EAST LANSING- No. 20 Michigan State Women’s Basketball suffered a home loss to in-state rival Michigan, 71-61. The Spartans move to 8-4 in conference play and 18-5 on the season.
MSU came out hot with graduate guard Jaddan Simmons putting up seven points in the first quarter, giving the Spartans the lead heading into the second.
That confidence quickly wore off after a 9-0 Michigan run, where the Wolverines took advantage and never looked back.
“We had so much momentum in the first quarter, the second quarter I thought really hurt us,” head coach Robyn Fralick said.
The Spartans struggled to get their offense going through most of the game, shooting 31.8% from the field, and 35.7% from the arc.
“We took some bad shots, but we also just missed some layups,” Fralick said. “Very physical in the paint.”
The Spartans outscored Michigan in rebounding, finishing with 18 offensive rebounds, and 39 total.
Junior forward Grace VanSlooten was the weapon that kept the Spartans in it, ending with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
“She was relentless, she had 12 rebounds, nine offensive, she got us a lot of extra possessions,” Fralick said. “Tough inside, I thought she did a good job finishing through contact, I just thought her motor was really good.”
Despite the effort in the paint, MSU could not capitalize offensively, leading to multiple empty possessions and losing sight of a potential comeback.
The Spartans fought till the end to close the gap, but Michigan seemed to have the answers.
Syla Swords finished with 19 points and six assists, making three baskets from the arc for the Wolverines. VanSlooten fouled out in the fourth quarter, allowing Michigan to come away with it.
“I shared with the team it wasn’t one particular player I just thought as a group we didn’t play good enough basketball,” Fralick said. “The way we play, we’ve gotta play good group basketball, we’ve gotta be able to do it together, and unfortunately tonight we didn’t do that.”
The Spartans look to bounce back against the Wisconsin Badgers this Wednesday before heading to the West coast to face No. 1 UCLA and No. 7 USC.
No. 20 MSU will host Wisconsin at the Breslin Center this Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
