BLOOMINGTON – She’s flying down the court.

The seconds are ticking off the clock — five, four, three — and the Hoosier crosses half-court as she speeds past two Spartans. Two dribbles and there’s a second left, two new Spartans on her and she’s jumping from just inside the free-throw line toward the hoop.

Suspended in the air, Jaelynn Penn lays the ball up toward the basket. The halftime buzzer sounds before it even touches the backboard, but that doesn’t matter, it glances off the glass and down through the net.

Now Penn is ecstatic. The Assembly Hall faithful are roaring. Teammate Ali Patberg is so overcome with emotion she knocks Penn to the floor near the corner of the court closest to IU’s locker room with a celebratory push to her chest. And there a mob of Hoosiers meets them and leads them bouncing toward the tunnel.

That basket put Indiana up, 33-27, after two quarters against No. 15 Michigan State on Sunday. The Hoosiers’ lead would dwindle and at times be erased completely, a deficit in its place, that is until Penn stepped up again and nailed a 3 with less than a minute left to give the Hoosiers a lead for good.

“It’s our expectation,” Penn said, “to win.”

IU upset MSU, 68-64, in front of the ninth largest crowd — 6,380 strong — at Assembly Hall in program history. The Hoosiers earned their first win against a team ranked in the top 15 since Jan. 31, 2010 when they beat then-No. 4 Ohio State.

Indiana is now 14-1 and 3-0 in Big Ten play, off to one of the best starts in program history the season after Amanda Cahill and Tyra Buss’ careers, two of the best ever for the Hoosiers, ended.

“We talk about energy and good juice all the time on our team and Assembly Hall never fails to bring it,” redshirt junior forward Brenna Wise said. “It is rocking in there and that’s a testament to our fans and how dedicated they are.”

Wise and Patberg, a redshirt junior guard, joined the program last year after transferring from Pittsburgh and Notre Dame, respectively. By rule they sat out the 2017-18 campaign and watched as the Hoosiers won their final six games and the program’s first-ever WNIT championship. They watched Buss finish her career as IU’s leader in scoring (2,364 points), assists (574), steals (293) and more. They watched Cahill finish fourth in points (1,884) and second in rebounds (1,115).

And they, with Penn and Kym Royster have helped maintain IU’s trajectory. Not that Cahill is surprised the Hoosiers got “back on the map” during her time there and haven't budged.

“I knew that the girls would step up,” Cahill told IndyStar on Friday. “They’re all really good basketball players and just good teammates, so I knew that they would do really well regardless of if we were on the team or not.”

While Cahill, who recently signed a professional contract to play for Résidence Walferdange in Luxembourg, was focused on her final season with the Hoosiers, she also saw a team with such a wealth of talent they’d be ready for life after her and Buss.

“Whether it’s a timeout, whether it’s in the locker room, whether it’s they’re huddling up in the middle of practice, just hearing them give each other good juice and just talk and how they respect each other is really special,” coach Teri Moren said. “I haven’t known if I’ve ever been a part of a team, and I really mean this, this is not coach speak, that really likes each other the way these guys like each other and are for each other.”

IU entered the matchup against Michigan State with an RPI of 13. The Hoosiers haven’t finished better than 40th in Moren’s four previous years in Bloomington and even finished 164th her first season.

IU walked onto the floor with a 5-22 record against ranked opponents under Moren, too.

And the Hoosiers showed the voters just about all they could to be ranked when they face the Buckeyes on Thursday in Columbus. But whether it’s Cahill, Moren, Patberg, Penn or Wise, or anyone else around the program, no one needs the validation.

“A number doesn’t define us and who we are,” Wise said. “We’re just competing every day in the Big Ten whether we’re ranked or not. You’re going to get the best Indiana on the floor when we walk out there.”

“We know what we’re capable of,” Penn added.

“We believe in our circle and that’s all that matters,” Patberg echoed.

“Any given night it doesn’t matter record,” Moren assured. “It doesn’t matter where you are. If you don’t come mentally, physically ready to play you’re always at risk of losing.”

Wise finished with a double double, 14 points and 11 rebounds, against Michigan State. She’s second on the team in scoring per game and first in rebounding. Penn led IU with 17 points and grabbed six rebounds. She’s third in scoring. Patberg finished with 12 points and five assists. She leads the team in scoring and assists.

They all helped IU win a game that had 22 ties and 11 lead changes.

This team isn’t two stars and a supporting cast. It’s a team with a wealth of talent across its roster that wants to compete for a conference title.

“I don’t think it’s a one-man race for sure,” Moren said. “I think it’s going to be wide open and we’re not going to get caught up in that we’re just going to get caught up in Indiana.”

And a 2019 recruiting class ranked in the top 20 nationally by ESPN is on its way.

INDIANA 68, NO. 15 MICHIGAN ST. 64

MICHIGAN ST. (11-3) — Cook 5-9 0-2 11, Gaines 1-5 0-0 3, Allen 7-15 0-0 15, Clouden 4-10 2-2 10, McCutcheon 2-6 0-0 4, Cooks 6-8 0-1 12, Hollie 1-2 0-0 2, Colley 2-6 2-4 7, Totals 28-61 4-9 64.

INDIANA (14-1) — Royster 1-2 0-0 2, Wise 2-6 9-10 14, Patberg 4-14 3-4 12, Penn 7-12 1-2 17, Yeaney 2-6 0-0 4, Gulbe 4-8 1-2 9, Marchese 0-1 0-0 0, Berger 5-7 0-0 10, Warthen 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 25-56 14-18 68.

Michigan St. 15 12 20 17 — 64

Indiana 11 22 15 20 — 68

3-Point Goals—Michigan St. 4-13 (Cook 1-1, Gaines 1-4, Allen 1-2, Clouden 0-1, McCutcheon 0-1, Cooks 0-1, Colley 1-3), Indiana 4-8 (Wise 1-1, Patberg 1-2, Penn 2-3, Yeaney 0-1, Berger 0-1). Assists—Michigan St. 10 (Cooks 3), Indiana 11 (Patberg 5). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Michigan St. 32 (Cook 7), Indiana 35 (Wise 11). Total Fouls—Michigan St. 19, Indiana 15. Technical Fouls—None.A—6,380.