Illinois forward Audrey Tabon, left, and center Jenna Smith guard MSU sophomore center Allyssa DeHaan during the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Saturday at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Spartans lost 55-41.
Indianapolis — The MSU women’s basketball team struggled on the hardwood all weekend and lost hope for a Big Ten Tournament championship after losing to Illinois in the semifinals.
After struggling on the offensive end in the quarterfinals on Friday against Minnesota, MSU’s problems continued into Saturday’s matchup against Illinois.
Squeaking by with a five-point win against Minnesota, despite 34 percent shooting from the field, the Spartans weren’t so lucky with their 31.3 percent shooting against Illinois — who made it to the championship game with a 55-41 victory against the Spartans.
Night-and-day award
The night-and-day award, in regards to this weekend’s play, goes to both sophomore center Allyssa DeHaan and freshman guard Brittney Thomas.
DeHaan had a superstar moment on Friday against Minnesota in the second half after sitting out most of the first half due to foul trouble. She scored all 12 of her points in the second half, including four consecutive field goals down the stretch. Not only that, but also DeHaan was more physical and dominant in the post in the second half.
“It was frustrating from the bench. I was trying so hard and my team did so great and they played so hard and fought for the whole first half,” DeHaan said in Friday’s postgame press conference. “I just owed it to them to come out in the second half and really give everything I had. Everybody just stepped up and we all came together.”
Then came Saturday.
DeHaan didn’t commit one foul during the game, yet she scored only eight points and collected seven rebounds — which were all defensive rebounds.
“There’s not really a technique or skill to rebounding. It is all about heart. They just had a lot more of it than we did tonight,” DeHaan said after the loss to Illinois. “We are just as capable of pulling down those boards, but we didn’t come out with the same heart and intensity as they did.”
Thomas was a defensive powerhouse against Minnesota on Friday, shutting down Golden Gophers guard Emily Fox in the post. Fox finished the game with seven points after averaging 24 points against the Spartans in the two teams’ earlier meetings.
“I played on her most of the game, but it really came down to the fact that they set a lot of screens so our posts were stepping up and they weren’t scared,” Thomas said. “We just made her work really hard and I don’t think she was used to that.”
MSU head coach Suzy Merchant said Thomas made the difference against Minnesota.
Thomas led the Spartans with a game-high 12 points on the night.
Fast-forward to Saturday night against Illinois, where Thomas failed to notch a single point and had to switch from defending guard Rebecca Harris, because of a lack of effectiveness in the matchup, to guard Lori Bjork.
“It’s hard to stay aggressive knowing that you can’t pick up another foul, and Harris just figured out that she really needs to step up for her team to continue to be successful,” Thomas said of her three fouls in the first half. “She collected some rebounds in the end that I’ve never seen her get before.”
Mind-boggling weekend
Saturday’s 96-point game was the lowest-scoring semifinal game in women’s Big Ten Tournament history.
And it wasn’t pretty.
The Spartans scored seven two-point baskets and five free throws to combine for their 19 first-half points and headed into the break with a four-point lead against Illinois.
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It’s not that MSU wasn’t taking shots, it was just brick city with 30.4 percent first-half shooting from the field — not to mention the team went 0-for-6 from beyond the arc.
Although the Spartans lost on Saturday, the first-half performance against Illinois was better than Friday’s against Minnesota. The Spartans finished the first 20 minutes shooting 23.8 percent from the field against the Golden Gophers.
