If they do, they will suffer the consequences.

Just ask freshman forward Kalisha Keane, who on Feb. 11 found herself sitting in a folding chair next to her teammates and coaching staff for 29 minutes, thanks to a team-high four turnovers on 1-for-5 shooting.

“Enough’s enough,” Merchant said.

“You get to a point where it’s somebody else’s turn. (Kalisha’s) a great kid — she wants to win. But I think I let it go on too long, and that’s more my fault than anybody else’s.”

But Merchant said this isn’t just something against Keane — it’s a message to everyone on the team.

And since the incident, Keane and the rest of the team have banded together and played more cautiously while attacking the basket at the same time — winning three in a row.

“Atmosphere has changed on both ends of the floor,” Merchant said.

“And (Keane) is being more of a playmaker now, she’s attacking more off the dribble and I think she’s giving it up more.”

Spread them out

Not only did sitting Keane for a longer amount of time help her game, but it also allowed various Spartans to get different looks because of more minutes.

Merchant has been doing similar rotations lately with the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, sophomore center Allyssa DeHaan — who earned Big Ten Player of the Week.

“I think playing her less minutes has helped,” Merchant said.

“I said ‘If you knew you were only going to play two or three minutes at a stretch, how would you feel?’ She said she’d love it and she wouldn’t pace herself as much — running the floor knowing she’s going to get a rest in a little bit.”

Merchant considers it a win-win situation, as DeHaan will be more productive because she feels better, healthier and stronger when she’s out there.

And when she’s not?

“Lauren (Aitch) is giving us a lot of good minutes, too,” Merchant said about the sophomore center.

Because of recent switches and a boost in team confidence, Merchant has been able to look at her coaching staff in the opening stages of games and say, “We’re going to win this game.

Defens-ity

MSU is playing intense defense, forcing teams to take shots late in the shot clock — a trait Merchant wants her team to keep.

“We held (opponents) to have to take a tough shot under 10 seconds (in the shot clock),” Merchant said.

“Every one of them was challenged — that tells you that we are really defending people.”

Merchant said this wasn’t the case earlier in the season because her team didn’t have the ability to switch defenders smoothly.

Now, she said they’re at the point where many players can do many different things defensively.

Not only does this strong defense help improve the offense, but also it means the squad is focusing on improving and playing hard while competing at the same time.

“I tell the kids, if you play hard and don’t compete it’s a bad combination,” Merchant said. “For a while, I thought we weren’t doing both. Now I think we are both playing hard and competing.”