No. 13 Spartans Host No. 2 Bruins for Annual Pink Game

Wednesday, February 11

East Lansing, Mich.

8 PM

Michigan State University

#2/2 UCLA

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2/10/2026 5:52:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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This is only the second meeting in East Lansing

EAST LANSING, Mich. - No. 13/13 Michigan State women's basketball celebrates its annual Pink Game for breast cancer awareness against No. 2/2 UCLA on Wednesday, Feb. 11. Tipoff time is set for 8 p.m. Jen Cavnar and Kim Adams will be on the call for Peacock.

• Erasing a 16-point deficit against Penn State on Feb. 7, Michigan State snapped a two-game losing streak with an 81-70 win over the Lady Lions. MSU improved to 20-4 overall and 9-4 in Big Ten contests.

• UCLA comes to East Lansing with 23-1 overall record. The Bruins are a perfect 13-0 in Big Ten action. UCLA is coming off a 69-66 win in Ann Arbor on Feb. 8.

• Michigan State is looking for its first win over a top-two team at home since a 66-64 victory over No. 2/3 Ohio State on Feb. 20, 2005. The last time the Spartans faced the No. 2 team was when No. 2/3 Maryland defeated the Spartans in 2017 and No. 2/2 Notre Dame beat MSU in 2016.

• With her 12th double-double of her Spartan career, Grace VanSlooten moves up to tie for 18th on MSU's career double-doubles list, matching Kelli Roehrig (2001-05) and Jill Prudden (1975-78). With the 22 double-doubles of her collegiate career, VanSlooten moves up to tie for No. 42 among active NCAA Division I women's basketball players.

SCOUTING UCLA
UCLA is the only Big Ten team still undefeated in conference play with a perfect 13-0 record. Overall, the Bruins are 23-1 with their only loss coming against Texas on Nov. 26. UCLA has won 17-straight games.

The reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Lauren Betts leads the team in scoring and is 13th in the Big Ten, averaging 16.2 points per game. She is also fifth in the league in rebounding with 8.2 rpg. KiKi Rice is second on the team in scoring with 15.3 ppg. Betts is third in the conference in blocks with 2.1 bpg.

UCLA is second in the Big Ten in scoring, averaging 86.0 ppg, while allowing only 57.0 ppg. The Bruins lead the conference in scoring margin (+29.0) and field goal percentage (.518).

Cori Close is in her 15th season at the helm of the Bruins. She has a career record of 344-144.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE BRUINS
The series history between the Spartans and the Bruins is tied 2-2. Last season in Los Angeles, UCLA came away with a 75-69 victory. Michigan State defeated UCLA in East Lansing in 2001, 67-63. The teams split the two meeting in Los Angeles. In 1992, the Bruins won the first battle, 82-57. It was the Spartans who won the last meeting in Los Angeles in 2003 led by a All-American Liz Shimek.

Last season, the Bruins were ranked No. 1 when the teams met. Michigan State played the No. 1 in the country for the seventh time in program history. Junior guard Theryn Hallock led the Spartans with a game-high 19 points, adding four steals and three assists.

THE BEST COMES TO THE BREZ
Michigan State is looking for its first win over a top-two team at home since a 66-64 victory over No. 2/3 Ohio State on Feb. 20, 2005. The last time the Spartans faced the No. 2 team was when No. 2/3 Maryland defeated the Spartans in 2017 and No. 2/2 Notre Dame beat MSU in 2016

DID YOU KNOW?
Lilly Williams became the first future Spartan since Sidney Cooks in 2017 to be named a McDonald's All-American. Williams plays at Howell high school for her senior season after winning National HomeSchool Christian National Championships.
ANATOMY OF A COMEBACK
The Spartans' 16-point deficit came at 45-29 with 1:32 left in the second quarter, and MSU out-scored the Lady Lions by a palindromic 52-25 from that point on, including 48-25 in the second half, for the 81-70 win.

Michigan State reeled off a 20-0 scoring run spanning the latter half of the third quarter and the first part of the fourth quarter, rallying from down 52-38 after a PSU bucket with 6:26 on the clock, the Spartans then held the Lady Lions scoreless over the next 7:38 of the game, taking a 58-52 lead at the 9:10 mark, before PSU scored with 8:48 left.

BIG SHOT AMY
Against Penn State, freshman guard Amy Terrian came of the bench to ignite the Spartan comeback with three 3-pointers in a row in the third quarter. Terrian's three triples was the most in a Big Ten game and her second-most of the season behind her career-high five triples vs. Mercyhurst in the season-opener (11/4/25).

ROBYN'S NEST
The Breslin Center has become home right away for head coach Robyn Fralick. She boasts a 36-6 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 10-2 at the Breslin Center.

PACKING THE HOUSE
The 11,635 fans that packed into the Breslin Center against Michigan on Feb. 1 were the most during the three seasons of the Robyn Fralick era. It was the most since Feb. 23, 2020 against Michigan. Overall, it was No. 15 all-time at MSU.

