EAST LANSING- Michigan State women’s basketball comes into this season with high expectations for itself. The Spartans, led by third-year head coach Robyn Fralick, are ranked 23rd in the preseason poll and look to make noise this season.
The Spartans’ season begins unofficially with a home exhibition against Michigan Tech on October 22.
The Spartans secured a seven seed in the NCAA tournament last year before falling to NC State in the Second Round. Fralick’s team looks to build on the last two seasons and go even further.
The key returners for the Spartans are senior forward Grace VanSlooten and senior guard Theryn Hallock. VanSlooten led the team with 15.5 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per game, while Hallock averaged 13.3 ppg, 2.8 assists per game and 1.8 steals per game. VanSlooten was voted a team captain and gained valuable experience playing for Team USA this summer.
“It was really fun. I’m really grateful for the opportunity, It just gave me a big confidence boost coming into this season,” VanSlooten said. “ Being able to go out there and compete with really good players. Every time I play for team USA, I learn so much, I meet so many new people and I think that’s one of the best things is just playing with all different people.”
The Spartans suffered some losses, however, none bigger than the graduation of forward Julia Ayrault. Ayrault averaged 14.4 ppg, 7.3 rpg, and 1.5 blocks per game in her final season as a Spartan. Jaddan Simmons, who led the team in assists and steals per game, also graduated. The Spartans are also expected to be without sophomore center Ines Sotelo and sophomore forward Juliann Woodard to start the season.
Fralick has brought in lots of new talent, both through incoming freshmen and the transfer portal. The Spartans brought in junior guard Rashunda Jones, junior guard Sara Sambolic, senior guard Jayln Brown and senior forward Marah Dykstra.
“Experience, they’ve all played a ton of college basketball, high level college basketball, and so it was just a quick learning curve,” Fralick said. “We talk about different ways we guard or different actions, they played a lot. So, their ability to pick up on some of the new things we’re doing and translate it has been really good.”
The exhibition against Division II Michigan Tech is a full circle moment for some of the Spartans’ staff. Associate head coach Kim Cameron is the all-time wins leader for the Huskies while assistant coach Maria Kasza both played and coached in Houghton.
The Spartans’ first game against Michigan Tech is Wednesday at the Breslin Center. Tip-off is at 6:30 p.m. EST and the game will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.
