No. 7-Seeded MSU Opens Big Ten Tournament Thursday

Thursday, March 5

Indianapolis, Ind.

6:30 PM

Michigan State University

Illinois/Wisconsin

3/4/2026 11:56:00 AM | Women's Basketball

MSU Notes Big Ten Tournament Central Watch Live Live Stats

The Spartans will face either Illinois or WIsconsin.

EAST LANSING, Mich. - No. 7-seed Michigan State women's basketball will take on either No. 10 Illinois or No. 15 Wisconsin in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday, March 5 in Indianapolis at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Tipoff time is set for 6:30 p.m. Sloane Martin and Christy Winters Scott will be on the call for BTN.

• The Spartans lost their regular season finale to Ohio State on March 1. Michigan State holds a 22-9 overall record and ended Big Ten action with an 11-7 record. The Spartans earned the No. 7 seed for the first time since the 1998-99 season.

• Michigan State holds a 1-3 record in the Big Ten Tournament against Illinois. Against Wisconsin, the Spartans are 2-1 against the Badgers in the Big Ten Tournament.

• The Spartans had three players earn postseason accolades. Senior Grace VanSlooten and redshirt-sophomore Kennedy Blair both captured second-team All-Big Ten honors by both the coaches and the media. Junior Rashunda Jones was named to the All-Defensive team by the media. She is the first Spartan named to the team since Aerial Powers in the 2014-15 campaign.

• MSU unveiled their eighth different starting lineup against Ohio State in Kennedy Blair, Sara Sambolić, Emma Shumate, Jalyn Brown and Grace VanSlooten.

MICHIGAN STATE POSSIBLE OPPONENTS

SCOUTING ILLINOIS
No. 10-seeded Illinois will take on No. 15 Wisconsin on Wednesday, March 4. The Illini are 19-10 overall and ended league play with a 9-9 record. Illinois have lost its last two games at Iowa and at home against Minnesota.

Berry Wallace earned first-team All-Big Ten honors. She leads the team in scoring averaging 18.8 ppg. Cearah Parchment earned a spot on the honorable mention team. Both Parchment and Destiny Jackson were named to the All-Freshman squad.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE ILLINI
Michigan State holds the series lead over Illinois, 49-30. MSU is 26-10 in East Lansing, while also being on top in the series in Champaign, 20-17. On neutral ground, the series is tied 3-3.

In their only meeting this season, the Spartans defeated the Illini in East Lansing 81-75 on Jan. 4. Michigan State had four players in double figures led by Kennedy Blair's 19 points. She also added nine rebounds and seven assists, going 11-for-12 from the charity stripe. Grace VanSlooten and junior guard Rashunda Jones both scored 15 points. Emma Shumate scored 11 points off the bench, tying her career high with three blocks.

AGAINST ILLINOIS IN THE TOURNAMENT
Michigan State is 1-3 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament against the Illini. MSU has losses in 1997 and 2000. The Spartans earned their first win against Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament in 2005, which was the same year they won the Big Ten Tournament. MSU also fell to Illinois in 2008.

SCOUTING WISCONSIN
No. 15 Wisconsin fell to No. 10 Illinois in its first meeting of the season in Champaign, 92-60. The Badgers are 13-16 overall and ended league play with a 5-13 record. Wisconsin has lost nine-straight games heading in to the Big Ten Tournament.

Destiny Howell leads the team in scoring averaging 14.1 ppg. Kyrah Daniels is second on the team in scoring with 12.4 ppg.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE BADGERS
Michigan State leads the overall series with Wisconsin, 51-28. In East Lansing, the Spartans are on top 28-7. In Madison, the series is even 20-20. On neutral territory, Michigan State leads 3-1.

When Michigan State fell to Wisconsin in Madison on Dec. 7, it was the Spartans first loss of the season. For the first time this season, Michigan State had only two players reach double figures led by Kennedy Blair, who scored 16 points to go along with seven assists and seven rebounds. Isaline Alexander scored 12 points with seven rebounds.

AGAINST WISCONSIN IN THE TOURNAMENT
Michigan State is 2-1 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament against the Badgers. In the first Big Ten Tournament, MSU defeated Wisconsin, 87-79, in the quarterfinals. They fell to the Badgers in 2009. In the last meeting in 2017, MSU beat UW, 70-63 in the second round.

COLLECTING WINS
The Spartans have reached the 22-win mark all three seasons of the Robyn Fralick era. This is the fastest season to hit 22 wins. MSU heads into the Big Ten Tournament with a 22-7 record. The last time Michigan State earned more than 22 wins was the 2015-16 season when the Spartans went 25-9.

TOURNEY NOTES
The Spartans earned the No. 7 seed for the first time since the 1998-99 season. Michigan State will play in the second round on Thursday, March 5 at 6:30 p.m. on BTN. MSU will play the winner of the game between No. 10-seeded Illinois and No. 15-seeded Wisconsin. The Illini and the Badgers will meet on Wednesday, March 4.

This is only the second time that the Spartans have been the No. 7 seed. In 1999, Michigan State went 1-1 as the No. 7 seed. In the first round, MSU defeated Indiana, 88-69. In the quarterfinals, the Spartans fell to Penn State, 79-74.

