No. 12 MSU Hosts No. 22 Maryland for National Girls in Women in Sports Day

Wednesday, February 4

East Lansing, Mich.

6:30 PM

Michigan State University

No. 22/19 Maryland

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No. 12 MSU Hosts No. 22 Maryland for National Girls in Women in Sports Day

2/3/2026 4:42:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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The Spartans are looking for their second-straight win against the Terps in East Lansing.

EAST LANSING, Mich. - No. 12/13 Michigan State women's basketball celebrates National Girls and Women in Sports Day on Wednesday, Feb. 4 against No. 22/19 Maryland. Tipoff time is set for 6:30 p.m. Jack Steger and Joe Dez will be on the call for B1G+. For NGWSD, fellow Michigan State Athletics women's teams will be interacting with fans pre-game on the concourse.

• Michigan State dropped a heartbreaking 94-91 overtime game to No. 9 Michigan on Feb. 1 to fall to 18-3 overall and 8-3 in Big Ten play. MSU closes out the home swing against the Terps on Wednesday.

• Maryland comes to town with a 17-6 overall record and a 5-6 mark in Big Ten contests. The Terrapins have lost four-straight games with a gauntlet of a schedule. Last time out, Maryland lost to Oregon at home 68-61 after overtime losses to Iowa and Washington.

• Michigan State is looking for its second-straight win against the Terrapins at home. On Jan. 9, 2024, MSU defeated Maryland, 74-69 at the Breslin Center. The Terrapins lead the overall series 19-3.

• The 11,635 fans that packed into the Breslin Center against Michigan 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.

SCOUTING MARYLAND
The Terrapins tote an overall ledger of 17-6 and a 5-6 Big Ten record to East Lansing to tangle with the Spartans on Wednesday. Maryland has lost its last four games, most recently an 83-80 2OT thriller to Washington last Wednesday and a 68-61 battle with Oregon on Saturday.

In the loss to Oregon, junior guard Oluchi Okananwa netted a game-high 27 points, including 23 in the first half, en route to hear ninth 20+ point outing of the season. Freshman guard Addi Mack added 17 points for her 14th double-figure contest of the season. Senior guard Yarden Garzon netted one 3-pointer for her 64th triple of the season which leads the B1G, as well as topping the 1,500 career points plateau.

Okananwa leads a quintet of Terps in double-figures at 17.0 ppg, which ranks 10th in the B1G and 72nd in the NCAA. She also is seventh in the league in steals (2.0 spg). Senior guard Kaylene Smikle adds 13.1 ppg, but has been out with a knee injury since Dec. 7, while Garzon nets 12.9 ppg, Mack adds 11.3 ppg and senior guard Saylor Poffenbarger rounds out the five in double-figures at 10.3 ppg. Garzon's 64 3-pointers not only tops the B1G, but also ranks 18th in the NCAA. She is also tops in the league and 27th in the nation with 3.2 treys per game, as well as eighth in the conference and 50th in the country in 3-point percentage (.400). Redshirt-junior forward Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu tops the Terps, as well as ranking 12th in the B1G in rebounds per game (7.0).

Maryland head coach Brenda Frese is the dean of B1G women's basketball coaches, in her 24th year at Maryland, registering a 624-175 record. Overall, Frese is in her 27th season as a collegiate head coach, logging a 681-205 ledger.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE TERRAPINS
Maryland holds the overall series lead over Michigan State 19-3. The Spartans are 2-6 against the Terrapins at the Breslin Center. MSU is 1-8 against UMD in College Park. Michigan State is looking for its first win on neutral ground standing 0-5.

One of MSU's wins came the last time the teams met in East Lansing on Jan. 9, 2024. With the 74-69 win, MSU earned its first win over Maryland since 2019. Michigan State had four players in double figures led by Julia Ayrault, who earned her third double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Last season in College Park, No. 8 Maryland came out on top 72-66 on Jan. 1. MSU trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half.

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.

NEEDING EXTRA TIME
The overtime game against Michigan was the first for Michigan State since 2/12/23 against Penn State, when the Spartans won 81-75 East Lansing, Mich. Michigan State has lost five of their last six overtime games.

ROBYN'S NEST
The Breslin Center has become home right away for head coach Robyn Fralick. She boasts a 36-5 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 10-1 at the Breslin Center.

PACKING THE HOUSE
The 11,635 fans that packed into the Breslin Center 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.

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 12 points and six rebounds in Sunday's loss to Michigan. VanSlooten now has 150 points and 73 rebounds in the last nine contests, since being held to eight points and four rebounds vs. Rutgers (12/28/25). VanSlooten is averaging 16.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game over the last nine outings.

She has posted double-digit points for the 20th time out of the 22 games this season. She now has tallied 10+ points in 39 of the last 42 games. VanSlooten now has logged double-digits in 49 of 53 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. MICHIGAN
               Michigan State had five players in double figures against Michigan on Sunday. MSU suffered its first loss when five players reach double digits and now hold a 4-1 record when five reach double figures. Kennedy Blair and Jalyn Brown led the way with 21 points each. Inés Sotelo added 15 points, while Rashunda Jones scored 13 points. Grace VanSlooten added 12 points.
               The Spartans lost for the first time this season in the Breslin Center, having won their first 10. During the Robyn Fralick Era, Michigan State is now 36-5.

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 255-98 record in 11 seasons as a head coach. She has won 64 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. 8. They are third among Big Ten schools behind No. 2 UCLA and No. 6 Michigan. UConn stands No. 1.

STUFFING THE STAT SHEET
Redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair did a little bit of everything against Michigan on Feb. 1. She tied for the team lead in scoring with 21 points and lead the team with 10 rebounds. She also had four assists and three steals. She now leads the team with five double-doubles.

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 3-2 against ranked foes this season.

SPARTANS VS. THE NCAA
After 22 games, Michigan State stands seventh in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (1.51). The Spartans are eighth in the NCAA and second in the Big Ten in turnover margin (+9.14). MSU is sixth in the country in field goal percentage, 49.4 percent and 13th in 3-point shooting percentage (37.4 percent). Redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair is 24th in the NCAA in assists per game (5.4 apg). Emma Shumate is 11th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (44.8 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 615-379. 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.

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. 8. Ohio State and Iowa are No. 9. No. 10, respectively. Michigan State (No. 12), Maryland (No. 12) and Washington (No. 24) are also in the top 25. Nebraska, Minnesota, Illinois and USC are all receiving votes.

SHORTENING THE BENCH
Michigan State has been a team known for playing a lot of players and is 14th in the nation in bench scoring with 28.0 points per game. Against No. 9 Michigan, the Spartans played only eight players with six players logging in at least 30 minutes of action. Kennedy Blair played a career-high 41 minutes of action.

BIG TIME BIG TEN NUMBERS
The Spartans are third in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging 86.2 ppg and third in scoring margin (+24.3). Michigan State is also third in 3-point field goal field percentage (.374). The Spartans stand fourth in assists per game, averaging 18.7 apg and second in steals per game with 12.4 spg.

Individually, Rashunda Jones is tied for second in the league in steals per game, averaging 2.59 spg, while Kennedy Blair is fourth (2.23 spg). Kennedy Blair is also fourth in assists with 5.41 apg. Emma Shumate is fifth in the league in 3-point field goal percentage (.448).

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