The biggest culprit during the team’s three-game losing streak was its struggling offense.

Last week against Purdue and Minnesota, MSU shot a combined 54-for-110 (49 percent) and put a second-half clamp on the Boilermakers and Golden Gophers.

Now everything isn’t perfect.

If this team has taught us one thing, it’s to expect the unexpected.

Consistency hasn’t exactly been the team’s strength this season and the team does play 3-of-4 on the road, starting Thursday at Northwestern.

This stretch, at Northwestern, Penn State, at Iowa and at Michigan, is going to make or break the team as it hopes to rally to a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

And make no mistake, the Spartans have to rally enough to avoid being a No. 8 or No. 9 seed because they want no part of possibly playing Connecticut in the second round.

So let’s play a little game of self questions to figure out where the Spartans are headed.

What does MSU need to do to be successful from this point forward?

Against Purdue and Minnesota, the defense keyed the offense and vice versa.

When MSU gets rolling, it’s difficult to stop.

The team was able to put some of its second-half demons in the past last week, closing out Purdue and Minnesota, but the key to those two wins will be the key to the rest of the season — run, run, run.

MSU pushed the pace last week to great success.

Contrary to what this team showed during the three-game losing streak, it does have the skills and the finishers to be successful.

Head coach Suzy Merchant has inserted freshman guard Jasmine Thomas into the starting lineup and said Monday she likes the look that Thomas gives while in the game with junior guard Brittney Thomas.

Those two, combined with sophomore guard Porschè Poole, give MSU a good — with the potential for great — fast-break trio when they are on the floor together.

And if MSU’s defense goes on lockdown like it did last week, those tips, steals and defensive rebounds the team gets will continue to turn into instant offense.

There’s no better way to overcome offensive struggles than getting easy buckets.

Can Allyssa DeHaan still be a factor in a running offense?

Obviously, the MSU star senior center isn’t going to go the way of the dodo bird because the Spartans certainly aren’t going to run all the time, but DeHaan needs to start showing she is indispensable to this team. Performances like Sunday’s (four points, four rebounds in 19 minutes) need to go away because there’s no doubt MSU is better when DeHaan is on her game.

At the same time, though, the team seems to be learning to win when she isn’t effective. The Spartans need vintage DeHaan to show up down the stretch.

Brittney Thomas was in double digits both games last week. Is she over her shooting phobia?

I think so. She had two great games last week on both ends of the floor. Last Thursday, Purdue left her open and she made them pay. She wasn’t as open Sunday against Minnesota, but played well within the flow of the offense and took shots when it was needed.

With her hesitancy to shoot the ball, you’d think she wasn’t a good shooter. If you see her in practice, though, she’s knocking down shots left and right. Now we’re seeing that translate to games and it’s going to make the Spartans that much more dangerous.

Matt Bishop is the State News women’s basketball reporter. He can be reached at bishop20@msu.edu.