Head Coach Robyn Fralick is looking for her first Big Ten Tournament win. Last season, No. 6-seeded Spartans fell to No. 11 Iowa, 74-61 in the second round. In the 2023-24 season, No. 4 MSU fell to No. 5 Nebraska, 73-61.
BLAIR RE-WRITING THE RECORD BOOKS
Redshirt-sophomore Kennedy Blair dished out a four assists against No. 13 Ohio State on March 1, giving her 157 helpers for the season, vaulting up to No. 7 on MSU's single-season assists, passing former teammate DeeDee Hagemann with 156 assists in 2023-24 and just behind All-American Tori Jankoska with 160 in the 2016-17 season.

Blair now has 179 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 3.7 apg (179 assists in 49 career games), holds at No. 12 on MSU's career assists per game list, tied with Jankoska (2013-17).

SHE'S A SURVIVOR
Michigan State redshirt-junior forward Isaline Alexander returned to action for the first time in the 2026 portion of the season, as she had not played in the previous 14 games after being injured in MSU's game vs. Rutgers on Dec. 28, 2025.

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.

DID YOU KNOW?
When Michigan State junior guard Rashunda Jones was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive team by the media, she became the first Spartan to earn the honor since Aerial Powers during the 2014-15 season. Jones is now the ninth Spartan to earn a spot on the all-defensive team.

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. VanSlooten currently leads the Spartans in scoring, averaging 15.1 ppg.

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. Blair is also second in the Big Ten in steals (2.41 spg) and fourth in assists (5.41 apg).
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.

BY THE NUMBERS vs. OHIO STATE

Junior guard Rashunda Jones returned to form after missing the Northwestern game and playing only four minutes at Minnesota. Jones was second on the team in scoring with 16 points off the bench, including going 4-for-7 from beyond the arc. Jones has reached double figures in scoring for the 19th time this season.
Senior forward Grace VanSlooten led Michigan State in scoring with 17 points, seven rebounds and a team-leading five assists. VanSlooten has scored in double figures 27 times this season and 55 times since coming to Michigan State.

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 29 games.

EVERYONE IS NOTICING GRACE
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. She was also named to the Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Late-Season Women's College Player of the Team on Feb. 17. She joined seven other Big Ten players, including UCLA's Lauren Betts, USC's Jazzy Davidson, Iowa's Ava Heiden, Maryland's Oluchi Okanawa, Washington's Sayvia Sellers and Michigan's Olivia Olson and Syla Swords.

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.

CLOSING IN
During the 2024-25 season, Michigan State set the school record for steals with 389. This season, the Spartans already have 338 steals. They are just 52 away from breaking the record. MSU set the record for scoring averaging during the 2023-24 season with 82.8 ppg. MSU is already ahead of that average with 83.5 ppg. MSU is also closing in on the points record. During the Final Four season of 2004-05, the Spartans scored 2,628 points. In 29 games this season, MSU has scored 2422 points. It is now just 207 points away from breaking that record.

GRACE IS A MODEL OF CONSISTENCY
Senior forward Grace VanSlooten tied her season-best of 22 points against Northwestern, matching her outing vs. Nebraska (1/15/26). She also added a team-high 17 points in the loss to Ohio State on March 1. VanSlooten now has netted double-figures in 15 of the last 16 games and 26 times out of the 29 games this season. She has netted 10+ points in 55 of 60 total games as a Spartan and in 110 out of 123 total games in her collegiate career, with 57 double-figure scoring outings during her two seasons at Oregon.

LOOKING AT THE NET
In the current women's basketball NET ranking, the Spartans stand No. 15. They are sixth among Big Ten schools behind No. 2 UCLA, No. 6 Michigan, No. 9 Iowa, No. 14 Maryland and No. 17 Ohio State. UConn stands No. 1.

BLUE BLOODS
Michigan State is one of seven schools in the country to have both its women's and men's teams ranked in the Associated Press top 25. The Spartans join Michigan as the only two teams in the Big Ten. Vanderbilt, UConn, Duke, Louisville, North Carolina and Texas Tech are the other six schools with both teams ranked.

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 29 games, Michigan State stands ninth in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (1.42). The Spartans are 10th in the NCAA and third in the Big Ten in scoring offense (83.5 ppg). MSU is 11th in the country in field goal percentage, 48.2 percent and 10th in assists (18.4 apg). Redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair is 25th in the NCAA in assists per game (5.4 apg). Emma Shumate is 20th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (42.3 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 761-458. 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 Michigan is No. 8. Iowa, Ohio State and Maryland are No. 9 and No. 13 and No. 14, respectively. Michigan State stands No. 15 and Minnesota is ranked No. 22. USC, Washington and Illinois are also receiving votes.

BIG TIME BIG TEN NUMBERS
The Spartans are third in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging 83.5 ppg and fourth in scoring margin (+17.8). Michigan State is also second in turnover margin (+7.14). The Spartans stand third in assists per game, averaging 18.4 apg and second in steals per game with 11.7 spg.

Individually, Kennedy Blair is second in the league in steals per game, averaging 2.41 spg, while Rashunda Jones is fifth, averaging 2.14 spg, while Blair is also fourth in assists with 5.41 apg. Emma Shumate is sixth in the league in 3-point field goal percentage (.423).

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 258-101 record in 11 seasons as a head coach. She has won 66 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 7-1 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 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.

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.