Indianapolis - The No. 1 MSU women's basketball team wasn't playing with feeling in the first half of Sunday's 68-64 national semifinal win over Tennessee.
Down by six points at halftime, MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie challenged the team's most sensitive part.
"I challenged their heart because the first 20 minutes were pretty lackluster," McCallie said. "If you challenge their heart, then they're basically going to start fistfighting, so I got out of there before the fistfight ensued.
"But they took care of business and did what they had to do in the second half."
What the Spartans had to do was come back from a 16-point deficit with 14:30 left in the game. A comeback of that nature could only have been done with a belief the game was never over.
"Through thick and thin, we stay together," sophomore guard Rene Haynes said. "It wasn't looking at the scoreboard and saying, 'Oh, we're down.'
"We just knew, if we stay together, we got this."
No player exemplified heart more than senior center Kelli Roehrig. At 6-foot-4, Roehrig was the tallest Spartan to play in the game, but only had three rebounds.
However, it was a rebound with about 10 seconds left that sealed the win for MSU. Add in the game-winning basket with about 30 seconds left, despite missing a wide-open layup just a few minutes earlier that would have pulled the Spartans within two points.
The Spartans were outrebounded, lost the battles of points in the paint, second-chance points, fast-break points and bench points. Yet they were still able to get a win.
It took a lot more than just having heart for the Spartans to win in their first Final Four appearance by overcoming what seemed to be an insurmountable lead by women's college basketball's most storied program.
Beside the plays from Roehrig, MSU got a basket from senior guard Kristin Haynie, key free throws from junior guard Lindsay Bowen and a great finish from sophomore guard Victoria Lucas-Perry, as she scored 11 of her 14 points in the final 6:01 of the game.
"Everyone stepped up in their own little way," Haynie said. "That's what teams are - we don't have one all-star on this team."
Now, this team will get a chance to showcase its heart on the grandest stage of all - the national championship game at 8:30 p.m. tonight at the RCA Dome.
