No. 12 Spartan Women Head to Penn State Saturday

Saturday, February 7

University Park, Pa.

1 PM

Michigan State University

Penn State

2/6/2026 1:02:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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MSU looks to snap a two-game losing streak.

EAST LANSING, Mich. - No. 12/13 Michigan State women's basketball looks to snap a two-game losing streak against Penn State on Saturday, Feb. 7. Tipoff time is set for 1 p.m. Michael Siroty and Julia Henry will be on the call for B1G+.

• Michigan State lost its second-straight game at the Breslin Center with an 86-70 loss to No. 22/19 Maryland on Feb. 4. With the loss the Spartans fell to 19-4 overall and 8-4 in Big Ten play.

• Penn State is 8-15 overall and 1-11 in Big Ten honors. The Lady Lions captured their first Big Ten win with an overtime victory against Purdue, 85-82, on the road.

• Wednesday was just the eighth time this season that the Spartans have been held under 80 points, including the fourth time at home, compared to scoring 80 or more points in 15 games, including seven times at home. MSU is now 5-3 when being held under 80 points.

• Against Maryland, Grace VanSlooten swatted a season-high and career-best tying four blocks. The four rejections topped her previous season-high of three blocks vs. Western Michigan (11/16/25), while tying her career high for the fourth time of her career, last doing so last season vs. Michigan (2/9/25).

SCOUTING PENN STATE
Penn State won its first Big Ten game of the season on the road with an overtime win over Purdue, 85-82, on Feb. 4. Overall, the Lady Lions hold an 8-15 record and are 1-11 in Big Ten action. At home, the Lady Lions hold a 4-7 record at home overall and are 0-6 in league contests at home.

Kiyomi McMiller is first on the team and fourth in the Big Ten in scoring, averaging 19.4 ppg. Gracie Merkle is second on the team and sixth in the league, scoring 19.3 ppg. Moriah Murray is the only other Lady Lion averaging in double figures with 10.0 ppg.

Penn State is averaging 75.5 points per game, while allowing 82.5 ppg. The Lady Lions are bringing down 37.3 rebounds per game, while allowing 35.5 rpg.

This season, Penn State has moved back to playing the bulk of its home games at Rec Hall. After playing in Rec Hall in the AIAW Tournament in 1976 and several games the next season, the Lady Lions made Rec Hall their permanent home for the 1979-80 season until midway through the 1995-96.

Carolyn Kieger is in her seventh season at the helm of the Lady Lions. She has a record of 81-120 during her PSU tenure. Overall, she holds a career record of 180-184 in 12 seasons.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE LADY LIONS
Penn State holds the overall series with Michigan State 31-26, but the series has tightened over the last few years. The Spartans have won the last four games and eight of the last nine. In University Park, the Lady Lions lead 17-9. In East Lansing, MSU has a slight advantage, 14-12. On neutral ground, the Spartans lead, 3-2.

Last season, MSU defeated Penn State in East Lansing, 82-61 on Jan. 22. The Spartans had four players in double figures led by 17 points from Theryn Hallock, who had the led the team in scoring for the second-straight game. The last time in University Park, MSU captured the victory, 98-87 in 2023.

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 36-6 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.

GRACE IS A MODEL OF CONSISTENCY
Senior forward Grace VanSlooten tallied 19 points and nine rebounds in Wednesday's loss to Maryland. VanSlooten now has 169 points and 82 rebounds in the last 10 contests, since being held to eight points and four rebounds vs. Rutgers (12/28/25). VanSlooten is averaging 16.9 points and 8.2 rebounds per game over the last 10 outings.

With VanSlooten's 19 points Wednesday, the senior forward has posted double figures in the scoring column 21 times out of the 23 games this season. She has netted double-digit points in 40 of the last 43 games. In her time as a Spartan, VanSlooten now has posted 10+ points in 50 of 54 total games played for the Green & White, 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. MARYLAND
Senior forward Grace VanSlooten netted a team-high 19 points to lead MSU in scoring, marking the eighth time this season that she has led or shared the team lead in scoring, and MSU is now 6-2 when VanSlooten is top scorer.
Redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair also dished out a game-high seven assists, marking the second game out of the last three contests with seven helpers. Wednesday was Blair's 20th game with four of more assists this season. MSU is 17-3 when she distributes four or more assists. Now with 126 assists on the season, Blair is just 19 assists from reaching the Spartans' Top 10 single-season assists list, as Nia Clouden (2021-22) has the No. 10 spot with 145 helpers.

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 7-3 after losing to No. 22/19 Maryland on Feb. 4. Overall, MSU has had five different starting lineups. VanSlooten, Blair and Jones are the only three Spartans to start all 23 games.

LOOKING AT THE NET
In the current women's basketball NET ranking, the Spartans stand No. 10. They are fourth among Big Ten schools behind No. 2 UCLA, No. 6 Michigan and No. 9 Minnesota. UConn stands No. 1.

STUFFING THE STAT SHEET
Against Maryland on Feb. 4, redshirt-junior guard Kennedy Blair tallied 15 points, for her fourth-straight game in double-figures, after being held to a season-low tying four points at Iowa (1/18/26), which snapped her career-long streak of six-straight games with 10+ points. With the 15 points, Blair has registered 10+ points in 10 of the last 11 contests as part of 14 of the last 16 games. Overall, it was Blair's 17th game this season in double-figure scoring and the 21st of her career.

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 23 games, Michigan State stands 10th in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (1.46). The Spartans are eighth in the NCAA and third in the Big Ten in scoring offense (85.5ppg). MSU is sixth in the country in field goal percentage, 49.2 percent and 14th in 3-point shooting percentage (37.1 percent). Redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair is 24th in the NCAA in assists per game (5.4 apg). Emma Shumate is 13th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (44.6 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 629-411. The Spartans are 14-1 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.

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.

EMMA THE SHARP SHOOTER
Senior guard Emma Shumate's 50 3-pointers is just 19 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 44.6 percent (50-of-112) is currently No. 2 on MSU's single-season 3-pointers list, trailing Lindsay Bowen (2002-03) at 46.4 percent (77-of-166) and just ahead of 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).

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.

BIG TIME BIG TEN NUMBERS
The Spartans are third in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging 85.5 ppg and third in scoring margin (+22.5). Michigan State is also third in 3-point field goal field percentage (.371). The Spartans stand fourth in assists per game, averaging 18.5 apg and second in steals per game with 12.1 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 255-99 record in 11 seasons as a head coach. She has won 64 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