STARKVILLE — The opportunities were there.
Buoyed by a few rows of fans behind their bench in an otherwise hostile environment, the Michigan State women’s basketball team did the unthinkable Sunday afternoon. After falling behind by 13 points (51-38) midway through the third quarter, the Spartans used a 20-0 run to turn the tide and all but silence the crowd of 7,094 in Humphrey Coliseum.
But funny things happen in the NCAA tournament. Balanced teams that usually control the tempo and have no problems scoring can find themselves turning the ball over and needing a big-time shot in the waning seconds to save their season.
Unfortunately, the final ticks of the clock weren’t kind to the Spartans.
Tori Jankoska missed a baseline jumper near the left block and Mississippi State’s Sherise Williams blocked a putback attempt by Jasmine Hines to help preserve No. 5 seed Mississippi State’s 74-72 victory against No. 4 seed Michigan State in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
“It’s unfortunate,” Merchant said. “I thought there was still more opportunity for us there at the end to get one more play, so it is a little bit difficult, but it was a great atmosphere. You should give Mississippi State a lot of credit. I have been a head coach for 21 years and played in a lot of arenas with a lot of people — maybe more people than showed up here — but I have never, ever played in front of a crowd that loud. Ever. That is the loudest crowd I have ever played in front of. I don’t know what the attendance ended up being (7,094, but) it felt like there were 70,000 in here.”
Merchant felt like the Spartans (25-9) would get another opportunity with 3.4 or 3.5 seconds remaining after Williams blocked Hines’ shot. Even though she didn’t see the play in real time, she said the players on her bench saw the Bulldogs’ Kayla Nevitt step out of bounds underneath the basket as she tipped the ball back into play. The officials didn’t make the call on the play, which saw the tip go to the Bulldogs’ Breanna Richardson and then to Morgan William, who ran out the clock.
The officials went to the video replay to determine if there was time remaining when William was fouled, but they determined time had expired and waved the game off.
“I don’t know why they didn’t look at it (on replay),” Merchant said of the final sequence. “Every out-of-bounds play should be looked at. Isn’t that the rule, under two minutes? She was out of bounds and tipped it back in, so we should have had, I think, 3.4, maybe, or 3.5 (seconds) left.”
As it turned out, Michigan State saw its season end on an opponent’s home court. Merchant talked earlier in the week about the disappointment of not being able to play in East Lansing, Michigan, due to the fact that the team’s home court, the Breslin Center, was being used for the state girls basketball tournament. Despite playing in front of the fourth-largest crowd in Humphrey Coliseum history, Michigan State found a way to bounce back from a 51-38 deficit with 5 minutes, 55 seconds to go in the third quarter.
“To go on a 20-0 run and the other team not score, especially a team like that, it is kind of crazy,” Michigan State junior Aerial Powers said. “You can say our defense kind of stopped that, but Mississippi State is a good basketball team, so going on a 20-0 run, they have to start to score somehow, and that’s what they did. They got a couple of buckets and we went back and forth and we lost by two. It is a hard-fought game.”
Branndais Agee (team-high 21 points) helped keep Michigan State in the game early. The redshirt sophomore guard had 14 points in the first half as the Spartans tailed 40-34. Michigan State committed an uncharacteristic 13 turnovers in the first 20 minutes, which Powers attributed to a lack of focus. She said that changed in the third quarter when the team settled in and did a better job on the defensive boards. As a result, the Spartans were able to push tempo and get easy baskets. In fact, it looked like the Bulldogs were tiring during the Spartans’ 20-0 run.
But MSU re-discovered its rhythm just in time and hit its share of big shots. It also did a good job on Powers, who entered the game leading the Spartans in scoring (22 points per game). She was 5 of 13 from the field and finished with 14 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and five steals.
“I don’t think I had any (struggles),” Powers said. “(Dillingham) did her best to try to frustrate me, but I don’t think she did. Sometimes you have better shooting nights than others.”
Jankoska (17 points) and Hines (15) also scored in double figures to help the Spartans shoot 44.7 percent from the field. Their 21 turnovers led to 20 points by the Bulldogs.
Jankoska had a chance to tie the game after Victoria Vivians missed two free throws with 14.2 seconds remaining. She raced down the court and elevated over William in front of the left low block. The shot missed long and went to Hines on the right block. Williams, who was in the game because Chinwe Okorie and Teaira McCowan had fouled out, blocked the shot and set off a scramble that left the Spartans feeling empty.
“I figured I would try and go and get an easy shot,” Jankoska said. “I got a good look at it and I didn’t make it, which was disappointing. Jasmine got the rebound and then we had another opportunity, but then the game ended.
“I had a chance to tie and it and it was a really good look and it didn’t go in. It definitely will be one that sticks in my mind for a long time.”
Said Powers, “Tori went down and got a really good look at it. It was a great shot. It just didn’t fall. Hines got the rebound and she tried to put it up, but it went out of bounds — or it didn’t go out of bounds. They tipped it back in. We kind of just ran out of time.”
Merchant credited her team for finding its footing in the third quarter. She felt a move to a bigger lineup in the second half with Hines and Jenna Allen helped it gain control of the backboards after MSU had 10 offensive rebounds in the first half. She also credited Vivians and Richardson for hitting big shots that ultimately ended her team’s season.
“(Jankoska) got a good look on the pull-up jump shot,” Merchant said. “We talked about if you go all the way in there they are going to take charges and fall on the floor, so it is just not worth it. I would say going into this game if I had guards who couldn’t hit a pull-up jumper we were going to be in trouble. Aerial can do it. Tori can do it. Branndais can do it. Morgan (Green) can do it, so I felt like offensively we were going to be OK.”
“A little bit down the stretch, I think, we made some boneheaded decisions in the quarter-court where we turned it over a little bit. But we also did some good things and had some good execution. It was just one of those games that could go either way. It is just unfortunate. The old saying is, ‘You don’t lose the game, you just ran out of time.’ I would like to have those 3.4 or 3.5 seconds, but they didn’t give it to us, so it is what it is.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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