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EAST LANSING - In many ways, senior Aisha Jefferson's performance was representative of the entire Michigan State team Saturday. Both started strong but faltered down the stretch as the Spartans fell to Ohio State, 65-62.
Jefferson had the Spartans' first seven points, giving MSU a 7-2 lead. But she disappeared from the stat sheet in the second half.
"She came out of the gates really strong, which sparked us," coach Suzy Merchant said. "I thought she did a nice job of defensive rebounding for us in that first half ... It would have been nice to have maybe both those halves but I thought she played hard."
Jefferson finished 4-of-10 from the field for 13 points, all in the first half. She shot 0-for-4 during the second half and didn't get to the free-throw line.
"We all came out really strong and aggressive knowing that we needed to attack the post players off the dribble," Jefferson said. "They started switching defenses (in the second half) and I wasn't really looking for my shot as much. I was trying to do other things."
Jefferson had a season-high nine rebounds with six of them coming in the first half.
"She can really drive to the basket and she's a very good rebounder. I don't think we were necessarily putting a body on her (in the first half)," Ohio State coach Jim Foster said. "She prefers going left and you just have to make that adjustment."
The Buckeyes were able to slow down MSU's entire offense in the second half, holding the Spartans to just 27 points, 26.7 percent shooting and forcing eight turnovers.
"I think they were just in our face more, on the press they were attacking us more," sophomore Lykendra Johnson said. "I don't think (fatigue) was a big factor, but we try to run our transition and I think they slowed us up by pressing us."
Johnson finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds, eight of them offensive, and added five steals.
MSU's offense hit a wall late in the game, going the final 5:57 without a field goal.
"I think we had a different mental approach to the game," Merchant said. "Because they came out of the gate so strong in the second half that maybe put us on our heels a little bit."
