EAST LANSING – Newly ranked No. 12 Michigan State women’s basketball came up short against the No. 22 Maryland Terrapins, suffering a second straight home loss, 86-70. The Spartans were back at the Breslin Center, vying to get back in the win column after losing a close one against then-ranked No. 9 Michigan.
MSU head coach Robyn Fralick was blunt in how she thought her team played.
“I thought for me personally, it was the most disappointing game of the season,” Fralick said. “I thought we were missing teamness, toughness, on both sides of the ball, and that was a disappointing effort.”
Here are three takeaways from the loss.
Turnover Troubles
The name of the game for the Green and White against the Terrapins was turning the ball over too much. After the final buzzer sounded, MSU ended its night with 20 turnovers, compared to Maryland’s 12.
As a team this season, the Spartans averaged 12.7 turnovers per game and have forced just over 21 from their opponents. It was a different story against a Terrapin team that has made their competition average just under 20 turnovers per game this season.
Fralick was surprised by her team’s performance in that aspect and was shocked by the lack of togetherness her players showed.
“It’s the most turnovers we’ve had,” Fralick said. “We were just out of sync… the thing is we haven’t done it all year, so I’m hoping it’s one of those games that, you can scratch your head and take some film and learn from it.”
Fralick saw her team not being on the same page, which she didn’t expect coming into this game.
“We do things together, and the lack of that tonight was the most disappointing part,” Fralick said.
Not on the same page
Nine players touched the court tonight for MSU, and none of those players finished their outings on the plus side of the plus/minus statistic. This stat reveals how much of a positive or negative impact a player has on a game. Nobody on Fralick’s squad at the end of the 40 minutes finished in the positive.
Senior forward Grace VanSlooten wasn’t surprised with how she and her teammates played, based on the low enthusiasm she saw.
“I think energy was just really low, and communication was low and obviously when those things aren’t doing well, you’re not going to play very well,” VanSlooten said.
The Green and White lost the rebounding battle again, against the Terrapins, and didn’t seem to be communicating on either side of the ball, like they have in previous games this year.
Fralick emphasized that to play basketball the right way, teammates must play together and be tough, and she didn’t see that from her team against Maryland.
“The game of basketball has to be played together, and there’s a toughness piece especially in this league (Big Ten), and we were missing all of that tonight,” Fralick said.
Time to regroup
Both Fralick and VanSlooten know that the bouncing back from a rough stretch isn’t going to be easy, but it’s needed if MSU wants to achieve the goals it has for the remainder of the season.
VanSlooten said she’s going to potentially organize a team meeting and relay a message to her teammates, explaining how they can move forward from this loss.
“Definitely watch film, and understand your mistakes, then learn from it, take accountability,” VanSlooten said. “You know, things happen and we can’t lose our momentum and lose our trust in each other.”
Fralick recognizes there are more games to be played for her team to recover, but it needs to happen quickly.
“Clearly we kind of laid an egg tonight, so we got to regroup and get ourselves playing better basketball quickly,” Fralick said.
With the conclusion of the Spartans’ tough two-game homestand, Fralick’s squad will look to bounce back on the road against the Penn State Nittany Lions. The game is scheduled for 1 p.m. and can be streamed on Big Ten Plus.
