In order to get one step closer, the Spartans know they must contain star forward Khadijah Whittington.

The top scorer for the Wolfpack and leading rebounder in the ACC, Whittington averages 16.9 points and 11.7 rebounds per game.

“Whittington is probably one of the best players that we’ll play against this year,” MSU head coach Suzy Merchant said.

“She just finds a way to get it done.”

Sophomore center Allyssa DeHaan is ready for the challenge, and knows Whittington is a strong and physical player.

DeHaan is hoping she can get into a position to disallow Whittington from being as physical with her and bump her out of position.

The Spartans are going to enlist a strategy against Whittington that DeHaan deals with every game — double teams.

“We just really want to hit her and not allow her to get any offensive rebounds,” DeHaan said of the 6-foot-1 forward. “She doesn’t have that 6-foot-5 height but she makes up for it with a lot of heart and determination, she’s just very physical and gets her shot up very well.”

Crunch time

The Spartans have a habit of winning games in the last five minutes. In a majority of its wins, MSU has been behind at one point — most recently in Sunday’s win against Michigan, when MSU was behind by double-digit numbers at one point.

Freshman forward Kalisha Keane went scoreless the entire first half against U-M before scoring 15 points in the second half, including a seven-point run at the very end to force overtime.

“It’s hard to stop a team that is so focused as a unit,” Keane said of the team’s sense of togetherness and communication in the postseason.

Awestruck

Merchant will be going up against another legendary women’s basketball coach tonight.

North Carolina State head coach Kay Yow has been racking up successes as a basketball coach for 37 seasons — 33 with the Wolfpack — tallying a record of 729-336.

After going up against Louisiana State head coach Van Chancellor on Nov. 15, Merchant has had the awestruck feeling before and feels it’s a privilege to stand on the sidelines with someone who has done so much for women’s basketball.

“We are aware of what (Yow) has been through and what she has meant to our profession,” Merchant said.

“She was in this profession long before anyone even got paid to be in it, so she’s seen it before its time and she loves this game and she loves making a difference with young women.”

MSU tips off at 7 p.m. tonight against North Carolina State at Breslin Center.