EAST LANSING – Michigan State women’s basketball opens its 2025-26 regular season campaign at the Breslin Center against the Mercyhurst Lakers on Tuesday night. The Spartans look to carry the momentum they ended last season with when they secured their first NCAA tournament win since 2019.
This will be the first ever matchup between MSU and Mercyhurst. For the Lakers, they will have a brand-new head coach at the helm, with Erin Mills-Reid taking over the job this season.
Coming into this year, the Green and White are ranked No. 23 in the preseason national rankings. Head coach Robyn Fralick is proud of the recognition but is focused on the task this year’s squad has ahead of them.
“Being ranked nationally preseason, to me, is a testament to what we’ve done in the past, which is a good thing for our program, but we also know last year was last year,” Fralick said.
On the Michigan State side of the ball, senior forward Grace VanSlooten will play a big role in the game. Last year VanSlooten had consistent success throughout the season for the Spartans, leading to her being named to the All-Big Ten second team. Expectations for VanSlooten this year are high, as she was named to the Naismith Trophy Watch List, the Cheryl Miller Award Watch List, and the Preseason All-Big Ten team.
Senior guard Theryn Hallock will also be someone Mercyhurst has to look out for in this game. Hallock started in 28 out of the 32 games MSU played and made an appearance in every game last season. Hallock averaged 13.3 points per game and had the second most assists on the team
Looking at Mercyhurst, they struggled last season, ending it with a 9-18 record. The Lakers finished fifth place out of nine in the NEC conference with a 6-10 record against conference opponents.
Mercyhurst will need a huge performance from senior guard Jenna Van Schaik. Van Schaik rarely sat down last season as she averaged 34.3 minutes per game and averaged 13.6 points per game. She was also named to the Preseason All-NEC Team.
Michigan State has won 15-consecutive home openers and looks to continue that streak this season. After only getting two wins on the road last season, the Lakers plan to turn the tide and start their season with a huge upset.
Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4 in East Lansing. Brian Rivers and Josh Lee will be on the call, and the game can be listened to locally on 88.9 FM or at https://impact89fm.org/
