It has been nine days since the No. 8 MSU women's basketball team clinched its second-ever Big Ten Championship, and more importantly, since it has played a game.
The Spartans (25-3 overall, 14-2 Big Ten) have been preparing without knowing who they are going to play. They did not know if it would be No. 7 seed Illinois or No. 10 Northwestern until 8 p.m Thursday night.
"It doesn't matter who we play," senior guard Kristin Haynie said. "We will come out hard and practice every day the same way and do the same for the game on Friday night."
With a 66-43 win, the Fighting Illini advanced to face the Spartans.
MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie said she feels that preparing without knowing the opponent is better for the team.
"We are focused on ourselves," McCallie said. "I don't think you can use an opponent as a motivator. We demand our best game from ourselves every day we are on the basketball court."
The Spartans have played and defeated Illinois twice, 62-42 in Champaign, Ill., and 68-59 at home.
Junior forward Liz Shimek leads the Spartans heading to Indianapolis, averaging 15 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.
McCallie said she is glad to have the extra time off before the tournament.
"This break gives a chance to recover from any injuries and also improve areas of our game that may need improvement," McCallie said.
"It allows us to put ourselves in position to win a championship and I feel that we are fundamentally better because of this break."
The players know that come tournament time they are not going to have time off like they have had during the past two weeks.
"Playing three games in four days is a tough stretch for any team," junior guard Lindsay Bowen said.
"It isn't like we are the only ones who will have to deal with it. I think that we have had other tough stretches during the year and it won't be anything new to us.
"We don't have to look very far for our last (tough) stretch of games. We had the three road games in a row, where we were traveling a lot and had some quick turnarounds. So I think that we have been prepared for this situation throughout the year."
On Tuesday, the Spartans had five players named to various All-Big Ten teams and saw head coach Joanne P. McCallie get named coach of the year by the media.
"Every honor that we got was a great accomplishment," McCallie said. "The Coach of the Year represents what this program stands for and everybody involved.
"The individual achievements by the players is just as great for them and it should serve as motivation to get better and go on to achieve that much more."
Today's game is scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m. and can be seen on UPN-18.
