The fate of the Big Ten tournament rested on a coin flip, and now No. 11 Northwestern controls its own destiny.

NU (32-12, 16-2 Big Ten) is currently tied with No. 6 Michigan for the top spot in the standings, and thanks to the toss will now host the conference tournament if their records are still equal come Sunday. Each team is scheduled to play two games this weekend.

Michigan State (26-25, 8-10) visits Evanston for games on Saturday and Sunday against a Cats team that has struggled of late. NU has lost each of its last three games in dramatic fashion and has been streaky all season.

After starting the year 12-3, NU lost six of its next seven games. The squad busted out of that funk, winning all but one of its next 20 games before its current three-game slide. The losses came against Michigan on April 27, and No. 1 Alabama and No. 20 DePaul on Tuesday.

“Seeing these great teams and competing at the highest level is always the best thing you can do,” junior shortstop Tammy Williams said after the most recent losses. “Even though we had two losses (on Tuesday) they’re going to teach us, they’re going to show us what we need to work on, what we can do really well, and what we need to fix before we get to the postseason.”

Though the postseason is looming, the Cats said they are focused on regaining their stride against Michigan State.

The Spartans are led by senior Nikki Nicosia, who is hitting .406 on the season, but NU held her to two hits in its three victories over Michigan State last season. Spartan senior starter Lesley Noel pitched twice against the Cats in 2007, including a conference tournament loss in which she allowed two earned runs.

NU coach Kate Drohan talked about the importance of responding to the losse,s