No. 13 MSU Battles No. 9 Michigan in Top-15 Battle

Sunday, February 15

Ann Arbor, Mich.

4 PM

Michigan State University

Michigan

1/31/2026 1:57:00 PM | Women's Basketball

MSU Notes U-M Notes Listen Live Watch Live Live Stats Gameday Promotions Flip Card

It is MSU's Go Gree, Wear Green game.

EAST LANSING, Mich. - No. 13/13 Michigan State women's basketball prepares for its first top 10 matchup of the season, hosting No. 9/9 Michigan on Sunday, Feb. 1. Tipoff time is set for 12 p.m. Kelsie Kasper and Sydney Parrish will be on the call for FS1. This is first of two meetings this season between the Spartans and the Wolverines.

• With a win against Purdue on Jan. 29, Michigan State improved to 19-2 overall on the season, which is the Spartans' best record in program history, bettering the 2010-11 squad, when MSU was 18-3 through the first 21 games of the season. MSU also improved to 8-2 in B1G action, which is also the top conference ledger since 1996-97 when MSU was 8-2 through 10 league games.

• With a dominating 95-67 road win over Indiana on Thursday, Michigan improves to 18-3 overall and 9-1 in league action. The Wolverines only league loss came at Washington on Jan. 1.

• This is the first time that the two teams have met when both were ranked in the top 15. Last season when MSU was No. 21/22 and U-M was No. 24/RV was the first time in the series that both teams were ranked.

• The Spartans ended January with a stellar 7-1 in the first month of the season. MSU's only loss came on the road to then No. 11 Iowa on Jan. 18.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN
The No. 9/9 Wolverines tote an 18-3 overall record and a 9-1 B1G mark to East Lansing for Sunday's ranked vs. ranked battle in the Breslin Center against the Spartans. U-M's 9-1 league ledger has the Wolverines currently sitting in a tie for second-place with Iowa in the B1G standings. Michigan is coming off a 95-67 win at Indiana on Thursday. Three Wolverines netted double-figures, led by a trio of sophomore guards with Olivia Olson's 27 points, while Mila Holloway netted three triples on the way to 17 points and Syla Swords added 10 points.

U-M comes into Sunday's clash leading the B1G and ranking sixth in the NCAA in scoring offense (87.5 ppg), while ranking fourth in the conference and 83rd in the country in scoring defense (60.0 ppg). Michigan is fifth in the league and 14th in the nation in field goal percentage (47.5 percent), 13th in the B1G and 79th in the NCAA in 3-point percentage (33.4 percent), and 16th in the conference and 284th in the country in free throw percentage (66.9 percent), despite leading the league and ranking sixth in the nation in free throw attempts per game, averaging going to the charity stripe 24.0 times per game.

Individually, Olson tops the team and ranks eighth in the B1G and 43rd in the NCAA in scoring at 18.5 ppg, one of four Wolverines averaging in double-figures, joined by Swords (13.6 ppg) and Holloway (12.7 ppg), along with backcourt mate and fellow sophomore Te'yala Delfosse (10.6 ppg).

U-M head coach Kim Barnes Arico is in her 14th season leading the Wolverines, logging a 302-147 ledger. Overall, Barnes Arico is in her 30th season as collegiate head coach, amassing a 572-353 record.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE WOLVERINES
Michigan State holds the overall series lead over Michigan 76-26. Last season both teams won on their opposing courts. MSU won big in Ann Arbor on Jan. 25, 88-58. The Wolverines returned the favor winning in East Lansing, 71-61 on Feb. 9.

The Spartans hold a 37-10 record against the Wolverines in East Lansing, while leading 30-16 in Ann Arbor. On neutral ground, the Spartans are a perfect 9-0.

DID YOU KNOW?
This is the first time that the two teams have met when both were ranked in the top 15. Last season when MSU was No. 21/22 and U-M was No. 24/RV was the first time in the series that both teams were ranked.

