No. 13 Spartan Women Travel to No. 7 Michigan Sunday

Sunday, February 15

Ann Arbor, Mich.

4 PM

Michigan State University

#7/7 Michigan

2/14/2026 12:32:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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This is the second meeting between the teams this season.

EAST LANSING, Mich. - No. 13/13 Michigan State women's basketball hits the road to take on No. 7/7 Michigan for the second time this season on Sunday, Feb. 15. Tipoff time is set for 4 p.m. Jake Eisenberg and Tykera Carter will be on the call for FS1.

• The Spartans fell to 20-5 overall and 9-5 in Big Ten action after a loss to No. 2 UCLA. Michigan State will take on its second top-10 opponent of the week, facing No. 7/7 Michigan. The Wolverines took the first meeting in an overtime classic in East Lansing on Feb. 1, 94-91.

• Michigan holds a 21-4 overall record and stand 12-2 in league play. Last time out, U-M defeated Northwestern 80-58 on the road on Thursday.

• Michigan State will be facing its fourth ranked team in the month of February. MSU has losses to then No. 9 Michigan, No. 22 Maryland and No. 2 UCLA. Overall, the Spartans are 3-4 against ranked teams this season with wins against Ole Miss, Washington and Nebraska and a loss to Iowa.

• With the three 3-pointers, Emma Shumate now has 54 triples on the season as part of 59 total field goals. Her 54 3-pointers this season continues her top single-single mark of her career, topping the 44 treys last season. She now has 98 3-pointers during her two-year Spartan career and 138 total 3-pointers in her collegiate career.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN
After a dominating win against Northwestern on Thursday, Michigan holds a 21-4 overall record. The Wolverines are 12-2 in Big Ten action.

Olivia Olson is seventh in the Big Ten and first on the team in scoring, averaging 18.9 points per game. Syla Swords is second on the team in scoring with 14.1 ppg. Olson also leads the team in scoring with 6.0 rpg.

Michigan is first in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging 86.6 ppg. The Wolverines are also second in scoring margin (+24.5). Michigan is also second in the league in steals per game with 11.8 spg.

U-M head coach Kim Barnes Arico is in her 14th
season leading the Wolverines, logging a 305-148 ledger. Overall, Barnes Arico is in her 30th season as collegiate head coach, amassing a 575-354 record.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE WOLVERINES
Michigan State holds the overall series lead over Michigan 76-27. 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 37-11 record against the Wolverines in East Lansing, while leading 30-16 in Ann Arbor. On neutral ground, the Spartans are a perfect 9-0.

On Feb. 1, the Wolverines came away with a 94-91 overtime win in East Lansing in an instant classic. Michigan State sent the game to overtime before falling to No. 9 Michigan in overtime in front of over 11,000 fans at the Breslin Center on Sunday afternoon. A Kennedy Blair jump shot with five seconds left sent the instant classic to extra time.

The overtime game was Michigan State's first since beating Penn State on Feb. 12, 2023.

BLAZIN' BLAIR
Redshirt-junior guard Kennedy Blair tallied 10 points for her sixth-straight game in double-digits, as part of her 19th game this season in double-figure scoring. It was her 23rd career game with 10+ points. Blair also dished out a game-high six assists, as she has distributed three or more helpers in the last five games as part of 23 total times out of the 25 games this season.
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 Penn State 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.

ROBYN'S NEST
The Breslin Center has become home right away for head coach Robyn Fralick. She boasts a 36-7 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 10-3 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. UCLA
               With the three 3-pointers, senior Emma Shumate now has 54 triples on the season as part of 59 total field goals. Shumate's 54 3-pointers this season continues her top single-single mark of her career, topping the 44 treys last season. Shumate now has 98 3-pointers during her two-year Spartan career and 138 total 3-pointers in her collegiate career after 40 during her two seasons at Ohio State.
               Senior forward Grace VanSlooten was held to single-digits Wednesday with eight points, snapping her streak of consecutive games in double-figures at 11 in a row. It was just the third total time out of the 25 games this season that VanSlooten was kept under 10 points and only the fifth total time as a Spartan, as she scored double-figures in 22 of the 25 games this season and in 51 of 56 total games as a Spartan, and in 106 out of 119 games of her collegiate career.

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 8-4 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 25 games.

SHOOT-MATE STRIKES AGAIN
Against UCLA, senior guard Emma Shumate tallied 12 points for her first double-figure scoring outing in the last eight games. Shumate's 12 points was a B1G season high for the Spartan sharp-shooter. Overall, it was her sixth game in double-digits this season as part of her ninth game as a Spartan with 10+ points.

The Spartan sharp-shooter Shumate's current 3-point percentage of 43.5 percent (54-of-124) is currently No. 3 on MSU's single-season 3-pointers list, trailing Lindsay Bowen (2002-03) at 46.4 percent (77-of-166) and Moira Joiner (2023-24) at 44.2 percent (80-of-181). Shumate also currently holds the tied for No. 7 spot at 40.0 percent (44-of-110) from last season, matching Eileen Shea (1989-90) at 40.0 percent (50-of-125).

GRACE IS A MODEL OF CONSISTENCY
Senior forward Grace VanSlooten has 197 points and 102 rebounds in the last 12 games, despite being held to eight points vs. UCLA (2/11/26). VanSlooten is now averaging 16.4 points and 8.5 rebounds per game over the last 12 outings, as part of averaging 15.2 ppg and 6.7 rpg for the season.

LOOKING AT THE NET
In the current women's basketball NET ranking, the Spartans stand No. 12. 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 3-4 against ranked foes this season after a losses to No. 19/22 Maryland on Feb. 4 and No. 2/2 UCLA on Feb. 11.

SPARTANS VS. THE NCAA
After 25 games, Michigan State stands ninth in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (1.46). The Spartans are 10th in the NCAA and third in the Big Ten in scoring offense (84.4 ppg). MSU is 11th in the country in field goal percentage, 48.2 percent and 10th in turnover margin (8.12). Redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair is 24th in the NCAA in assists per game (5.4 apg). Emma Shumate is 17th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (43.5 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 663-434. 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.

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 84.4 ppg and fourth in scoring margin (+20.2). Michigan State is also third in turnover margin (+8.12). The Spartans stand fourth in assists per game, averaging 18.4 apg and third in steals per game with 11.8 spg.

Individually, Rashunda Jones is tied for second in the league in steals per game, averaging 2.36 spg, while Kennedy Blair is fifth (2.16 spg). Kennedy Blair is also fourth in assists with 5.40 apg. Emma Shumate is sixth in the league in 3-point field goal percentage (.435).

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 256-100 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 7-1 when scoring 90+ points with the only loss coming against Michigan on Feb. 1.

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.

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. 17
Tuesday, Feb. 24