Before Sunday, the Illinois women’s basketball team had an undefeated record when scoring at least 70 points and had never lost when shooting over 45 percent from the field.

Illinois (16-6, 6-4) scored exactly 70 and shot 45 percent from the field, but lost to the Michigan State Spartans – ranked No. 23 in the country in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll – at the Breslin Center by ten points in front of 8,475.

The Illini gave MSU (17-6, 8-2) a run for its money, trailing just 65-64 when Illinois senior Erin Wigley went to the charity stripe for a one-and-one late in the second half.

Wigley missed, grabbed her own board and missed the put-back that would have given the Illini a one-point lead.

Unfortunately for the Illini, missing free throws was a common theme, as the team shot only 46 percent (6-of-13) from the line, missing on three one-and-one opportunities.

The Illini entered the contest as the best free-throw shooting team in the Big Ten at 81 percent.

“Missed free throws and turnovers were the keys,” head coach Theresa Grentz said.

Illinois still had many positives to take away from the game. The team played with resilience, not folding even when down by 11 in the first half. The Illini were losing by nine points at the 4:31 mark, but then sophomore sharp-shooter Lori Bjork hit three three-pointers in less than two minutes, cutting the Spartans’ lead to 37-35. Bjork shot 7-for-15 and tallied 19 points.

Illinois displayed good passing in the game, demonstrated by forward Lacey Simpson’s game-high eight assists.

Freshman Jenna Smith recovered a game-high nine rebounds for the Illini.

Illinois shot and rebounded well throughout the game, but turnovers were its downfall. The team had crucial giveaways, including 11 in the final 20 minutes.

“MSU did a good job of getting their hands in the passing lanes and disrupted some things late in the game,” Grentz said.

With all of the mistakes, however, the Illini had plenty of opportunities against the talented Spartan squad, yet could not get over the hump.

“I feel like (winning) this one was doable,” Grentz said. “We played well, but MSU did what they needed to do to win it. They made the plays down the stretch and we didn’t.”

The Illini struggled defending the Spartans’ Mia Johnson, who scored 22 points and drilled all eight of her free throw attempts. She added two assists, four rebounds and two steals.

With the Michigan State game in the books, attention needs to be turned to No. 13 Purdue and a rematch versus No. 5 Ohio State.

“Hopefully we’ll learn from this one,” Grentz said.