Michigan State Head Coach Suzy Merchant has said it. More than once. Probably after every game this season, if I'm being honest. Even Associate Head Coach Dean Lockwood echoed it during his brief stint driving the boat.

One game, the team comes out of the gate slow, sloppy and exhausted as they succumb to the wrath of whatever Big Ten home they've decided to invade that week.

The next game, they've got a visible fire of revenge in their eyes as they somehow defend their own and regain the honor of what it means to be a Spartan basketball player.

It seems to be a cycle, repeating over and over and over again. Sometimes, those desperate bursts of fuel last longer than others. For example, creating the current two-game win streak they're on. And sometimes, their tanks crack, only to empty out as quickly as they were filled.

But, I don't blame them.

It's hard to have a good season when the gods of basketball are playing chess with your athletes. Losing senior forward Tory Ozment to an ACL tear, junior guard Julia Ayrault to a Lisfranc tear and now losing junior forward Moira Joiner to sustained, months-long concussion protocol.

Let's not forget losing junior guard Alyza Winston to Mississippi State by means of every coach's biggest fear: the transfer portal.

And we can't forget losing several players for a stretch at the start of the conference campaign and key Big Ten games to COVID-19.

Their rhythm has been lost to the wind and my words here cannot fully describe what the green and white fanbase has watched the Spartans go through in these last three months. How they're still pushing through and managing to hold themselves accountable in order to develop, managing to advance into double-digit wins on the season and over 50% in-conference is inspiring.

They've got guts.

“This league is tough and the grind, it's just been so interesting,” Merchant said Sunday evening. “Someone else asked me a little bit about that and it's just, ... we've had three coaches out since Christmas, players in and out, players come back and then get injured and now they're done. It's been a rollercoaster. I think the one thing we're looking at is trying to take your expectations and turn them into more appreciation. Like, we appreciate the fact that we get to be here.”

Lockwood following the team's epic win two Sundays ago against Northwestern said that the difference between good and bad teams is their level of consistency. A lot of teams can ebb and flow, but the ones who are going to be the most successful are the ones who remain at a high level of performance and don't let the bumps in the road set them behind, big or small.

The key to finding that consistency is reinforcing why and how wins happen.

When you do a group project for a class, you want everyone to pull their weight, right? You assign each person a role and have them each do their research to ensure that. Instead of overlapping each other and fighting for the spotlight, you're backing each other up and finding a common conclusion or clarity.

The same goes for basketball. Teams have to rewatch film, look at which role each team member excels in — whether that be the point guard or the center or the power forward — and find a way to combine the five court presences into a well-oiled machine rather than just giving the ball to senior guard Nia Clouden or freshman forward Matilda Ekh and letting them handle it on their own.

If the Spartans find a way to regain composure and confidence in themselves, their consistency for wins will gain momentum. Then suddenly, like air leaking out of a balloon, the pressure of the month of March won't seem so heavy anymore.