Senior center Lauren Aitch looks to pass past Michigan guard Dayeesha Hollins and sophomore guard Carmen Reynolds, right, during the Spartans’ Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal game Friday at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Spartans won, 61-50.
Indianapolis — It took the MSU women’s basketball team about 15 minutes to warm up, but once it did, Michigan was no match.
The Spartans advanced to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals with a 61-50 win against the Wolverines on Friday afternoon at Conseco Fieldhouse.
MSU will play Iowa, who beat Penn State, 82-75, at 5 p.m. Saturday.
The difference in the final 25 minutes, especially in the second half, was defense.
“We played it,” MSU head coach Suzy Merchant said when asked what the change in her defense was. “To me, I think our field goal percent defense is really good. We really get after people. We challenge shots. I was disappointed in the first half how many easy looks they got. Then when we decided to get the job done and turn it up, we communicated better. We evaded screens. We jumped to the ball.”
The Spartans were able to overcome the loss of senior center Allyssa DeHaan, who went to the locker room with back spasms in the first half. She played only eight minutes, posting two points, two rebounds and two blocks. She did not return to the bench until midway through the second half.
DeHaan said she hopes to play Saturday.
It was evident MSU’s defense wasn’t where it needed to be in the early going. U-M’s Carmen Reynolds knocked down two triples in the first two minutes as the Wolverines found themselves open. Those shots helped stake U-M to a 10-3 lead.
“I was like, ‘You gotta be kidding me,’” Merchant said. “Then we tightened up and that was pretty much that, (Reynolds) hit one more after that. I thought our perimeter defense and the ability to contain one-on-one was really big.”
The Spartans continued to struggle, as U-M extended its lead to eight – its largest of the game – on two free throws from guard Dayeesha Hollins.
As MSU’s defense took hold, its offense started coming.
MSU took its first lead of the game, 25-23, on a drive by junior guard Brittney Thomas and went into halftime up 32-29.
“We’re a defensive team and to create offense we have to get going defensively,” senior center Lauren Aitch said. “Everyone knew that we had to start getting some stops if we wanted to get that team down and get them down to where they wouldn’t come back.”
U-M head coach Kevin Borseth said his team took some shots it shouldn’t have in the first half.
“We took some really quick shots,” he said. “Probably five or six shots that we took really early in transition that we probably shouldn’t have taken. We make them, we look good. But we just took them a little too early.”
A key stretch saw MSU turn a 38-35 edge into a 46-37 lead. On one possession, junior guard Cetera Washington ripped down two offensive rebounds, putting the second back up for a bucket. On U-M’s ensuing possession, Washington was there for the defensive rebound. Merchant called it a “backbreaker” for the Wolverines.
As the Wolverines got colder and colder from the field, the Spartans put on the clamps, taking no chances and closing out their in-state rivals.
U-M was shooting 15 percent (3-for-20) in the second half before hitting three of its last four shots to finish at 25 percent for the half and 31.4 percent for the game.
Junior forward Kalisha Keane put in the dagger, drilling a 3-pointer for the final margin as the shot clock expired in the final 30 seconds. It was her only field goal of the half.
Keane led four Spartans in double figures with 11 points. Senior forward Aisha Jefferson, sophomore forward Lykendra Johnson and freshman guard Jasmine Thomas all added 10.
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Phillips led U-M with 12 points after going 0-for-11 from the field against MSU on Feb. 11. She shot 3-of-10 this time.
Considering the team lost DeHaan, had junior guard Brittney Thomas in foul trouble much of the game and didn’t get off to a hot start, it’s a win the team will take.
“I give us credit for us figuring it out,” Jefferson said. “We always find a way. Not the most ideal way to win the game, but a W is a W. And we’re not satisfied, but we definitely are happy that we won.”
