Champaign, Ill. — Another uninspired performance finally caught up with the MSU women's basketball team.
Once again playing to the level of their competition, the No. 20 Spartans were sent crashing back to Earth, 56-46, by Illinois on Thursday night at Assembly Hall.
The loss snapped MSU's six-game winning streak, while Illinois won for the second time in its last six games.
"Illinois played much better as a team than we did at any minute of the game," MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "They wanted it more, and they showed that they wanted it more. There's no excuse for the way we played."
The Spartans (21-7 overall, 12-3 Big Ten) jumped out to a 12-8 lead behind sophomore forward Aisha Jefferson and senior guard Victoria Lucas-Perry. The duo scored nine of those 12 points. Lucas-Perry scored five of her game-high 14 points in that span.
But those were the last points Jefferson scored all game. The Fighting Illini (18-9, 8-7) went on a 15-0 run, as MSU went scoreless for nearly 10 minutes. And by halftime, the Spartans were in a 10-point hole.
MSU came into the second half determined to get the ball inside and it worked early, as freshman center Allyssa DeHaan scored MSU's first six points of the half to cut the lead to 34-27. But DeHaan picked up a tough foul that put her on the bench and killed the momentum.
DeHaan finished with eight points, eight rebounds and three blocks, as she was hurt by foul trouble in both the first and second half.
The Spartans went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to four, 42-38, but Illinois' Jenna Smith and Chelsea Gordon went on an 8-0 run of their own to put MSU out of range, 50-38, with less than three minutes to play.
MSU committed 20 turnovers and had eight assists.
"The combination is horrible — there's no excuse for it," McCallie said. "Not at this time of year."
The loss drops MSU out of contention for the Big Ten regular-season title, as Ohio State clinched at least a share of the title with a win over Penn State on Thursday night.
MSU plays its final game of the regular season against Minnesota at 1 p.m. Sunday at Breslin Center.
