Somehow, though all the missed wide-open shots, blown opportunities and the stretches when Kevin Borseth had difficulty recognizing his Michigan women's basketball team's offense, there was still a shot.

With one stop and one successful offensive trip down the floor in the final 90 seconds, all the struggles that kept Borseth pacing frantically up and down the sidelines could magically vanish.

But when not enough shots fell and after Michigan State connected on pair of free throws with 11 seconds remaining, any hope of notching a key Big Ten win slipped away in a 50-45 loss to the Spartans on Thursday night at Crisler Arena.

The logic behind the loss could easily been seen in a quick glance at a stat sheet: 28.8 percent shooting from the floor, six second-half field goals and a 3-of-18 3-point shooting effort that made Michigan's climb all that much more steep.

"I was disappointed in the entire offensive output," Borseth said. "We got to be so frustrated that it was one pass and then (shoot). It was never pass, pass, pass and we never utilized the other players to get open.

"It just became really NBA-ish and very typical of what we're trying to teach our kids. Somebody wanted to make something happen and they wanted to make it happen now. It wasn't really pretty."

Yet, despite all of that, Michigan (14-10, 6-8 Big Ten) trailed by just three points after freshman Dayeesha Hollins scored on a hard driving lay-up that set up a potential 3-point play with 15.3 seconds remaining.

But after Hollins - who led Michigan with 19 points - missed a free throw that would have drawn the Wolverines to within a basket, Michigan State capped the win with a pair of Brittany Thomas free throws.

And after nearly wiping out a 14-point deficit that came when the Wolverines started the second half missing 11 of their first 12 shots, Michigan was left to digest another close loss.

"We didn't get as many shots to fall that we wanted," said guard Veronica Hicks, who scored 17 points in the loss. "We were getting some pretty good looks and to not knock them down was OK as long as on the other end, you were getting stops."

"But we were just trying to make plays. You look up at the clock and you say, 'OK where's the next shot coming from?'"

Michigan State (16-8, 7-6 Big Ten) used an aggressive defense on the Wolverines' perimeter shooters to keep Michigan from getting any rhythm going. The Spartans held leading scorer Carmen Reynolds to only 1-of-6 shooting from the field while senior center Krista Phillips went 0-for-11 - including several on wide-open looks.

Asked if Michigan's offensive troubles could be attributed to cold shooting or the clamps the Spartans locked on most of the Wolverines' shooters, Michigan State coach Suzy Merchant credited her team with limiting Michigan's opportunities.

After giving up 71 points to Michigan earlier this season, the Spartans were able to contain Reynolds while keeping most of the Wolverines' other scorers in check.

"When (Michigan) gets their 4s and 5s going, it seems like everything goes their way," Merchant said. "So I think we had a higher focus on Carmen Reynolds and Krista Phillips this time around."

Michigan struggled inside despite the Spartans going long stretches without 6-foot-9 center Allyssa DeHaan, who entered the game needing only two blocked shots to move into first place all-time on the NCAA blocks list. DeHaan tied the record, registering her 480th career block early in the second half.

But DeHaan played just 22 minutes, giving Michigan ample chances to try and get Phillips rolling. It never happened.

"It was just trials and tribulations," Phillips said of her scoreless performance. "It just wasn't there tonight."

The Wolverines' shooting woes weren't limited to one player. Michigan connected on six of 22 second-half shots while Michigan State used a 16-2 run over the first 11 minutes of the second half to pull away before the Wolverines found a way to make things interesting at the end.

Michigan went to a zone defense to try and throw the Spartans off. But when Michigan State needed a big basket, they got it from Kalisha Keane, who led the Spartans with 12 points. And even at times when Michigan appeared to get a big stop, the ball would squirt loose, giving Michigan State another chance to extend its lead.

"It was pretty amazing," Borseth said. "Our kids fought and hung in there until the end. We were unlucky in some respects, but we were right there at the end."

Jeff Arnold covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at jeffarnold@annarbor.com or 734-623-2554. Follow him on Twitter @jeffreyparnold.