Senior center Allyssa DeHaan, senior forward Aisha Jefferson and junior guard Brittney Thomas combined for 41 of MSU’s 72 points as the Spartans bounced back from a three-game losing streak to rout Purdue, 72-54, at Breslin Center.

“I think (the team) played with a little more of an edge to them,” Merchant said. “I thought we had a little more toughness to us defensively, especially. We tweaked some things that I thought got us off to a good start and got our transition game going. I thought that was big.”

Thomas made the difference for MSU. After going scoreless and taking one shot in the first half, she exploded in the second half, going 4-of-6 from the field, including 2-of-3 from long range. She finished the night with 16 points, six rebounds and five assists.

“The game’s simple and she kept it simple tonight,” Merchant said. “She took shots that were open and she was ready for them and it was really great to see her do that. We need her to continue to be a force.”

Thomas’ 16 points were two short of her career high.

“It just makes the game more fun,” Thomas said. “It’s teammates believing in me and trusting me to shoot. Every time I’m open, they’re telling me to shoot and I’m ready to shoot now.”

The Spartans came out with the fire, intensity and, more importantly, the offensive presence missing in previous games.

They also accomplished Thursday what they had trouble doing during the three-game losing streak — find multiple scorers.

Six players scored as the Spartans opened an early 18-9 lead.

Then Jefferson took over.

She scored 11 straight points for MSU as the Spartans went into the half with a 30-24 lead. Jefferson came off the bench for the second straight game and finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.

“I just remember coming in the game just extra pumped, giving extra energy off the bench,” Jefferson said. “My teammates found me when I was open and I created and I’ve been working hard in practice to try to be a productive leader on the floor.”

MSU opened the second half on an 8-0 run to take a 38-24 lead, but the Boilermakers would crawl back and close the gap to 41-39 with 14:01 remaining, forcing Merchant to call timeout.

Instead of folding, the Spartans came out of the huddle on fire offensively, going on a 17-0 run that buried the Boilermakers and put away the game.

“When I called the timeout, I didn’t get a sense of ‘here we go again,’” Merchant said. “I don’t know why. I should have, probably, but I didn’t. I really believe that this team is resilient.”

“I saw people stepping up and wanting the ball and making plays, shooting the ball with confidence and rebounding it with confidence,” Merchant said.