MSU head coach Suzy Merchant and her Spartans (16-2 overall, 4-1 Big Ten) shot themselves in the foot, missing shots, making mental errors and committing turnovers (19) and were ultimately dealt their second loss of the season, 67-53, to the Buckeyes (11-6, 2-3).

“I felt like we didn’t play very well and I felt like we had ample opportunity here,” Merchant said. “I definitely felt like that fight and fire wasn’t there today as it has been. We were competing and really getting after it on the defensive end and I felt like maybe our frustration on offense led to poor defensive execution as well.”

From the tip-off it seemed like it would be a battle, both teams struggled going 0-for-5 shooting before the Buckeyes pulled out a 6-0 run that was countered by a 7-0 run from MSU.

Senior guard Brittney Thomas, who scored 19 points against Ohio State in their last meeting, looked ready to play, scoring five of the Spartans points and recording a steal during the run.

Junior forward Lykendra Johnson was proving why she deserves to be regarded as one of the best defenders in the Big Ten, not allowing one of the best players in the country — Jantel Lavender — to get position inside.

Johnson played smart, using her quickness to counter the fact Lavender had size – standing a good three inches taller than her.

Each time the Buckeyes tried to get the ball into the paint to the second-leading active scorer in the nation, the ball was batted away by Johnson.

“I was just trying to play aggressive,” she said. “Just trying to get some tips and steals on the ball. Just trying to limit her touches pretty much.”

Then with 7:25 to play and the score tied at 18, Johnson was called for her second personal foul and was benched for the rest of the half.

Then the wheels fell off.

“It was a turning point,” Johnson said. “But I think we still should’ve did a great job on her. (redshirt freshman center Kelsey Smith) is a great defender and we still should’ve held (Lavender) off.”

Having just four points before Johnson was pulled, Lavender went for 10 more points in the half.

“How Kelsey performed today, I was really disappointed in that,” Merchant said. “I thought she’d be mentally ready to play and she just — defensively — was not where she needed to be.”

Lavender found weaknesses in a defense absent of Johnson.

“I realized they were playing one-on-one in the post and I’m a pretty effective power player on the low block and I was taking my time reading how the defense and was just making my moves,” Lavender said.

Heading into the locker room, the Buckeyes took 33-29 lead and Merchant said she was confident.

“To me, it was a four-point game at half and we didn’t have Lykendra (Johnson) and Brittney (Thomas) wasn’t playing very well, so I felt pretty good,” Merchant said. “We didn’t play very well and it was (only) a four point game. I thought we would come out and have a little bit more pep in our step, but we didn’t.”

The Spartans came out in the second half and missed their first eight shots.

“If you look at the stat sheet we took like (18) more shots than they did and nothing was falling,”

Merchant also didn’t believe it was poor shot selection, she was more disappointed with her team demonstrating a “me-first” mentality.

“We were very individual based and we didn’t play good team basketball,” she said.

With 14:44 remaining in the game, the Buckeyes went on a 9-0 run that pushed their lead to 13 points.

And Ohio State was doing it without Lavender. With Johnson back in, Lavender was shut down on offense until Johnson quickly picked up her third and fourth fouls.

With several different Spartans guarding her, Lavender went on to score 24 points for the game and grabbed eight boards.

Collectively, MSU shot 25 percent in the second half and 0-for-12 from behind the arc. The poor shooting helped Ohio State cruised to its second conference victory.

“They were in a position where it was — by far, no question — a must win and they did what they had to do to get the victory,” Merchant said.

OSU head coach Jim Foster said the after preaching it to his team all week, they finally demonstrated what he believed they were missing all along: toughness.

“What this team needed and this program needed was to be tougher,” Foster said. “Offense is pretty. And getting up and down the floor and stuff, but winning basketball — as the season progresses — is about being gutsy and being tough.”

That was exactly what Merchant’s team was lacking today.

“Mentally I don’t think we were as tough as we needed to be,” Merchant said.