Indianapolis- When asked before the game what a win in her team’s opening game at the Big Ten Tournament would do for the MSU women’s basketball team’s chances to secure an NCAA Tournament bid, Suzy Merchant assured a victory would put her team over the top.
Well at least for now, mission accomplished.
In the final game of the day on Thursday at the Big Ten Tournament, the No. 5 seeded Spartans (20-10 overall, 11-5 Big Ten) out muscled No 11 seed Indiana, 97-68, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. With the win, the Spartans accomplished their ninth-straight 20-win season and advance to the quarterfinal round of the tournament and have a matchup with No. 4 seed Purdue at 8:30 p.m. on Friday.
But even with the win and potential NCAA Tournament bid in hand, Merchant said her team’s job is far from over. If the Spartans want to hear their names called for the Big Dance in March, the road continues against Purdue on Friday, Merchant said.
“The only way the job’s not done for any team here is to win the whole thing,” Merchant said. “That’s kind of the goal. Everybody wants to take it out of the (NCAA selection) committee’s hands. But we felt like it was important to win this one.”
Earlier in the day, No. 7 seed Michigan knocked off No. 10 seed Illinois, 68-53; No. 6 seed Nebraska beat No. 11 seed Northwestern, 88-56; and No. 8 seed Minnesota trounced No. 9 seed Wisconsin, 81-49, to advance on to the quarterfinal round of the tournament on Friday.
On Friday in the quarterfinals, the Wolverines will take on No. 2 seed Ohio State at 11:30 a.m., Nebraska meets No. 3 Iowa at 2 p.m., the Golden Gophers have a date with No. 1 seed Penn State at 6 p.m., before the Spartans close the day out with Purdue at 8:30 p.m. All games will be televised on Big Ten Network.
The winners of Friday’s games move on to the semifinal round of the Big Ten Tournament on Saturday, with the first matchup being played at 5 p.m. and the second taking place at 7:30 p.m.
This season, the Spartans split with Purdue, losing the first one Jan. 23 on the road, 67-49, before rebounding nearly a month later to edge the Boilermakers, 67-52 in overtime at Breslin Center.
“Our first meeting obviously was by far the worse game probably in the Big Ten,” senior forward Taylor Alton said. “ Then when we got them at home, it wasn’t our best performance either. So, you know, I think we’re just going to kind of focus on us … work on defense and just do what we can do to kind of stop who we need to and be successful that way.”
With the chance to advance to the semifinals and further secure a NCAA Tournament spot, senior guard Porschè Poole said the team understands the implications of its meeting with Purdue on Friday.
“This game got us to 20 wins but this next one really is important,” Poole said. “I feel like if we win this game, we should definitely be in. We gon’ just focus on Purdue tomorrow (and) try to win that game. We really want to get in the NCAA Tournament, but just stay focused and take it one game at a time.”
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
