Working out the kinks

EAST LANSING - Two days after telling her team she's expecting another baby, Suzy Merchant got an extended look at her other kids in a game at the Breslin Center for the first time in more than seven months.

Michigan State's women's coach called Thursday's 79-47 exhibition win over Division II Wayne State "a starting point" for her 10th-ranked Spartans - plagued by some of the ups and downs a team can expect for its first action of a new season.

"All we wanted to do was get everybody a little bit of playing time," said Merchant, who's beginning her third-year at MSU. "There are some kids I wanted to look at harder, some kids were playing well and hustling. ...

"It really wasn't, to me, a situation where we were looking at rotations so much as we were looking to get everyone on film, so we can educate ourselves and become a more disciplined basketball team."

The news of the day came with Merchant's announcement that she's pregnant and expecting her second child in late May or early June, which will be after the Spartans' season. She had her first while coaching her final season at Eastern Michigan - taking a sabbatical after giving birth to her now-2-year-old son Tyler in December 2006 - and was hired by MSU four months later.

Merchant told her players the news on Tuesday.

"Everyone couldn't stop smiling," senior Lauren Aitch said. "Us girls, we think it's the cutest thing ever."

Merchant's focus at the moment, though, is honing the Spartans to live up to their top-10 ranking.

Some of Thursday's pluses came in the form of last year's hallmarks - dominant interior play, with a 40-18 edge in points in the paint, and an aggressive defense that forced 19 turnovers and held Wayne State to 29.2 percent shooting.

Twelve Spartans played 10 minutes or more. Senior centers Aitch and Allyssa DeHaan combined for 26 points and 13 rebounds. Freshman point guard Jasmine Thomas also was a bright spot, adding 11 points, five rebounds and four assists while playing a game-high 28 minutes.

Still, there were negatives from an experienced group that went to the Sweet 16 in March.

Though Wayne State didn't have a player taller than 5-foot-11 and spent much of the game in foul trouble, the Warriors managed 15 offensive rebounds and stayed within a respectable 49-39 rebounding margins.

"We want to be an absolutely dominating team on the boards," said DeHaan, who led all players with 15 points and eight rebounds. "It's something all of us need to work on."

The Spartans will host Grand Valley State for their second exhibition game on Sunday. Tipoff is at 2 p.m.