With senior forward and co-captain Helen Holloway shoved rudely out of the lineup by an injury last week, the Lady Lions were looking for a filler. Somebody, anybody to "step up" and pick up the slack left by the team's second-leading scorer and rebounder. Who would be the one to take the step?

There wouldn't be one. Try four.

Missy Masley and Kim Calhoun started things last week, and Jackie Donovan and Shelby Thayer continued it Sunday in the Lady Lions' 98-71 victory over Michigan State. The trend? An impressive team effort of filling the void left by Holloway, a trend that is a telling sign of just how deep and capable this Lady Lion team is.

"Everybody's stepping up," Coach Rene Portland said. "With Helen, at first it was an injury and then we tried to treat it like she's in foul trouble, so you guys have to get used to it."

Donovan and Thayer, splitting time in the three-spot, apparently had little trouble getting used to Holloway's absence. The pair posted career-highs and combined for 41 points on the afternoon. Donovan tallied 22, thanks in part to six three-pointers, while Thayer came off the bench and drained three treys en route to her 19 points.

Donovan and Thayer were only continuing a tradition begun a week earlier by the Lady Lions' center tandem. After Holloway tore her left hand early in the loss to Purdue, Calhoun left the pine and threw in 10 points and grabbed 10 boards to keep the Lady Lions close. Two days later, Masley put up a career-high 21 points and added 10 rebounds to key the win against Indiana.

Portland has always expected her starters to share the load, but the help she's received from her bench, whose depth in the post she openly questioned earlier in the season, has been a pleasant surprise.

"It's nice isn't it?" Portland said. "Getting a big contribution off our bench, that was one of our goals this season. They know they're a part of our success."

Holloway made an unexpected entrance in the second half of Sunday's matchup, and her stitched-up hand didn't seem to bother her as she threw in 10 points in as many minutes. Her return undoubtedly took an emotional load off her team-mates, but the Lady Lions had already shown that, although they'd rather not, they can get along just fine without her.

"We were kind of looking at each other, looking for someone to step up," Donovan said. "I think a lot of things we worked on this week in practice, we just put our heads together and said we've got to get it done."