In that game, the Spartans squandered a seven-point lead in the final 1:26 with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line.

“Probably, the first six times you watch it, no, (the feelings don’t go away), but I think the last six, seven, eight times you watch it, you sort of break it down a little more strategically, and, you know,” Merchant said, her voice trailing off. “Yeah, I definitely watched it.”

The rest of the team watched the final minute of the game.

“Our goal was, for as hard as that was to watch, to be part of when it happened, to watch it on-screen again and to evoke all those emotions again is within that is going to lie a great strength,” Merchant said Monday at the team’s Media Day. “That was the team we were. Now, we’re going to be a new team and with that we’re going to grow from this. It was really to put it behind us. I think we had to see it in order to quit thinking about it.”

After the disappointment of the loss, both players and coaches agree the team has come back to campus in better shape than ever, primed to make a run after returning 12 of 13 letterwinners from last season’s squad.

“These kids were very, very committed this offseason,” Merchant said. “We challenged them in two areas this offseason. One was our fitness level and our conditioning. We really wanted to elevate that. It wasn’t awful, but I think we can be a lot better. If we’re going to play at a faster pace, we’re going to be a little bit deeper, we’ll be more athletic, let’s make sure we stay at a conditioning level that we feel comfortable with. So we changed our offseason conditioning and that really showed.”

Rising expectations

With so many talented players returning, the team’s expectations are higher than they’ve ever been under Merchant. Although preseason polls have yet to be released, the Spartans are expected to be highly ranked.

“There’s expectations here and that’s expectations that you want on your shoulders, there’s no question about that,” Merchant said. “I don’t think it’s anything we’re going to shy away from, but it’s something you have to have a conversation about. I think that outside element does affect kids at times and we have to make sure that it doesn’t affect our work ethic, it doesn’t affect our toughness, it doesn’t affect our ability to go into tough, challenging situations on the road and win games and take care of business at home against some tough opponents.”

And a major reason for these increased expectations is the team’s crop of seniors.

After having just three seniors the past two seasons combined, the Spartans boast five seniors this season, four of whom — centers Lauren Aitch and Allyssa DeHaan, forward Aisha Jefferson and guard Mandy Piechowski — will captain the team. Guard Jasmine Holmes, a former walk-on, rounds out the group.

“It does feel good to have four senior leaders, all four of them are captains and it’s interesting because, as a coach, I’m not a big person on naming captains just to name them because they’re seniors,” Merchant said. “I think you name captains because they mean something to your team and those kids have a different dynamic personality that can affect the team in a positive way.”