No. 18/16 MSU Celebrates Senior Night with Rout of Northwestern

Wednesday, February 18

East Lansing, Mich.

6:30 PM

Michigan State University

21-6,10-6Big Ten

104

Northwestern

8-18,2-13Big Ten

Northwestern

Michigan St.

104

No. 18/16 MSU Celebrates Senior Night with Rout of Northwestern

2/18/2026 10:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score 25 26 MSU WBB Combined MSU 104, NU 68 Post-Game Quotes

Five Spartans reached double figures in the victory.

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Led by season highs from senior forward Grace VanSlooten and senior forward Marah Dykstra, No. 18/16 Michigan State women's basketball celebrated Senior Night with a 104-68 win over Northwestern on Thursday night at the Breslin Center.

Following the game, Spartan fans celebrated seniors VanSlooten, Dykstra, Jalyn Brown, Emma Shumate, Abbey Kimball and Theryn Hallock. With Hallock still out with an injury, all five seniors that played scored all scored at least six points. All the Spartan seniors totaled 63 of MSU's 104 points.

Michigan State snaps a two-game losing streak and improves to 21-6 overall and 10-6 in Big Ten play. Northwestern falls to 8-18 overall and 2-13 in league contests.

Overall, five Spartans reached the double-figure mark led by a season-high tying 22 points from VanSlooten, who also added seven rebounds and three blocks. Redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair had her second-straight double-double with 17 points and 10 assists. Senior guard Jalyn Brown scored 15 points, while Dykstra set a Michigan State high with 14 points. Freshman guard Sara Sambolić, who started in place of Rashunda Jones, was just shy of her season high with 13 points and a career-high six assists.

Northwestern was led by 23 points from leading scorer Grace Sullivan.

After a steal and a score by VanSlooten Michigan State jumped out to an early 16-9 lead. The run rose to 7-0 to make it an 18-9 game. Behind eight points from VanSlooten and six from Blair, MSU led after the first period 23-14.

In the second quarter after an old-fashioned 3-point play by Dykstra, MSU had its first double-digit lead 28-18. MSU used an 8-0 run to take a 34-18 lead before an Amparo Lopez jumper got the Wildcats on the board. Michigan State continued its domination out-scoring Northwestern 12-2 in the final 3:18. At the half, the Spartans led 55-28.

The third quarter was a tighter affair, but the Spartans were able to maintain a nearly 30-point lead for most of the quarter. Blair led the way with seven points, while freshman guard Amy Terrian scored six. MSU only out-scored NU 23-22 in the period.

Seven different players scored in the final 10 minutes led by six from Brown. Kimball hit her second 3-pointer with 1:22 left to highlight her Senior Day performance. It also gave MSU its biggest lead of the game, 36 points. In the final minutes of the game, the MSU seniors were able to fulfill the tradition of kissing the Spartan head before exiting the game.

The Spartans now hit the road for the regular-season road finale at No. 23 Minnesota on Sunday, Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on FS1.

Michigan State Women's Basketball Post-Game Notes

• No. 18/16 Michigan State honored its six seniors in a post-game celebration: guard Jalyn Brown, forward Marah Dykstra, guard Emma Shumate, forward Grace VanSlooten, guard Abbey Kimball, and guard Theryn Hallock.

• Of the six Spartan seniors, five were in action Wednesday to combine for 63 of MSU's 104 points, as VanSlooten led the way with a team-high 22 points, followed by 15 points by Brown, 14 from Dykstra and six each from Shumate and Kimball . . . Hallock has been out with an injury.

• Wednesday was the first game against a non-ranked opponent in the last three games, after playing No. 7/7 Michigan last time out on Feb. 15 and No. 2/2 UCLA on Feb. 11 . . . it was also only MSU's second game out of the six played in February that wasn't against a ranked foe, joining unranked Penn State on Feb. 7, while playing No. 22/19 Maryland on Feb. 4 and No. 9/9 Michigan on Feb. 1.

• MSU topped the 100-point mark in a Big Ten game since March 1, 2018 in a 111-109 4OT marathon loss to Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis . . . the Spartans' last regular-season B1G game in topping the century mark was March 27, 2016 with a 107-105 3OT win over No. 5 Ohio State at home in the Breslin Center . . . MSU's last regulation B1G game in the 100s was Feb. 21, 2016 with a 114-106 win over Minnesota, also on the Spartans' home court.

• Overall, Wednesday marked MSU's fifth time topping the 100-point plateau and the Spartans are now 5-0 this season when hitting the century mark.

• Michigan State also improved to 9-1 when scoring 90 or more points this season.

