Chicago — Aisha Jefferson muscled for position in the paint, her back to the basket and her left arm held high in the air as she anxiously called for the ball.
She wasn't just calling for it. Actually, she was screaming for it, and with good reason.
The freshman forward pulled out every move in her still-growing arsenal, overpowering defenders during the MSU women's basketball team's second-round NCAA Tournament matchup with Kentucky on Monday.
Playing with a fire that the Wildcats could not extinguish, Jefferson scored 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the first half, keeping the Spartans close while seniors Liz Shimek and Lindsay Bowen struggled to find their shooting touch.
MSU trailed Kentucky by one point at halftime, 33-34.
The two teams struggled for separation in the second half, until MSU finally clamped down on defense. With the exception of a 3-pointer with four seconds left that proved to be meaningless, the Green and White held Kentucky scoreless in the final five minutes of the game, beating the Wildcats by a 67-63 score and punching a ticket to their second consecutive Sweet 16.
"I thought they just played a marvelous finish to a very, very good game — a solid game," MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "The defensive effort was exceptional, and the plays made down the stretch were exceptional."
Jefferson's first postseason outbreak was the product of a mismatch that MSU looked to exploit, but also of the freshman overcoming some nerves that existed in MSU's opening-round win over Wisconsin-Milwaukee, when she struggled with 3-for-10 shooting from the field. Jefferson said she was in a better state of mind for Monday night's game.
It showed, as she comfortably beat slower defenders off the dribble, pulled up for midrange jumpers, and hit tough layups in traffic.
"My teammates recognized the mismatch I was in and they kept going to me," Jefferson said. "That's what got me my points."
MSU also received some much-needed scoring help from sophomore center Laura Hall and junior guard Victoria Lucas-Perry. Hall scored eight points on 3-for-5 shooting. Lucas-Perry, after going 0-for-8 from the field against Wisconsin-Milwaukee and being held scoreless in the first half, erupted for 13 second-half points. She also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
"A lot of it was my teammates found me, they set some good screens, I was open, and I just took a shot," Lucas-Perry said. "You take your shots when you're open and you're a shooter, and that's what you're supposed to do. If I missed it my teammates had my rebounds."
In all, six MSU players scored at least eight points. Jefferson cooled off in the second half, but still led MSU in scoring with 16 points. Lucas-Perry's 13 points were second best for MSU.
Despite poor shooting from the field, Shimek finished the evening with 12 points. Bowen and junior guard Rene Haynes had nine points apiece.
Guard Carly Ormerod paced Kentucky with 15 points, including 3-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc.
The fourth-seeded Spartans (24-9 overall) won't find out who their next opponent is until tonight, when top-seeded Duke faces USC, a No. 8 seed. MSU will face the winner of that game on Sunday at Bridgeport Arena in Bridgeport, Conn.
Ethan Conley can be reached at conleyet@msu.edu.
