No. 5 MSU to Face No. 4 Oklahoma Sunday in Second Round of the NCAA Tournament

Sunday, March 22

Norman, Okla.

8 PM ET

Michigan State University

(4) Oklahoma

No. 5 MSU to Face No. 4 Oklahoma Sunday in Second Round of the NCAA Tournament

3/21/2026 5:04:00 PM | Women's Basketball

MSU Notes Oklahoma Notes Watch Live Second Round Transcript

The Spartans are looking for their first Sweet Sixteen appearance since 2010.

NORMAN, Okla. - No. 5-seed Michigan State women's basketball will take on No. 4-seed and host Oklahoma in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament on Sunday, March 22. Tipoff time is set for 8 p.m. ET. Sam Gore and Tamika Catchings will be on the call for ESPN.

• MSU is looking to advance to its fourth Sweet Sixteen and first since 2009. Michigan State improved to 5-4 as the No. 5 seed overall in the NCAA Tournament. The Spartans are now 21-20 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, winning two of their last three tourney games.

• The Spartans improved to 23-8 overall with a 65-62 win over No. 12-seed Colorado State on March 20.

• No. 4-seed Oklahoma advanced to the Round of 32 with a dominating 89-59 win over No. 13-seed Idaho on March 20. The Sooners improved to 25-7 overall this season.

• Michigan State was led by a double-double from senior forward Grace VanSlooten, who scored 18 points to go along with 10 rebounds. According to ESPN Stats, VanSlooten became just the seventh Division I player this century to record a double-double in their first three NCAA Tournament games.

SPARTANS IN THE BIG DANCE
Michigan State was the No. 5 seed for the fifth time in the NCAA Tournament, and the first since 2014 in Chapel Hill, as well as in 2013, 2010 and 2007. The Spartans have won their first-round game as the No. 5 seed all five times now, but the 2026 edition of the No. 5 seeded Spartans will be looking to make program history as a No. 5 seed by advancing past the second round for the first time, as MSU lost in the second round in each of four previous times.

MSU won in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight season and the 15th time all-time NCAA Tournament first round win. The Spartans earned a first-round bye in the 1991 NCAA Tournament. Michigan State is making its 21st all-time appearance in the "Big Dance," and Friday was the 15th time that MSU won at least one game in the NCAA Tournament.

The Spartans are looking for their fourth trip to the Sweet 16 (2005, 2006, 2010).

SCOUTING THE SOONERS
The Sooners defeated Idaho in the first round with a dominating 89-59 win. Raegan Beers and Sahara Williams both had double-doubles in the win. This serves as the Sooners 27th appearance, most recently reaching the Sweet Sixteen last season. Oklahoma entered the 2026 NCAA Tournament with their fifth consecutive top-five seeding, peaking at the No. 3-seed during the 2024-25 season.

Oklahoma is led by star freshman Aaliyah Chavez, a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year and ESPN's Freshman of the Year. Chavez was named number two in the top ten freshmen impact ranking by ESPN just two days prior to the NCAA tournament announcement. The freshman has scored 586 points in her opening season, averaging an astounding 18.3 points, 3.8 rebounds. Beers is right behind her with 15.8 ppg. The Sooners have had the same starting lineup for all 32 games.

Head coach Jennie Baranczyk goes into her fifth season as the Sooner's head coach, bringing Oklahoma to five consecutive NCAA Tournaments and two conference championships under her tenure. In just her 13th year of coaching, Baranczyk holds a 126-41 record during her time at Oklahoma.

FAMILIAR FACES
Grace VanSlooten and Raegan Beers are very familiar with each other. The two met when VanSlooten was at Oregon and Beers was at Oregon State. Both were together with Team USA last summer in Chile where OU head coach Jennie Baranczyk was one of the coaches.

SPARTANS VERSUS SOONERS
The Spartans and Sooners are split evenly, both standing at 1-1 since the two's first meeting during the 2005-06 season. The two teams have not met since the 2007-08 season, where Oklahoma traveled to East Lansing and defeated the Spartans in a 66-55 victory.

Prior, MSU ventured to Norman, Oklahoma and overtook OU in a 80-60 triumph.

