Michigan State women don't want to share Big Ten title

Suzy Merchant has two sets of standards. One is for her children and the other for her Michigan State women's basketball players.

"I'm trying to teach my 4-year-old how to share," she said.

But as for her Spartans ...

"I think it's OK for them to be a little selfish," she admitted.

MSU has clinched a share of the Big Ten championship and can claim the school's first undisputed title tonight at 6:30 when it hosts six-time defending champ Ohio State.

"I think Cetera put it on her Facebook," Merchant said of senior Cetera Washington. "She wrote something like: 'Sharing the title is like sharing your boyfriend.' "

Although the 10th-ranked Spartans (24-3, 12-2 Big Ten) have stormed through the Big Ten, beating Ohio State (17-9, 8-6) is not a given.

The Buckeyes may be tied for fifth, but they convincingly beat MSU, 67-53, in Columbus and are on a four-game winning streak. They still have the Big Ten's most dominant player in 6-foot-4 Jantel Lavender and most dangerous guard -- Samantha Prahalis, who lit up MSU for 32 points at the Breslin last season.

OSU has also added 6-5 freshman Ashley Adams, who had seven blocks Sunday at Purdue, to its lineup, and Brittany Johnson hit five second-half three-pointers against Purdue.

In the game at Ohio State, the Buckeyes used a box-and-one to hold Kalisha Keane to five points and MSU was only 2-for-23 on three-point shots.

"I don't think we handled their dribble drive, and I definitely don't think we did a good job of keeping them off the boards, and the third thing is we let their defense bother us," Merchant said. "I think we're more schooled at that. We knew they zoned and they had man, but I had never seen them play a box-and-one.

"We were caught a little off guard. But we've practiced against a box-and-one every single day for between 10 and 15 minutes and we've seen it since."

MSU's win at Illinois on Sunday also clinched the No. 1 seed for next week's conference tournament.

"It takes a little pressure off, but it was interesting," Merchant said. "Our kids were happy, but they weren't excited and over the top. I think they're still pretty business-like."

Contact MICK McCABE: 313-223-4744 or mmccabe@freepress.com.