For the first time in MSU history, the women's basketball team will play in the Sweet 16. n But, it is not happy with its performance so far and is looking forward to the game that lies ahead. n "We need to have more fun when we play," junior forward Liz Shimek said. "We have to play for ourselves and not worry about anything else. When we get to that point, we will be even harder to beat."

This is something the Spartans feel they are going to have to do to continue playing in this tournament - a tournament that this team feels it can win, if it sticks together.

This is uncharted territory for the Spartans, but no one would know that by talking to them. This team is very confident in its abilities and confident it can get the job done.

"We have been in a lot of situations together," senior center Kelli Roehrig said. "A lot of (those experiences) were for the first time, too, so this isn't really anything new."

Not only are the Spartans playing in a new situation, but for the most part, they are playing opponents they have not played regularly or at all.

In the first round, the Spartans battled the Lady Braves of Alcorn State for the first time in school history. In the second round, they played the Trojans of Southern California for only the third time in school history and recorded their first win against them.

Now, they play Vanderbilt for the third time in school history, with each team recording a win from the first meetings.

"You have to go into uncharted waters if you want to have fun and get things done," MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "This is a chance for us to get better and take our game to the next level."

The Spartans have not been very happy with the way they've been playing lately and were able to pick up some important lessons from the game against Southern Cal.

"We watched a lot of film from that game, and it showed a lot of things we have been doing wrong," McCallie said. "It gives us a chance to fix them in practice before we go into our next game, a game that won't be any easier.

"The way we played is a definite motivator for us because we always want to play our best, and we clearly did not do that against USC."

The players said it is up to them to get the job done, and everything they've been through this year has better prepared them for the road that lies ahead.

"This is just another game on the road to the championship," Roehrig said. "We learned our lesson during the last game, and it really opened our eyes."

There is one thing that keeps this team plugging along - the NCAA Championship - with the Spartans being one of 16 teams left with a chance to capture it.

"Just knowing that it is still out there to win keeps us giving our all," Shimek said. "We give it our all every day because we love playing with each other."

With only seven players getting most of the minutes, analysts and fans might start to wonder if fatigue will be a factor. Also, the players have never played this late in the season before.

"Every team that is left is in the same situation as us," senior guard Kristin Haynie said. "Every team is going to be getting tired, and it is not just us that will have to deal with it, so there is no advantage or disadvantage for any team."