On a championship team you need a number of different parts or pieces.
The No. 6 MSU women's basketball team had them all - which is why they are the 2005 Big Ten Champions.
A veteran point guard, senior Kristin Haynie, has the experience and the savvy to know when to push the ball and when to control the pace of the game. Haynie is exactly what you want in a point guard - she is a coach on the floor and exemplifies MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie's workmen-like attitude. She knows when to pass and when to shoot.
Haynie leads the conference in assists and steals, but the more impressive thing about her is that she is 10th in the Big Ten in rebounding. She has had numerous games with eight-plus rebounds, points and assists in the same game but has been unable to get the coveted triple-double.
The Spartans also have a big-time shooting guard in junior Lindsay Bowen, who can knock down the deep three, shoot on the run or get to the foul line. Bowen is mentally tough and can step up in the clutch moments of the game.
At the Ohio State game on Sunday, I was watching the Buckeyes go on a run and take a lead. Before the possession even began, I told some other members of the media that she would stop the run with a basket. Sure enough, with a very determined look on her face, Bowen hit a tough runner to keep the Spartans within striking distance.
The other half of the Spartans junior dynamic duo of Miss Do-It-All, junior forward Liz Shimek.
What do you want her to do? Score? Rebound?
Shimek is a coach's dream. She is a blue-collar worker with a solid frame, built MSU-tough and built to last. Shimek averages 9.2 rebounds per game and is the Spartans leading scorer with 15.0 points per game.
When she does score, it can be the three-ball or an inside; it can be with the right hand or a left-handed scoop shot in the lane.
At the power forward spot, Shimek is asked to guard bigger and smaller players and is also able to pass to her fellow post player, senior center Kelli Roehrig.
Roehrig has been a force inside, having to deal with the likes of All-American Janel McCarville from Minnesota and super-sophomore Jessica Davenport, from Ohio State. Not only has she had to try and stop them on defense, but she was asked to score against them on offense.
Never did Roehrig back down, and at 6-foot-4, she is a force of her own. While overlooked by many other teams because of Bowen, Shimek and Haynie, Roehrig does what she needs to do for the Spartans to be effective.
While you need veteran players to win a championship, there always has to be some "young blood" - freshmen and sophomores that bring a different kind of energy and give a team a youthful feel.
Sophomore guard Victoria Lucas-Perry, sophomore guard Rene Haynes and sophomore center Katrina Grantham have been a solid group for McCallie and the older players to lean on.
They are all much improved from last season and Lucas-Perry and Haynes have split time as the fifth starter and are pretty much interchangeable. Grantham has been given the task of substituting in for Roehrig and Shimek when they get tired or in foul trouble. She played big minutes in games at Wisconsin and at Iowa in a key three-game road stretch late in the season.
The other half to the youthfulness of a team is the freshmen. Center Laura Hall and forward Maggie Dwyer have been important as well. As the eight and ninth players on the team, they have had games where they play 10-plus minutes and games where they don't play at all - all the time learning what it takes to win a Big Ten title.
The final major ingredient to a championship team is the coach, and McCallie is proving to be a great one. She had so much success at Maine and now she has brought that to MSU.
McCallie is tough, focused (one of her favorite words) and goal-oriented - championship goal-oriented.
I have a funny feeling this won't be the last title she wins, possibly getting another one in a week and a half at the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis.
No matter how you slice it up, this team had all the ingredients to make a championship stew - NCAA Championship?
Keep watching and don't be surprised if the Spartans are in Indianapolis again the first weekend in April.
J. Ryan Mulcrone is the State News deputy sports editor. He can be reached at mulcron3@msu.edu.
