“Our nemesis has been turnovers, and there’s no question that was a big thing for us in the game against Old Dominion,” Merchant said. “I thought we handled Clemson’s pressure pretty well at home, then on the road at Old Dominion it’s just a different kind of pressure because the crowd gets involved. It’s a tough place to play, and I don’t think we handled it as well.”

The Spartans are now 1-2 on the road this season with a game at Indiana State coming up Saturday.

“To be a good team, you’ve got to be able to win on the road,” Merchant said. “We’re a young team, and I think it’s good that we’re trying to figure out how to find a way (to win) on the road. We’ve been OK at it, but I’d like to be at home a lot more.”

Merchant said Sunday’s game was the first time she felt the team did not play with confidence.

“Old Dominion played extremely well and were out to get us, and I think we played on our heels a little bit,” Merchant said. “If that game’s at home, I think it’s a different story.”

But no matter what the wins and losses say, MSU’s nonconference schedule — with games against Louisiana State, Clemson, Old Dominion and Oklahoma — will pay off when the Big Ten schedule comes around in late December.

Time off

The Spartans are starting a two-week stretch where they will not have a mid-week game. After facing Indiana State on Saturday, MSU is off until a Dec. 16 showdown with Oklahoma.

Merchant welcomes the lack of a weekday game.

“We really need to clean up a lot of the things that we’re doing,” Merchant said. “It’s been hard to do that because we’ve played so many games in a short period of time.

“We have some things we have to accomplish in the next couple of weeks.”

Honored

Sophomore center Allyssa DeHaan was named the Big Ten Co-Player of the Week for her efforts against Clemson and Old Dominion.

DeHaan averaged 18 points, 8.7 rebounds and 4.3 blocks during the three games.