No. 13 MSU Women Stopped on the Road by No. 7 Michigan

Sunday, February 15

Ann Arbor, Mich.

4 PM

Michigan State University

20-6,9-6Big Ten

No. 7/7 Michigan

22-4,13-2Big Ten

Michigan St.

Michigan

2/15/2026 8:03:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score 25 26 MSU WBB Combined U-M 86, MSU 65

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Despite a strong start, No. 13 Michigan State women's basketball was stopped by No. 7 Michigan, 86-65, Sunday afternoon at the Crisler Center.

The Spartans concluded a tough week of facing No. 2 UCLA and No. 7 Michigan. With the loss, MSU falls to 20-6 overall and 9-6 in Big Ten play. U-M improves to 22-4 overall and 13-2 in league play. Michigan won both games of the series for the first time since the 2022-23 season.

Michigan State had three players in double figures. Redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair had her sixth double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Jalyn Brown added 11 points. Senior forward Grace VanSlooten scored 10 points to get back to double-figures after being held to single digits against UCLA.

Michigan was led by 24 points from Syla Swords.

Michigan State jumped out to an early 10-4 lead behind six points from VanSlooten. A Brown trey upped the lead to 15-9 with under five minutes left in the period. The Spartans led 21-16 after the first 10 minutes. MSU was led by 14 combined points from VanSlooten and Blair.

In the second quarter, the Wolverines scored the first five points to make it a 21-20 MSU lead. Michigan used a 12-0 run to go on top 34-25 at the 4:28 mark. The Spartans had five turnovers in three minutes to help out U-M. The Wolverines scored 14 points off of 16 MSU first-half turnovers, as U-M led at half time 41-30.

The Spartans tried to lessen the deficit in the third period. MSU got the deficit down to 14 points after a VanSlooten free throw, but would not get any closer. Blair led the way in the third period with eight points.

Midway through the fourth quarter, the Wolverines used an 8-0 run to put the game out of reach 75-54. The Spartans reached deep into the bench in the fourth quarter, but 11 of MSU's 15 points came from the combo of Blair and Amy Terrian.

The Spartans will return home to celebrate seniors Jalyn Brown, Marah Dykstra, Theryn Hallock, Abbey Kimball, Emma Shumate and Grace VanSlooten on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 6:30 p.m. The game will be streamed on B1G+.

Michigan State Women's Basketball Post-Notes

• No. 13/13 Michigan State was playing its second-straight Top 10 ranked opponent in taking on No. 7/7 Michigan on Sunday, after playing No. 2/2 UCLA last time out on Feb. 11 . . . Sunday was also MSU's third Top 10 match-up in the last five games as part of facing off with four ranked opponents in the last five games, playing No. 9/9 Michigan on Feb. 1, then No. 22/19 Maryland on Feb. 4.

• Overall, No. 7//7 Michigan was the Spartans' eighth ranked match-up of the season . . . Michigan State is now 3-5 vs. ranked opponents, starting with a neutral court win over No. 15/15 Ole Miss, 66-49 (12/22/25 in Cherokee, North Carolina), a road win at No. 23/23 Washington, 82-67, and a home win over No. 24/RV Nebraska, 73-71 (1/15/26), with losses at No. 11/13 Iowa, 75-68 (1/18/25), home loss vs. No. 9/9 Michigan, 94-91 in OT (2/1/26), a home loss to No. 22/19 Maryland, 86-70 (1/4/26), then last Wednesday's 86-63 loss to No. 2/2 UCLA, and then Sunday's loss to No. 7/7 Michigan.

• Sunday was MSU's 12th game played on a Sunday, the Spartans' most played day of the week and MSU is now 8-4 on Sundays.

• The Spartans started with the same starting five for the 12th-consecutive game and the 13th overall time this season, starting the game with the quintet of junior guard Rashunda Jones, sophomore center Ines Sotelo, senior forward Grace VanSlooten, redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair and senior guard Jalyn Brown . . . it marks the Spartans' fifth different starting line-up of the season . . . Michigan State is now 8-5 with that starting five.

• Senior forward Grace VanSlooten, junior guard Rashunda Jones and redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair all started for the 26th game in a row, remaining the only three Spartans to start all 26 contests.

• Redshirt-junior guard Kennedy Blair posted a palindromic 21 points and 12 rebounds for her second double-double in the last five games . . . overall, it is Kennedy's sixth double-double of the season and her career.

• The 21 points was Blair's third 20-point outing in the last seven games as part of her sixth game this season with 20+ points.

• It was also Blair's seventh-straight game in double-figures, now with double-digits in 13 of the last 14 games, 17 of 19, with a total of 20 total games with 10+ points this season out of the 26 games played this season . . . Blair has also registered double-figures in 24 games in her career.

• Blair's 12 rebounds was her sixth double-figure rebounding game of the season, logging double-doubles in five of the six outings, with the only odd game out coming vs. Eastern Illinois with a career-high 15 games but just eight points.

• Blair also dished out two assists, as she now has 137 assists on the season, needing just eight more to crack MSU's Top 10 single-season assists list, as Nia Clouden currently holds the No. 10 spot with 145 helpers in 2021-22.

• Blair made eight free throws, her second-highest makes at the charity stripe of the season, behind her career-high of 11 made free throws vs. Illinois (1/4/25).

• Senior guard Jalyn Brown tallied 11 points for her sixth game in double-figures out of the last seven outings as part of her 14th double-digit scoring outing of the season.

• Brown netted two 3-pointers on Sunday for her fifth game with multiple triples.

• Senior forward Grace VanSlooten tallied 10 points to get back in double-figures after being held to single-digits last time out vs. UCLA, and continuing her streak of not going back-to-back in single digits in her two seasons as a Spartan.

• VanSlooten now has netted double-figures in 12 of the last 13 games and 23 times out of the 26 games this season . . . she has netted 10+ points in 52 of 57 total games as a Spartan and in 107 out of 120 total games in her collegiate career, with 55 double-figure scoring outings during her two seasons at Oregon.

• Freshman guard Amy Terrian netted a pair of 3-pointers on Sunday for her second multi-triple outing in the last three games after her three triples at Penn State (2/7/26) . . . Terrian registered her fifth game this season with two or more 3-pointers.