Breslin Center was half full for Sunday's game against Delaware.
Butu when those fans are as loud as they were during the first-round tournament win, it doesn't necessarily matter how many people are in the seats.
"It felt almost like it was a sellout," sophomore guard Mia Johnson said. "That crowd definitely gave us a little bit more momentum, and they lifted our spirits up."
Every last fan was needed to help carry the fifth-seeded Spartans through a sloppy start. The crowd rose to its feet early and often to deliver standing ovations, even though MSU and Delaware teeter-tottered with the lead for much of the first half.
MSU didn't have the lead for good until there was 1:25 left in the first half, when two free throws from senior guard Rene Haynes gave the Spartans a 22-20 lead.
So while head coach Joanne P. McCallie expected a larger crowd, it was hard for her to be disappointed in its impact.
"I know it wasn't 7,000 even, but it seemed like a lot larger crowd," McCallie said after Sunday's game. "I was hoping it'd be 8,000 or 9,000 or something like that in terms of numbers, but in reality it was ... such a great, energized crowd."
Sunday's game had an announced crowd of 6,780.
When MSU wasn't feeding off the crowd's energy, it was feeding off the energy of its bench players. Senior forwards Myisha Bannister and Katrina Grantham, who have combined to start 16 games this season, came off the bench and contributed a total of seven points, nine rebounds and four blocks.
"They came in and helped us set a tone when we didn't have one," Johnson said.
Bannister and Grantham weren't the only bench players who delivered a spark for MSU. Junior forward Alisa Wulff and junior center Laura Hall, who average 9.3 and 6.5 minutes per game, respectively, were on the floor when MSU pushed its nine-point lead up to a 14-point lead halfway through the second half. And junior guard Courtney Davidson played 13 minutes, controlling the offense and turning the ball over just once.
Tonight, against fourth-seeded Rutgers, the bench will again have to step up in order for the Spartans to advance to the Sweet 16.
"Our bench has been phenomenal," McCallie said Monday. "I like our depth and feel confident with our players, and that's going to be key again. We've got to show up every night; no one can take a night off."
Taking out her aggression
At 6-foot-9, freshman center Allyssa DeHaan is one of the most intimidating players in women's college basketball.
But when her slender frame hit campus this summer, her teammates did their best to toughen her up for basketball at the NCAA level. It didn't take long for DeHaan to show off what she had learned.
"I remember in open gym (in the summer), I was beating the crap out of her and finally Al got the ball, turned around, threw an elbow in my face and broke my nose in two spots," Grantham said. "So Al has it in her to be aggressive and dish it right back, and I think you've seen her grow and become more physical as the season has worn on," she said.
That added aggression is much more important against a Rutgers team that outrebounded MSU, 42-23, on Jan. 28.
And although DeHaan's aggressiveness put her in foul trouble against Delaware — she picked up her third foul early in the second half — it's not going to alter the way she plays.
"I personally have to still keep being aggressive, whether I get in foul trouble or not," she said.