• The Spartan defense held Northwestern to just 68 points, marking the 17th time this season in holding the opposition under 70, improving to 17-0.

• It was MSU's first 30-point quarter in the last 16 games, since Dec. 21 vs. Indiana State . . . overall, it was the fifth game this season with at least one 30-point quarter, along with the ninth total quarter with 30+ points.

• The Spartans only had five turnovers on the night, their fewest in a Big Ten game this season, bettering the previous low of six vs. Illinois (1/4/26) . . . it was also the third-fewest miscues of the season, behind three in the season-opener vs. Mercyhurst (11/4/25) and four vs. Western Michigan (11/16/25) . . . overall, it was the Spartans' sixth game with single-digit turnovers this season.

• Michigan State netted 13 3-pointers Wednesday, the Spartans' most in a Big Ten game this season . . . it was MSU's eighth game with double-digit 3-pointers, but first in the last 10 game . . . it was just the second B1G game with double-digit triples, joining the 10 from the game at Oregon (1/11/26).

• The Spartans' 13 treys tied their second-most 3-pointers on the season for the fourth time this season, behind the season-high 15 triples vs. Indiana State (12/21/25), while matching 13 vs. Mercyhurst in the season-opener (11/4/25), vs. Eastern Illinois (11/20/25) and vs. Temple (11/28/25), with only the Temple game being the only one of the aforementioned contests played away from home, playing Temple in the Bah Mar Hoops tourney in the Bahamas.

• MSU made 50 percent of its shots from behind the arc (13-of-26), the highest 3-point percentage in a Big Ten game and only the third time making 50 percent or better, behind the season-high 66.7 percent (6-of-9) vs. Clemson (11/30/25) in the Bahamas and 62.5 percent (5-of-8) vs. Ole Miss (12/22/25) at the Cherokee Invitational in Cherokee, N.C.

• Michigan State's 52.7 percent field goal shooting (39-of-74) tied its top field goal shooting mark in a Big Ten game, matching the 52.7 percent (29-of-55) from the game at Indiana (1/1/26) . . . it was also the seventh time shooting 50.0 percent or better from the field in a B1G contest, as part of the 14th total time this season.

• MSU beat Northwestern for the fifth-straight meeting and the Spartans now lead the all-time series, 49-29 . . . it was also the Green & White's third-straight win over NU on the Spartans' home court and MSU now has a 29-9 advantage in games played in East Lansing.

• Michigan State started with a new starting five for the first time in the last 13 games, after having the same starting line-up in the previous 12-straight games . . . the Spartans' starting quintet of freshman guard Sara Sambolić, sophomore forward Ines Sotelo, senior forward Grace VanSlooten, forward Jalyn Brown and guard Kennedy Blair . . . that was MSU's sixth different starting line-up of the season.

• Senior forward Grace VanSlooten and redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair both started for the 27th game in a row, and are now the only two Spartans to start all 27 contests . . . junior guard Rashunda Jones had started the previous 26 games before Wednesday, as she did not play in against Northwestern due to an injury sustained in the second half of last Sunday's game at Michigan.

• Sotelo made her 17th start . . . Brown started for the 14th time . . . Sambolić made her first start in a Big Ten game and only the second start this season, also being on the court for the opening tip-off on Dec. 21, 2025 vs. Indiana State at the Cherokee Invitational at Cherokee, N.C.

• Five Spartans netted double-figure points, led by senior forward Grace VanSlooten's team-best 22 points, followed by 17 points from redshirt-junior guard Kennedy Blair, 15 points by senior forward Jalyn Brown, 14 points from senior forward Marah Dykstra and 13 points from freshman guard Sara Sambolić.

• Of the five in double-figures two of them tied or set new season-high scoring marks, as VanSlooten tied her season-best of 22 points, matching her outing vs. Nebraska (1/15/26), while Dykstra tallied a new season-high, topping her previous top mark on the season of 11 points vs. Temple (11/28/25).

• VanSlooten now has netted double-figures in 13 of the last 14 games and 24 times out of the 27 games this season . . . she has netted 10+ points in 53 of 58 total games as a Spartan and in 108 out of 121 total games in her collegiate career, with 55 double-figure scoring outings during her two seasons at Oregon.

• VanSlooten snared seven rebounds, as she has eight games with five or more boards out of the last nine games . . . the senior forward has corralled five or more boards a total of 19 games out of the 27 contests this season, including doing so in 11 of the last 14 games and 12 of the 16 contests.

• VanSlooten also swiped two steals Wednesday night . . . VanSlooten has at least one steal in each of the 27 games this season, the only Spartan with a steal in every game played this season.

