EAST LANSING – In the first regular– season game of the 2025-26 season, the No. 23 Michigan State women’s basketball team dominated the Mercyhurst Lakers. In an extremely one-sided affair, the Spartans took home their first win and set a new school record for points scored in a game with a whopping 125-39 scoreline.
In the exhibition game against Michigan Tech in October, MSU head coach Robyn Fralick felt like her squad played the score too much but liked how they played a complete game against Mercyhurst.
“I really challenged our group about the focus required over 40 minutes,” Fralick said. “The discipline, playing the game the right way. I thought we took some steps forward in that.”
Here are three takeaways from Michigan State’s record setting win over Mercyhurst.
Rebound and run
The Spartans were very aggressive on the glass tonight, and this led to lots of fast break opportunities that the Green and White were able to capitalize on. MSU ended up securing 39 rebounds throughout the game which was complemented by the 50 fast break points the team had in the game.
Coach Fralick spoke about the importance of rebounding and how it will be a big focus for her team.
“Rebounding is the number one thing,” Fralick said. “It’s literally the most important thing throughout the season. So, we’ve been harping on our group because we have to be a good rebounding team.”
Senior guard Jalyn Brown provided a big spark on the boards, tallying up eight total tonight, with six of those being on the offensive end, leading to easy second-chance point opportunities for the whole team.
The Lakers tried to stop Michigan State’s fast break offense with different trap schemes, but nothing seemed to work, and junior guard Rashunda Jones spoke on how her teammates and herself prepared to face Mercyhurst’s defense.
“If a trap is coming, I was always taught to attack the weakest defender,” Jones said. “I think that’s really what showed today and we really had so many assists off of that skip pass in the press.”
On the ball pressure
The Spartan defense caused chaos almost every time a Mercyhurst player touched the ball. Fralick’s squad ran a full-court press for the majority of the first half, and this led to 20 Mercyhurst turnovers in the first half alone, and at the end of the game they would total up to 36.
Fralick credited the aggressive nature she’s seen from her team in practice translated to the game against the Lakers.
“Practice has got to be contentious,” Fralick said. “It’s got to be hard. It’s been getting feisty and scrappy and the way we play is the way we practice.”
MSU certainly showed a feisty and scrappy nature against Mercyhurst, as they were able to retrieve 24 steals in the game, and this led to easy layups and points.
Jones also credited the work her teammates and she put into practice on the defensive side of the ball.
“We always challenge each other in practice,” Jones said. “We got four 10-second violations in the first quarter, so that just spoke volumes to how much we work in practice. I really think we harp so much on defense and that’s our identity.”
Building the chemistry and culture
There are lots of new faces on the Green and White this season, but the team seems to have a bond already that can help them in future games.
Coach Fralick was proud of how everyone supported each other and emphasized the importance of being there for one another, especially in basketball.
“This is what’s beautiful about the game of basketball, is you need people and you’ve got to help each other out,” Fralick said. “Tonight, we saw that and it’s fun when you get to celebrate with each other too.”
Jones also reflected on why she became a Spartan after transferring from Purdue and how much she loves playing here already, along with the great relationships she’s already begun to develop.
“I love Michigan State’s play style, which is a big reason why I chose to come here,” Jones said. “I love our team chemistry. I love our culture, our coaches, they’re all amazing.”
Next up for No. 23 MSU is Eastern Michigan next Sunday, Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. at the Breslin Center. Tune into the live broadcast featuring Josh Lee and Brian Rivers locally on 88.9 FM or at https://impact89fm.org/
