Redemption is on the mind of the MSU women's basketball team.
After a poor showing in a 55-48 win last Thursday, the Spartans look to put on a better performance at 7 p.m. tonight in a rematch with the Wildcats at Breslin Center.
After giving MSU a close call, Northwestern defeated Penn State on Sunday, snapping an 18-game losing streak.
"I knew they were kind of due," MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie said of Northwestern. "I'm not surprised they beat Penn State because they looked sort of due in our game. I'm just glad they were overdue, so to speak, against Penn State."
Although MSU held Northwestern to 22 percent shooting, the Wildcats kept it close by going to the free-throw line 15 more times than the Spartans. That, and 23 MSU turnovers, including five each from the Spartans' three starting guards, helped Northwestern's cause.
All this from a game in which MSU lead by 18 at one point early in the second half.
"We didn't have to look at the film, we knew (we played poorly)," sophomore guard Mia Johnson said. "(Today), we have to walk in there knowing what we want to do and execute and bring our A game."
In the Wildcats' 64-61 win over Penn State on Sunday, Northwestern was able to overcome getting badly outrebounded by spreading around the scoring — six players scored eight or more points — while letting Penn State's leading scorers get theirs, but holding down the rest of the team.
MSU is coming off an exciting 54-52 win over Purdue on Sunday.
The Spartans found themselves down 17 in the first half, but they battled back and won the game on a 3-pointer by Johnson with 1.3 seconds left on the clock.
McCallie believes the shot will send her team one of two ways: Satisfaction or motivation.
"I think we'll be motivated," she said. "And that's the way we should be."
But like they do with every game they play, the players said the win is already behind them and they're focusing on Northwestern. Sophomore forward Aisha Jefferson said the team had a "terrible, terrible performance in Evanston."
"We're over the Purdue win," Jefferson said. "We're glad about it, but we're moving on now."
The Spartans are looking to improve on all areas since the last contest.
"We have to play Northwestern a whole heck of a lot better," McCallie said.
"We played very poorly in Evanston. It's very motivating to watch the film, and we'll move ahead and hopefully play a lot better."
Lucky number 20
The Spartans are only one win away from 20 on the season.
If they hit the 20-win plateau again this season, it will be a school record fourth season in a row that it has been done.
