EAST LANSING- No. 24 Michigan State advanced to 9-0 on the season on Sunday afternoon, marking the Spartans’ best start in program history, with an 89-61 win over DePaul.
The Spartans came out hot after a week-long break and returned to the Breslin with a dominant win over the Blue Demons.
Here are three takeaways from the Spartans’ record-setting performance:
The Spartans have depth down the bench
The contributions from MSU’s bench have played a significant role in its 9-0 season.
The Spartans put up 36 bench points against the Blue Demons with some adjustments in their starting lineup. Graduate guard Jaddan Simmons started over junior guard Theryn Hallock.
“We had a little time, so we came back from the California tournament and one thing our staff spends a lot of time on is film, lineups, plus minus, analytics, who’s best together,” MSU head coach Robyn Fralick said on the line-up decision. “I think with our team in particular, we’ve gotta pay close attention to who plays well together because we do play a good amount of players off the bench,” Fralick said.
Freshman center Inés Sotelo had a season-high of six rebounds, making her presence known in the paint. Junior guard Emma Shumate also had her own season-high of 12 points, draining four three-pointers and halting any potential comeback for the Blue Demons.
“With the way we play, if you do it right, you should wear the other team out,” Fralick said. “We’ve had a good bench, and so when you can count on your bench throughout the game, I think that makes a big difference.”
Rebounding: the key to success
Graduate guard Julia Ayrault put up a double-double, with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
“I’m most happy about the 12, because rebounding is important,” Fralick said. “She can play all over the court, she finds a way to score inside, outside, her defensive rebounding this year has been really good and we gotta continue that.”
The Spartans put up 47 rebounds against the Blue Demons, and their aggressive style of play is stressed by the fact that every possession matters.
“In the Big Ten size will still be something we’re gonna have to continue to figure out, the league is big, and that’s a piece, our ability to consistently rebound we’ve gotta figure out,” Fralick said. “We’re rebounding offensively much better this year, (compared to last) our defensive rebounding rate, but we’ve gotta get our guards more involved in that.
MSU will need to stay aggressive in the paint as they open Big Ten play next week against No. 17 Iowa.
The Spartans are finding their style
MSU seems to have elite team chemistry, but Fralick highlighted the importance of defining who they are as a team.
“You gotta be who you are, you gotta be really good at who you are, and I think, we talk with our team all the time about what’s Michigan State Women’s Basketball, who are we?” Fralick said. “Who are we when we are at our best, and we’ve gotta be who we are, and we’ve gotta be good at that.”
The Big Ten conference is stacked with talent this year, with nine Big Ten teams ranked in last week’s AP Top 25 poll, including No. 1 UCLA.
“The Big Ten interestingly too is so varied, there’s just so many different styles of play, and different kinds of matchups so, you gotta be really good at what you do,” Fralick said.
Confidence is key when competing in such a tough conference, and confidence comes with chemistry.
The Spartans are set to take on the Hawkeyes on Dec. 15 at the Breslin Center at noon. Tune into the live radio broadcast featuring Jacob Maurer and Kyle Keegan locally on 88.9 FM or impact89fm.org/listen-live/.