SPARTANS VS. WOLVERINES WEEKEND
Sunday's match-up on the Spartans' hardwood between MSU and UM is one of three battles between the Spartans and Wolverines this weekend, and all three are ranked vs. ranked clashes. On Friday night, the No. 3 Michigan State men's basketball team played No. 3 Michigan in the Breslin Center, with the visiting Wolverines winning, 81-73, while the No. 15 MSU gymnastics team squares off with No. 10 U-M on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, and will be nationally televised on the Big Ten Network.

STRIKING FIRST
Michigan State scored first against Purdue and MSU is now 17-1 when opening the scoring, as the Spartans got off to a 13-7 lead and had a 12-0 run on the way to a 27-12 lead and had a 29-15 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

ROBYN'S NEST
The Breslin Center has become home right away for head coach Robyn Fralick. She boasts a 36-4 record at home in three seasons at Michigan State. In her first season in 2023-24, the Spartans went 13-2 with their only losses coming to Nebraska and Ohio State. In 2024-25, MSU was also 13-2 with losses to Oregon and Michigan. So far this season, the Spartans are 10-0 at the Breslin Center.

WINNING ANYWHERE
Thursday's win against Purdue was MSU's second road game out of the last three contests as part of the fifth time out of the eight games in January. Michigan State has played away from home in 11 of out of the last 15 game. The Spartans are now 5-2 in road games to go with unbeaten both at home and on neutral courts, going 10-0 at home and 4-0 in neutral contests.

JONES EARNING HER FLOWERS
Michigan State women's basketball junior guard Rashunda Jones was named to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List. She was one of 25 players named to the watch list that honors the top defensive players in Division I.

Jones is one of four Big Ten players named to the watch list, along with UCLA's Lauren Betts, Ohio State's Kennedy Cambridge and USC's Jazzy Davidson.
In her first season with the Spartans, the South Bend, Indiana native is one of three Spartans to have started all 21 games so far this season. Jones is second in the Big Ten in steals, averaging 2.57 spg.

GRACE IS A MODEL OF CONSISTENCY
Senior forward Grace VanSlooten tallied 17 points and eight rebounds in Thursday's game against Purdue. VanSlooten now has 138 points and 67 rebounds in the last eight contests, since being held to eight points and four rebounds vs. Rutgers (12/28/25). VanSlooten is averaging 17.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game over the last eight outings.

She has posted double-digit points for the 19th time out of the 21 games this season. She now has tallied 10+ points in 38 of the last 41 games. VanSlooten now has logged double-digits in 48 of 52 total games played as a Spartans, being held to single digits twice this season and twice last season, and also missing one game last season due to illness.

BY THE NUMBERS vs. PURDUE

Michigan State beat Purdue for the fourth-straight match-up under head coach Robyn Fralick, who celebrated her birthday on Thursday in grand style with the Victory for MSU. Overall, the Spartans have beaten the Boilermakers in five of the last six and seven of the last nine match-ups, moving to 21-10 since 2009. MSU trimmed Purdue's overall series lead to 44-41. Thursday was also MSU's fifth-straight win in West Lafayette.
The Spartans netted 29 points in the first quarter, for their most in a Big Ten game this season, topping the previous most points in the opening quarter of a league game from 24 vs. both Nebraska (1/15/26) and last time out vs. USC (1/22/26).

FRALICK REACHES A MILESTONE
Michigan State head coach Robyn Fralick reached a career milestone against Illinois on Jan. 4. With the win, she earned her 250th career win. She now holds a 255-97 record in 11 seasons as a head coach. She has won 63 games at MSU.

GETTING IN THE STARTING LINEUP
After using the same starting lineup for seven games, Michigan State used a different starting lineup against Clemson on Nov. 30. After an injury to Theryn Hallock, MSU went with the lineup for senior forward Grace VanSlooten, senior forward Marah Dykstra, senior guard Emma Shumate, junior guard Rashunda Jones and redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair. MSU is 2-1 with that lineup. MSU rolled out its third lineup against Indiana State with Blair, Jones, Van Slooten, Inés Sotelo and Sara Sambolić, which is now 1-0. The Spartans changed it up for a fourth time against No. 15 Ole Miss and Rutgers with VanSlooten, Jones, Blair, Sotelo and Isaline Alexander making the starting five.