If the two teams are to meet, it will be their first meeting in 17 years.

SOONERS VS. THE FIELD OF 68
Oklahoma has faced 12 of the 68 teams in the NCAA Tournament. Notably, the Sooners took seven-seed NC State to overtime during the SEC/ACC Challenge, clinching a 103-98 win. In addition, Oklahoma defeated No. 1-seed South Carolina in a 94-82 overtime victory.

MSU AND OU COMMON OPPONENTS
MSU and OU both faced off against Ole Miss during the 2025-26 seasons. The Green & White defeated Ole Miss in the finals of the Cherokee Invitational 66-49, whereas Oklahoma fell to Ole Miss 74-69.

DID YOU KNOW?
In the first round against Colorado State, Michigan State was led by a double-double from senior forward Grace VanSlooten, who scored 18 points to go along with 10 rebounds. According to ESPN Stats, VanSlooten became just the seventh Division I player this century to record a double-double in their first three NCAA Tournament games.

COLLECTING WINS
The Spartans have reached the 22-win mark all three seasons of the Robyn Fralick era. MSU improved to 23-8 record after a 65-62 win over Colorado State in the first round. The last time Michigan State earned 23 wins or more was the 2015-16 season when the Spartans went 25-9.

BY THE NUMBERS vs. COLORADO STATE | NCAA FIRST ROUND
Junior guard Jalyn Brown scored 13 points for her 18th double-figure scoring outing of the season, including in each of the last two games, in five of the last six contests and nine of the last 11.
Friday was only the second-ever meeting between Michigan State and Colorado State, with both meetings played on neutral courts. The Spartans are now 2-0 vs. the Rams, winning the only other meeting, facing off on Dec. 20, 2011 in the Caribbean Classic in Cancun, Mexico, with the Spartans winning that contest, 72-45.

BLAIR RE-WRITING THE RECORD BOOKS
Redshirt-sophomore Kennedy Blair dished out two assists against Colorado State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, moving her single-season total to 164, holding at No. 6 on MSU's single-season assists list, but closing in on No. 5 spot held by Taryn McCutcheon with 169 helpers in 2016-17.

However, Blair's career assists average of 3.68 apg (184 assists in 50 career games), holds at 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.

FIRST TIMERS CLUB
Several Spartans are making their NCAA Tournament debuts, including junior guard Rashunda Jones, who came to MSU from Purdue. Senior guard Jalyn Brown will make her first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Louisville reached the Elite Eight her freshman season, but she did not play. Newcomers Amy and Anna Terrian and Sara Sambolić will also look to make their postseason debuts. Kennedy Blair played limited minutes in the Spartans' two NCAA Tournament games last season.

FRALICK TO JOIN TEAM USA STAFF
Michigan State women's basketball coach Robyn Fralick has been named an assistant coach for the women's U18 National Team.

She will be joined by Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey and California head coach Charmin Smith. They will be leading the FIBA U18 AmeriCup team this summer. Ivey will be the U18 head coach. Fralick will help lead the USA at the 2026 FIBA U18 Women's AmeriCup, set for June 8-14. The United State will look to capture their 12th-straight gold medal and 13th overall since the tournament's inception in 1988.

THREE SPARTANS EARN POSTSEASON HONORS
Senior forward Grace VanSlooten and redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair were named second-team All-Big Ten selections by both the coaches and the media. Junior guard Rashunda Jones was named to the All-Defensive team by the media.

VanSlooten, a native of Toledo, Ohio, captured her second-straight All-Big Ten honor when she was named to the second team. She is now a four-time all-conference honoree, as she also garnered All-PAC 12 honorable mention honors as both a freshman and a sophomore while at Oregon.
Blair, a Dearborn, Michigan, native, earned the first All-B1G honor of her career with second-team accolades. She is currently second on the team in scoring, averaging 13.9 ppg. Blair joins VanSlooten as the only Spartan to start every game.

