MSU head coach Suzy Merchant said she is trying to get the message through to the team that they are going to see everyone’s “superior effort” each night because of MSU’s preseason expectations.

“We won one and we lost one, so it’s over now,” Merchant said. “You felt both emotions and I feel like we’re a good basketball team. I don’t think we’re playing our best basketball right now. You want to be working toward that. We have a lot to work on, but I saw a lot of good things.”

But senior center Lauren Aitch said the team feels everything is urgent right now because of the expectations — even when it doesn’t have to be.

“I think, across the board, our team is really, really afraid of losing. That’s the biggest thing right now that we’re trying to conquer mentally,” Aitch said, adding that it has turned into something bigger than they thought it would be.

Senior forward Aisha Jefferson said that problem went away Sunday when the team spoke at halftime.

“We’re a mature group, an experienced group, so I don’t think it’s going to be a problem,” Jefferson said.

After the fast start, Detroit head coach Autumn Rademacher said MSU’s depth proved to be too much for her team, which dressed only eight players because of injury and played seven.

The Spartans played 10 players at least 10 minutes each.

“I wish we had a few more players on our roster that we could’ve shuffled in and out like they did,” Rademacher said. “Unfortunately, we had to rely on seven (players) and we ran out of gas. That was it. If we had some more players to shuffle in, we might’ve been OK and been able to stay with them.”

Mulroy got the Titans and the home crowd into the game early, scoring 14 of Detroit’s first 22 points as the Titans took a 22-13 lead.

“She was outstanding,” Rademacher said. “We anticipated Michigan State would come in and play a little bit of zone because they were at Dayton on Friday and they might have been fatigued.”

Merchant said she was disappointed in her team’s zone defense early in the game.

“We knew she could shoot,” Merchant said of Mulroy. “She played as a senior should against Michigan State at home — out of her mind. She played out of her mind. We knew that she would. She played great; we have to give her a lot of credit. She tried to put the team on her back and lead them to victory and that’s what you need, seniors dominating and you need them to step up.”

And when the Spartans were looking for points, they got them from two seniors. Aitch scored 10 points in the half on 5-of-5 shooting in nine minutes, while Jefferson scored eight points.

The second half was a different story. Sophomore forward Courtney Schiffauer hit back-to-back triples to give MSU a 44-39 lead in the first 2:30, a lead the Spartans would never relinquish.

After scoring 21 points against Dayton, Schiffauer finished with 12 points Sunday, hitting four 3-pointers. She added six rebounds and four assists.

The Spartans contained Mulroy for the most part in the second half, as she did not attempt a 3-pointer. She finished with 27 points.

Rademacher said she felt her team was gassed near the five-minute mark of the half when guard Jalesa Jones airballed a free-throw attempt.

“I said, ‘Oh no, we could be in trouble,’” said Rademacher, whose team’s bench was outscored 28-3 by MSU.

“She’s really one of our leaders at the point guard and everyone follows her, so the fact that even she was winded and her facemask was fogging up and she couldn’t see and I just felt bad for our team because I couldn’t provide them with a little more help.”

The Titans’ last field goal of the game came with 6:42 to play, cutting MSU’s lead to four, 60-56, but MSU would pull away for a second time as Schiffauer hit a triple and sophomore forward Lykendra Johnson drilled two 3-pointers.

Now the Spartans focus on Thursday’s game with No. 4 Notre Dame, which tips off at 6 p.m. at Breslin Center.