Champaign, Ill. — Whenever the No. 17 MSU women's basketball team loses a game, the players and coaches always stress defense as the primary reason for their failures.
Down the stretch of Sunday's game against Illinois, the Spartans defense couldn't have been any better.
The two teams battled neck and neck for the duration of the game, with neither team holding more than an eight-point lead in the second half. Illinois forward Erin Wigley hit two free throws with 4:31 remaining, deadlocking the score at 51.
They were the final two points the Spartans allowed.
From that point forward, MSU (17-7 overall, 7-4 Big Ten) locked down the Fighting Illini in every facet. They suffocated their opponents on inbound opportunities, they closed out on shooters, they forced Illinois to use the whole shot clock before making an attempt at the basket and they grabbed every defensive rebound. The Spartans won, 57-51.
"We were pressing, and we were defending for 94 feet," MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "We weren't sitting back.
"We wanted to be attacking. That was important to us, obviously, because the offensive creation didn't come very easily."
Freshman forward Aisha Jefferson led the defensive charge for the Spartans. She hit the deck hard late in the game and aggravated an injury to her left shoulder.
McCallie sent freshman center Lauren Aitch to the scorer's table to replace the injured Spartan, but Jefferson signaled that she could still play. The fall seemed to give her a boost of adrenaline, as Jefferson raced all over the floor in the final minutes, closing passing lanes and cleaning the glass.
"She was pretty adamant about wanting to stay in the game, which I thought was great," McCallie said.
"So I said absolutely, sure."
Playing through pain is nothing new for Jefferson. She's been battling with the injured shoulder all season long.
"She's grown a lot with that injury," McCallie said. "It's a very painful thing when she does it, but the pain doesn't stay. It sort of pops in and out."
Liz Shimek, held to just four first-half points, was able to grind away in the paint and give the Spartans just enough late-game scoring to come away with the win.
The senior forward hit two free throws of her own with 2:33 remaining, giving MSU a 53-51 advantage.
It was all the Green and White needed to grab the final lead. A few more free throws gave the Spartans some insurance points, and MSU left Assembly Hall with the victory.
Despite her quiet first half, Shimek led the Spartans in scoring, finishing with 15 points and nine rebounds. Senior guard Lindsay Bowen added 13 points, and junior guard Rene Haynes put eight points on the board for MSU.
Only three Illinois players were able to put forth a significant offensive contribution. Wigley, Janelle Hughes and Audrey Tabon combined for 44 of the Fighting Illini's 51 total points, with the rest of the team chipping in just seven.
The Spartans will play the first of three straight home games on Thursday, facing No. 12 Minnesota. The Golden Gophers already beat the Spartans once this season, 71-58. The game tips off at 8 p.m. at Breslin Center.
Ethan Conley can be reached at conleyet@msu.edu.
