MSU women’s basketball head coach Suzy Merchant speaks in her weekly Monday press conference about the No. 11 MSU women’s basketball team. She reflects on the game junior forward Lykendra Johnson had at Michigan (17 points and 17 rebounds). She also talks about the Big Ten conference and the level of national attention it receives. Finally, she discusses the various challenges the team has encountered against opponents this season.
Listening to her Monday press conference, you wouldn’t know that MSU head coach Suzy Merchant was leading a No. 11-ranked women’s basketball team to its best start in program history (15-1 overall, 3-0 Big Ten).
Although she was full of praise for how her team has come together this season, she isn’t stopping for a minute to reflect on her own personal achievements.
“I think you know this business is not what you did (in the past), even on Sunday (at Michigan),” Merchant said. “Winning is the ultimate (goal). Really, I think we’re just trying to keep focused on playing the best basketball that we can.
“And that’s not a generic answer — that’s the truth. I think if you start getting too excited about what you did in the past that’s when you kind of lose focus of what’s most important.”
And what’s important to Merchant is that her team continues to improve as it has since a 78-52 loss at Baylor on Nov. 19, 2010. The loss — in just the third game of the season — serves as the only blemish on an otherwise perfect record.
“I think we have gotten a lot better defensively, and I think we’ve had a more collective approach,” she said. “I think early on, out of the gates, (senior forward Kalisha Keane) was kind of the go-to — and she still is our go-to, obviously. But, I felt like she was putting the team on her back, and we didn’t have as many people joining her fan club.
“Now I feel like everybody is getting in the mix, and we’re spreading the ball a little bit more. I think that’s a credit to some of the players figuring out their positions.”
One of those players is junior forward Lykendra Johnson, who stepped in to fill the void at center when freshman center Madison Williams went down on Oct. 31, 2010, with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Since Johnson’s position change, she has more than filled the hole, leading the team in rebounds (7.6 a game) and averaging the second most points (10.3).
Already averaging a double-double in conference play this season, Johnson continued the statistical explosion at Michigan when she had 17 points and 17 rebounds.
“She has a real high IQ of angles,” Merchant said after Sunday’s game. “She uses the swim move pretty well, in terms of getting over and around people when they think they have her on her back. And she has the strength and power to move people.”
The coach continued her praise for Johnson at her conference Monday morning.
“She was amazing,” she said. “You know, I think she’s really coming into her own with the position that she’s playing. … She’s just a force to be reckoned with.”
Although the furthest Merchant will look in the past is the team’s last game, the most she will look into the future is the team’s next game.
With a heavyweight matchup against conference favorite No. 20 Ohio State (10-5, 1-2) next Sunday, the coach only wants to focus on Thursday’s game against No. 21 Iowa (14-3, 2-2).
“I’m not a big fan of talking about the week,” she said. “(For me), its important just to talk about Iowa right now. We can’t worry about anything beyond that. That’s the focus for us — to take care of what’s going on at the moment and be the best team we can be.”
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