EAST LANSING— No. 12 Michigan State’s women’s basketball struggled Wednesday night, falling to No. 22 Maryland 86-70. The Spartans dug themselves into a hole they were unable to crawl out of and dropped their second straight game at home.
The game started off evenly, as both teams were trading buckets in the first quarter. The Spartans’ turnover struggles showed up early, something that would plague them throughout the night. Senior forward Grace VanSlooten went to work early, scoring six points in the opening quarter, opening what would be another stellar performance despite the loss.
VanSlooten also had three steals in the first quarter. Sophomore guard Kennedy Blair and senior forward Marah Dykstra also added five points each. For Maryland, senior guard Saylor Poffenbarger knocked down a pair of three pointers. Senior guard Yarden Garzon and junior guard Oluchi Okananwa also added five points each, and the game was tied up at 20 after ten minutes.
The second quarter is where the game started to slip away from the Spartans. Senior guard Jalyn Brown had multiple baskets and entered the half as MSU’s leading scorer with ten points. Late in the half, Maryland turned it up a notch, and the Spartans saw a 28-22 lead turn into a 43-33 halftime deficit.
Freshman guard Kyndal Walker and graduate senior guard Mir McLean made several big plays, forcing turnovers and adding scores. The duo combined for 16 points and two steals without missing a shot, each shooting 4/4 in the quarter. The Spartans had no answer for Maryland’s guards most of the night, and the final minutes of the first half were when the game got away from them. MSU had 11 turnovers in the first half and would go on to finish with 20.
“We turned it over a lot. We weren’t passing. They were packing it in, and we were not passing, so that was a little peculiar. It’s the most turnovers we’ve had. We just were out of sync on both sides, defensively, too. There were a lot of one-on-ones with no help,” MSU head coach Robyn Fralick said. “We haven’t done it all year, so I’m hoping it’s one of those games where you can scratch your head and take some film and learn from it. But we do things together, and the lack of that tonight was the most disappointing part.”
Maryland continued to pull away in the third quarter, continuing a difficult night for Michigan State. VanSlooten continued to excel despite the loss, adding six more points in the quarter. VanSlooten would finish as the Spartans’ leading scorer with 19 points.
She would also add nine rebounds, three assists, three steals, and four blocks. VanSlooten’s defense was excellent despite the overall inability to slow down the Terrapins.
VanSlooten said postgame, “I didn’t love my defense against Michigan, so I really focused on fixing that. And then, sometimes, it’s just your night, sometimes your timing’s well and things work out that way. I think I worked hard to get positioning.”
For Maryland, they continued to attack the Spartans and pull away. Okananwa added six more points and would finish as the game’s leading scorer with 23. Garzon also added seven points and would score 16 on the night. Senior guard Emma Shumate knocked down multiple three-pointers to keep the Spartans in range.
A buzzer-beating layup by sophomore center Ines Sotelo cut the Maryland lead to 14 entering the final ten minutes, and it was clear the Spartans were going to need everything to go right to come back and win.
The Spartans were unable to overcome the deficit, and Maryland would win 86-70. Blair tried to get the Spartans back in the game with eight points in the quarter and three assists, but the struggles defensively continued, as Okananwa tallied nine points. Okananwa had back-to-back scores that put the lead at 17 and essentially served as the dagger. The Spartans’ struggles with turnovers continued, as Maryland’s defense continued to apply pressure. Maryland has excelled at forcing turnovers all year, and the Spartans were its next victim.
The Spartans have now dropped two straight at home, falling to 19-4 and 8-4 in conference play. Grace VanSlooten had a message to the team as a captain postgame.
“I would just say sometimes this happens, not to get too down about it, definitely watch the film and understand your mistakes and then learn from it, take accountability,” Vanslooten said. “But things happen, and we can’t lose our momentum and lose our trust in each other, so just got to keep going.”
Maryland needed this win badly, as it snapped a four-game losing streak. The Terrapins improved to 18-6 and 6-6 in the Big Ten.
MSU has a short turnaround as it travels to Happy Valley to take on a struggling Penn State team. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. ET Saturday.