Yet another lineup was debuted against Indiana in Blair, Jones, VanSlooten, Sotelo and Jalyn Brown with that group improving to 7-1 after defeating Purdue on Jan. 29. Overall, MSU has had five different starting lineups. VanSlooten, Blair and Jones are the only three Spartans to start all 21 games.

LOOKING AT THE NET
In the current women's basketball NET ranking, the Spartans stand No. 7. They are third among Big Ten schools behind No. 2 UCLA and No. 6 Michigan. UConn stands No. 1.

WATCH OUT FOR BLAIR
Against Purdue, redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair swiped a game-high five steals, tying her career-high for the second game in a row, matching the five steals vs. USC (1/22/26). Along with 10 steals in the last two games, Blair also has 16 steals in the last five games, with multiple steals in four of those five outings. Overall, Thursday's five steals was Blair's 11th game this season with two or more steals.

TAKING DOWN THE BEST
No. 24/23 Michigan State knocked off No. 15/15 Ole Miss on Dec. 22 for the Spartans' highest ranked win under head coach Robyn Fralick. It was the Spartans' third overall win over an AP Top 25 team in their three seasons under Coach Fralick, with all three coming in last two years after beating No. 21 Iowa (68-66, 12/15/24) and No. 24 Michigan (88-58, 1/25/25). Michigan State now stands 3-1 against ranked teams this season after an 82-67 road victory over No. 23 Washington on Jan. 8 and a 73-71 win over No. 24 Nebraska on Jan. 15. The one loss came against Iowa, 75-68, on Jan. 18 on the road.

SPARTANS VS. THE NCAA
After 21 games, Michigan State stands seventh in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (1.55). The Spartans are ninth in the NCAA and third in the Big Ten in turnover margin (+9.48). MSU is eighth in the country in field goal percentage, 49.4 percent and 14th in 3-point shooting percentage (37.2 percent). Redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair is 23rd in the NCAA in assists per game (5.5 apg). Emma Shumate is 12th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (44.0 percent).

STRONG BENCH
The Spartans' 59 points scored by their bench was more than Eastern Illinois' entire team scoring of 53 points on Nov. 20. Against DePaul on Dec. 14, the Spartan bench scored 44 of 90 points. MSU kept that trend up against Indiana State with 64 bench points. This season, the MSU bench has out-scored opponents 606-363. The Spartans are 14-1 this season when their bench out-scored their opponent.

MITTEN RAISED
Michigan State has a diverse roster with players from four different countries, but the Spartans have three players that hail from the Mitten State. Seniors Theryn Hallock and Abbey Kimball both hail from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Redshirt-sophomore Kennedy Blair hails from Dearborn, Michigan.

RANKED TEAMS IN BIG TEN
The Big Ten continues to be one of the toughest conferences in the country with six teams in the top 15 in the rankings. In the AP poll, UCLA is No. 3, while Iowa is No. 8. Iowa and Michigan is No. 9. No. 11 Ohio State is followed by Michigan State (No. 13), Maryland (No. 16) and Washington (No. 25). Nebraska, Illinois and Minnesota are all receiving votes.

BIG TIME BIG TEN NUMBERS
The Spartans are third in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging 86.0 ppg and third in scoring margin (+25.6). Michigan State is also third in 3-point field goal field percentage (.372). The Spartans stand fourth in assists per game, averaging 18.7 apg and second in steals per game with 12.3 spg.

Individually, Rashunda Jones is tied for second in the league in steals per game, averaging 2.57 spg, while Kennedy Blair is fourth (2.19 spg). Kennedy Blair is also fourth in assists with 5.48 apg. Emma Shumate is fifth in the league in 3-point field goal percentage (.440).

RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME
Sophomore forward Juliann Woodard netted three 3-pointers on Jan. 11 against Oregon, all coming at pivotal moments in the game. The three triples were Woodard's most in a Big Ten game this season and her second-most in a game this season behind her career-high five triples vs. Eastern Illinois (11/20/25). She continued her trend of being in the right place at the right time against Nebraska on Jan. 15. Woodard got an offensive rebound and drew a foul with five seconds left, hitting 2-of-2 free throws for the game-winning points. She continued her sharp-shooting, scoring 14 points off the bench, going 4-for-6 from beyond the arc against Iowa on Jan. 18.

FINDING THE MAGIC NUMBER
Michigan State's 102 points against Oakland on Nov. 23 marked the Spartans' sixth time out of six games scoring 90+ points. MSU's 90 points against DePaul on Dec. 14 was the first time reaching 90 in the last four games, after the Spartans had scored 90 or more points in each of the first six games of the season. MSU is now 7-0 when scoring 90+ points.
The Spartans' 115 points in the win against Indiana State on Dec. 21 was MSU's second-most of the season, behind the season-high 125 points in the season-opener vs. Mercyhurst (11/4/25). It was Michigan State's fourth 100-point game, moving to 4-0.

ADDING UP THE ACCOLADES
Senior forward Grace VanSlooten was named to the 2025-26 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Women's College Player of the Year Watch List Presented by AXIA Time. She was one of 50 players named to the watch list that honors the best players in the nation.

VanSlooten is one of 13 Big Ten players named to the watch list, including her team USA teammate Hannah Stuelke from Iowa. VanSlooten was also named to the Preseason All-Big Ten team as well the Cheryl Miller Award Watch List.

BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE
By winning the 2025 Cherokee Invitational crown, Michigan State not only defended its 2023 Cherokee Invitational championship, but also collected its second tournament title of the season after winning the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship of the Junkanoo Division in the Bahamas on Nov. 30. It is also MSU's fourth tournament title in the last three seasons after winning the 2023 Cherokee Invitational and the 2024 Acrisure Classic crown last season in Palm Springs, Calif.

HOLDING ON TO THE BALL
The Spartans only had three turnovers on Nov. 4 against Mercyhurst, also setting a school record for fewest turnovers, bettering the previous record of five done three previous times, first done in a 56-55 win at Northwestern on Jan. 22, 1989, then again in a 76-69 win vs. Stanford on March 29, 2005 and most recently in a 68-66 win over Toledo on March 18, 2018. Against Illinois, MSU had only six turnovers, which was the fifth time this season that the Spartans had single-digit turnovers.

BRINGING HOME THE GOLD
Three players earned gold medals for their home countries this summer. Grace VanSlooten won the FIBA Women's Americup for Team USA. Marah Dykstra won gold for Canada in the FIBA 3x3 Junior Pan American Games. Inés Sotelo and Spain won a gold medal in the 2025 FIBA Eurobasket.

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
Michigan State head coach Robyn Fralick has announced senior forward Grace VanSlooten and senior guard Abbey Kimball as team captains, as voted on by the players on the 2025-26 women's basketball team. This is the first time that either has been named a captain for Michigan State. VanSlooten is in her second season with MSU after transferring from Oregon. Kimball is in her fourth season as a Spartan.

ROBYN FRALICK RADIO SHOW
Michigan State women's basketball head coach Robyn Fralick started her weekly radio call-in show, the Robyn Fralick Radio Show, on Nov. 18 at One North Kitchen and Bar. Coach Fralick joins host Dalton Shetler, the Spartans' play-by-play voice, from 12-1 p.m., for an in-depth look into the MSU women's basketball program.

Radio Show Dates
Tuesday, Feb. 3
Tuesday Feb. 10
Tuesday, Feb. 17
Tuesday, Feb. 24