Indianapolis - The No. 1 seed MSU women's basketball team trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half but were able to complete the comeback, 68-64, against No. 1 seed Tennessee to earn its first berth in the national championship game.

"I'm proud of the way they played, but not the least bit surprised in what they did," MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie said.

The Spartans became just the third Big Ten team to reach the championship game. The win tied the record for the biggest comeback in women's Final Four history.

It did not happen without a scramble though.

With just 27 seconds to play, the Lady Volunteers got three chances to tie the game before senior center Kelli Roehrig grabbed the rebound and passed it to junior guard Lindsay Bowen, who found sophomore guard Victoria Lucas-Perry for the game-clinching layup.

"This was a great game for us, we hung in there, stayed together, kept our composure down the stretch when it really counted," senior guard Kristin Haynie said.

The Spartans led for most of the first half, but Tennessee was able to come back and take the lead heading into halftime.

When the second half started, the Lady Volunteers jumped all over the Spartans and forced them to climb their way back into the game, something they were able to finally do with just more than one minute to play in regulation.

Bowen led on offense with 18 points, and Lucas-Perry hit two critical threes during their run and then hit two free throws to tie the game and a layup to seal the win.

Playing catchup was an area the Spartans were clearly not used to as they seemed a little bit rattled once they found themselves down, but turned it on midway through the second half.

The Lady Volunteers were led on offense by guard Alexis Hornbuckle, who finished with 16 points.

The Spartans were outrebounded during the game by a total of 43-33.

Junior forward Liz Shimek finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds and Lucas-Perry finished with 14 points.

Chris Barsotti can be reached at barsott1@msu.edu.