BY THE NUMBERS vs. PENN STATE

Guard Rashunda Jones was a perfect 7-of-7 at the free throw line, marking the sixth time this season she was 100 percent at the charity stripe with two or more attempts. She has gone at least 4-of 4 or more five times, going 8-of-8 vs. Clemson (11/30/25), 7-of-7 Saturday at Penn State, 6-of-6 vs. Rutgers (12/28/25), 5-of-5 vs. Illinois (1/4/26) and 4-of-4 at Indiana (1/1/26).
Saturday's Victory for MSU was the Spartans' fifth-straight win over the Lady Lions. MSU is now 3-0 vs. PSU under head coach Robyn Fralick . . . Michigan State has now beaten Penn State in nine of the last 10 meetings, closing PSU's overall lead to 31-27 in the series. The Spartans have also won the five match-ups in University Park and now trail, 17-10, in games played on the Lady Lions' home court.

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 8-3 after beating Penn State on Feb. 7. Overall, MSU has had five different starting lineups. VanSlooten, Blair and Jones are the only three Spartans to start all 24 games.

GRACE IS A MODEL OF CONSISTENCY
Senior forward Grace VanSlooten now has 189 points and 96 rebounds in the last 11 games, since being held to eight points and four rebounds vs. Rutgers (12/28/25). VanSlooten is now averaging 17.2 points and 8.8 rebounds per game over the last 11 outings, as part of averaging 15.5 ppg and 6.8 rpg for the season.

The 20 points Saturday marked was VanSlooten's 106th game of her collegiate career logging double-digits, and she's now scored in double-figures in 106 out of the 118 career games, logging 10+ points in 55 games during her time at Oregon.

LOOKING AT THE NET
In the current women's basketball NET ranking, the Spartans stand No. 11. They are fourth among Big Ten schools behind No. 2 UCLA, No. 6 Michigan and No. 10 Minnesota. UConn stands No. 1.

BLUE BLOODS
Michigan State is one of nine schools in the country to have both its women's and men's teams ranked in the Associated Press top 25. The Spartans join Michigan as the only two teams in the Big Ten. Vanderbilt, UConn, Duke, Louisville, North Carolina, Texas Tech and Kentucky are the other seven schools with both teams ranked.

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. MSU has lost its last two games to ranked opponents to No. 11/13 Iowa and No. 9/9 Michigan. MSU is now 3-3 against ranked foes this season after a loss to No. 19/22 Maryland on Feb. 4.

SPARTANS VS. THE NCAA
After 24 games, Michigan State stands 10th in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (1.45). The Spartans are eighth in the NCAA and third in the Big Ten in scoring offense (85.3 ppg). MSU is seventh in the country in field goal percentage, 49.0 percent and 18th in 3-point shooting percentage (36.5 percent). Redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair is 26th in the NCAA in assists per game (5.4 apg). Emma Shumate is 18th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (43.6 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 645-422. The Spartans are 15-1 this season when their bench out-scored their opponent.

SMITH SELECTED TO WBCA NGI
Michigan State assistant coach Bianca Smith was selected by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) to join the 2026 class of the WBCA Next Generation Institute.

The WBCA Next Generation Institute is a high-level education program for experienced assistant coaches who aspire to become collegiate head coaches. Now in its fourth year, the curriculum of the WBCA Next Generation Institute focuses on the CEO attributes needed to lead a program and be a problem-solver in today's ever-changing landscape of higher education and the enterprise of intercollegiate athletics.

She joins Latara King from Washington and Abby Sharp from Iowa as Big Ten coaches participating.

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.

EMMA THE SHARP SHOOTER
Senior guard Emma Shumate netted one 3-pointer on Saturday, as she has drained at least one triple in 21 of the 24 games this season. With one 3-pointers, Shumate now has 51 triples on the season as part of 55 total field goals. Shumate's 51 3-pointers this season continues her top single-single mark of her career, topping the 44 treys last season. Shumate now has 95 3-pointers during her two-year Spartan career and 135 total 3-pointers in her collegiate career after 40 during her two seasons at Ohio State.

NO NIGHTS OFF IN THE BIG TEN
The Big Ten continues to be one of the toughest conferences in the country with five teams in the top 15 in the rankings. In the AP poll, UCLA is No. 2, while Michigan is No. 7. Ohio State and Michigan State are No. 8. No. 13, respectively. Iowa (No. 15), Maryland (No. 20) and Washington (No. 25) are also in the top 25. Minnesota and Illinois are all receiving votes.

BIG TIME BIG TEN NUMBERS
The Spartans are third in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging 85.3 ppg and third in scoring margin (+22.0). Michigan State is also third in turnover margin (+8.13). The Spartans stand fourth in assists per game, averaging 18.5 apg and second in steals per game with 11.9 spg.

Individually, Rashunda Jones is tied for second in the league in steals per game, averaging 2.48 spg, while Kennedy Blair is fourth (2.17 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 (.446).

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 256-99 record in 11 seasons as a head coach. She has won 65 games at MSU.

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 10 Mid-Season nominees for the Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Award. VanSlooten is one of four Big Ten players named to the watch list, including Maryland's Yarden Garzon, UCLA's Gabriela Jaquez and Michigan's Olivia Olson.

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. 10
Tuesday, Feb. 17
Tuesday, Feb. 24