Freshman steps up offense against Purdue, keeps MSU alive
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As each successive shot fell through the net, Becca Mills’ smile got bigger and bigger.
The freshman forward has struggled to find consistent playing time in her first year on campus, but in one of the season’s biggest games, she found herself on the floor for 31 minutes, making shot after shot when no one else could.
The MSU women’s basketball team (17-10 overall, 9-5 Big Ten) knocked off No. 17 Purdue 67-52 in overtime on Sunday, and it was the play of Mills that helped get the team to the extra session.
The Spartans never trailed, but after Purdue rallied to even the score at 33 with 15:13 to go in the game, the freshman became MSU’s offense.
With her teammates struggling to hit shots, Mills scored six consecutive points and 10-of-11 points for MSU during a critical stretch that kept the Spartans in front.
Mills finished the game with a team-high 17 points and six rebounds and said she was motivated by a challenge issued to her by senior forward Lykendra Johnson before the game.
“One of the reasons I was extra aggressive this game was because Lykendra came at me the other day and said, ‘I need 15 from you on Sunday, no less. I need 15,’” Mills said.
“I (was) trying (to score 15 points). I had two points in the first half, but in the second half I thought I was going to get it. I was feeling it.”
Seeing the way her freshman was producing, head coach Suzy Merchant said she had to keep Mills on the floor and was proud of the way she responded.
“She was the sole consistent offensive player for us,” Merchant said. “I really felt like she was doing everything she could.”
But despite her success on Sunday, Mills said she hasn’t always felt as if she was doing all she could.
Having always been the best player on her team growing up, Mills has never been short on playing time, but since she’s come to MSU her minutes have been inconsistent, and she said it’s something she has struggled to deal with at times.
“It’s been tough for me psychologically,” she said. “It gets to you sometimes, but you have to be stronger than it and know that you’ll get back in your groove. That’s been the hardest thing for me, I think, because I’ve never had to experience that all throughout my life in basketball.”
Coming into Sunday’s game, Mills said she knew she would have an opportunity because of Purdue’s big lineup and was determined to make it count.
Looking back on her performance and the season as a whole, the freshman said she has learned a lot.
“I knew (Merchant) needed bigger girls, so I knew I had the opportunity, but I had to prove to her that I could defend them on the block and I did that tonight,” she said. “You just have to keep working hard at it. Your time will come at any moment.”
