a lot better."
During Sunday's game at Wisconsin, Haynie became just the fourth player in Big Ten history to reach career totals of 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 500 assists and 300 steals. She joins Ohio State's Yvette Angel, Purdue's Katie Douglass and Wisconsin's Tamara Moore as the only players to accomplish these totals.
"Great shout out to Kristin," MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie said Monday at her press conference.
"She continues to put up numbers and break records, and she is just a great player to watch. I can't keep up with all of the stats that she is piling up, and it is just great to see her succeed as much as she has been."
Haynie and senior center Kelli Roehrig became the winningest class in MSU history when they got their 75th victory and have been adding to that total since making the record grow with each win.
"She has great leadership being a point guard," Bowen said.
"She has been through so much here and knows what it takes to be successful."
For the season, Haynie is having success, averaging 10.2 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game. She has started to step up her rebounding and has made her presence on the floor felt, something her teammates appreciate.
"What can't you pick up from her game is the real question," sophomore guard Victoria Lucas-Perry said.
"She is a remarkable player, and I have all the respect in the world for her as a player and a person."
As the season finishes up, look for Haynie to have a big hand in how the Spartans close out their most memorable season ever.
She is a team leader and has been throughout her career here at MSU.
Haynie knows, being a point guard, that she has the most control on the floor and knows her teammates respect what she does for them, but more importantly, what she does with them.
"She isn't the most vocal person ever," Lucas-Perry said.
"But she is a great leader by example. She is always composed and confident on the floor, and just a great player to have on the team."