• Redshirt-junior guard Kennedy Blair logged her second-straight double-double and third in the last six games with 17 points and 10 assists Wednesday night, after a palindromic 21 points and 12 rebounds last time out vs. Michigan (2/15/26) . . . it was Blair's seventh double-double of the season and her career, including her second with points and assists, joining 14 points and a career-high 12 assists vs. Mercyhurst in the season-opener (11/4/25).

• The seven career double-doubles ties Blair for No. 27 on MSU's Career Double-Doubles list, matching Kristin Haynie and Sheronda Mayo-Powell.

• Blair's 17 points was her eighth-consecutive game in double-figures, now with double-digits in 14 of the last 15 games, 18 of 20, with a total of 21 total games with 10+ points this season out of the 27 games played this season . . . Blair has also registered double-figures in 25 games in her career.

• With Blair's 10 assists, she now has 147 helpers on the season, cracking into MSU's Top 10 single-season assists list, moving up to No. 9, passing Nia Clouden with 145 helpers in 2021-22 and former teammate DeeDee Hagemann with 146 in 2022-23 . . . Blair needs just one more assist to tie for the No. 8 spot, matching Deb Traxinger with 148 assists in 1979-80.

• Blair now has 169 assists for her career, still over 100 away from cracking into MSU's Career Top 20 Assists List, as Carlotta Taylor (1986-90) holds the No. 20 mark with 283 helpers.

• However, Blair's career assists average of 3.6 apg (169 assists in 47 career games), ranks No. 13 on MSU's Career Assists Per Game List, sandwiched in between a pair of Spartan greats in passing Shay Colley (2017-20) with 3.5 apg and just behind Tori Jankoska (2013-17) with 3.7 apg.

• Blair also swiped five steals, tying her season-high for the third time this season, last doing so with five vs. Purdue (1/29/26) . . . she also logged her fourth game in a row with multiple steals, as part of her 12th contest this season with three or more steals.

• Senior guard Jalyn Brown registered 15 points to tally double-figures for the second game in a row as part of the seventh time out of the last nine games . . . it was Brown's 15th game in double-figures this season.

• Brown netted two 3-pointers for the second game in a row as part of the sixth game this season with multiple triples.

• Senior forward Marah Dykstra netted a season-high 14 points off the bench, helping MSU to a 32-11 bench points advantage.

• Dykstra's 14 points was her second double-figure outing this season, topping her previous season-best of 11 points vs. Temple (11/28/25).

• Dykstra netted a season-high tying three 3-pointers, matching her three treys from the aforementioned game vs. Temple, for her third game with multiple triples, adding two treys vs. Eastern Michigan (11/9/25).

• Freshman guard Sara Sambolić tallied 13 points for her most in a B1G game and second-most of the season, as well as just the second time in double-figures, joining her season-high 14 points vs. Indiana State (12/21/25).

• Sambolić netted two 3-pointers Wednesday night, after entering the game with just three made treys all season, making one 3-pointer in a game on three separate previous occasions.

• Sambolić dished out a season-high six assists, her first multiple assist outing of the season, after one assist in three previous times.

• Shumate has now drained at least one triple in 23 of the 27 games this season, getting back in the make column after not making a trey at Michigan, to continue to not go 0-for- from behind the arc in back-to-back games.

• With the three 3-pointers, Shumate now has 56 triples on the season as part of 61 total field goals . . . Shumate's 56 3-pointers this season continues her top single-single mark of her career, topping the 44 treys last season . . . Shumate now has 100 3-pointers during her two-year Spartan career and 140 total 3-pointers in her collegiate career after 40 during her two seasons at Ohio State.

• Shumate's 100 career 3-pointers as a Spartan is just one trey shy of cracking MSU's Career 3-Pointers List, as Jamie Wesley holds the No. 20 spot with 101 3-pointers from 1994-98.

• For her MSU career, Shumate is now 100-of-242, good for 41.3 percent, which currently is No. 1 on the Spartans' Career 3-Point List, topping Lindsay Bowen (2002-06) at 40.1 percent (294-of-734).

• Shumate's 56 3-pointers is just 13 shy of cracking the Top 10 of MSU's single-season 3-pointers list, as Matilda Ekh currently has the No. 9 and 10 spots with 69 3-pointers in both the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.

• The Spartan sharp-shooter Shumate's current 3-point percentage of 42.4 percent (56-of-132) 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).

• Freshman guard Amy Terrian netted a pair of 3-pointers Wednesday night for her third multi-triple outing in the last four games after her three triples at Penn State (2/7/26) and two treys last time out at Michigan . . . Terrian posted her sixth game this season with two or more 3-pointers.