Jones, who hails from South Bend, Indiana, was named to the All-Defensive team in her first season at Michigan State after transferring from Purdue. Jones is currently fifth in the Big Ten in steals, averaging 2.14 spg. She is the first Spartan to earn a spot on the All-Defensive team since Aerial Powers during the 2014-15 season. At Purdue, she was voted onto the All-Freshman team during the 2023-24 season.

ROBYN'S NEST
The Breslin Center has become home right away for head coach Robyn Fralick. She boasts a 37-7 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 11-3 at the Breslin Center.

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 8-5 after a loss to No. 7 Michigan on Feb. 15. Against NU, MSU used the lineup of Blair, Brown, Van Slooten, Sotelo and Sambolić. The Spartans seventh starting lineup was unveiled against Minnesota on Feb. 22 with Sambolić, Brown, Alexander, VanSlooten and Blair. Against No. 13 Ohio State, Blair, Sambolić, Brown, Shumate and VanSlooten were the starters. VanSlooten and Blair the only Spartans to start all 31 games.

GRACE GOT GAME
The 10 rebounds by Grace VanSlooten against Colorado State marked the 20th time a Spartan has pulled down 10 or more rebounds, on MSU's NCAA Tournament single-game individual record list. Friday's 10 boards by VanSlooten marks the 11 time a Spartan has 10 rebounds in an NCAA Tournament game, and the first since she had 10 rebounds last year vs. NC State.

VanSlooten's 18 points was her sixth-straight game with 10+ points and her 20th double-figure scoring outing in the last 22 games, as part of her 28th double-figure scoring outing of the season out of 31 games. The Spartan senior forward has tallied double-digits in 57 games out of 62 total games during her two seasons at MSU. Overall, VanSlooten has netted 10+ points in 112 out of 125 total games in her collegiate career, with 57 double-figure scoring outings during her two seasons at Oregon.

The 10 rebounds by VanSlooten was her sixth double-figure rebounding outing, posting a double-double in all six occasions, in addition to her 13th game as a Spartan with 10+ rebounds.

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.

HAVE TO PLAY THE BEST TO BE THE BEST
Overall, the match-up with No. 13/13 Ohio State was the Spartans' 10th ranked battle of the season. Michigan State is now 4-6 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, a home win over No. 24/RV Nebraska, 73-71 (1/15/26) and Sunday's win over No. 23/23 Minnesota (2/22/26). MSU has 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), an 86-63 home loss to No. 2/2 UCLA, and at loss at No. 7/7 Michigan (2/15/26). MSU had a win over No. 23/23 Minnesota (2/22/26) and a loss to No. 13/12 Ohio State (3/1/26.)

SPARTANS VS. THE NCAA
After 31 games, Michigan State stands eighth in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (1.40). The Spartans are 11th in the NCAA and fourth in the Big Ten in scoring offense (82.5 ppg). MSU is 10th in the country in field goal percentage, 47.8 percent and 14th in assists (17.9 apg). Redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair is 25th in the NCAA in assists per game (5.3 apg).

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 770-473. The Spartans are 17-2 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.
FUTURE IS BRIGHT
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.

NO NIGHTS OFF IN THE BIG TEN
The Big Ten continues to be one of the toughest conferences in the country with six teams in the top 15 in the rankings. In the AP poll, UCLA is No. 2, while Iowa is No. 7. Michigan, Ohio State and Maryland are No. 9 and No. 12 and No. 17, respectively. Minnesota is No. 18, while Michigan State stands No. 20. Oregon and Illinois are also receiving votes.

BIG TIME BIG TEN NUMBERS
The Spartans are fourth in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging 82.5 ppg and fifth in scoring margin (+16.9). Michigan State is also second in turnover margin (+7.14). The Spartans stand third in assists per game, averaging 18.2 apg and second in steals per game with 11.6 spg.

Individually, Kennedy Blair is third in the league in steals per game, averaging 2.26 spg, while Rashunda Jones is fifth, averaging 2.13 spg, while Blair is also fourth in assists with 5.29 apg. Grace VanSlooten is 12th in the league in field goal percentage (.501).

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). The Spartans reached 100 points in a 104-68 win over Northwestern on Feb. 18. It was Michigan State's fifth 100-point game, moving to 5-0.

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.