EAST LANSING, MI.— Another Top 15 matchup made its way to the Breslin Center, as No. 13 Michigan State faced off against No. 2 UCLA. The Bruins controlled all 40 minutes of play, defeating the Spartans 86-63.
MSU head coach Robyn Fralick didn’t like the slow start her team opened the game with and expressed how they can’t afford to do the same thing moving forward.
“We were late to the fight, and you can’t be late to the fight against a heavyweight,” Fralick said.
Against a team like UCLA, the Green and White’s first quarter needed to be one of their better starts to a game, but it ended up being the opposite. There wasn’t a good offensive flow from Fralick’s squad, as UCLA was controlling the glass.
The first period ended with the Bruins holding the Spartans to four made field goals, and just nine points. While UCLA notched 22 points, shooting 53% from the field, led by senior guard Gabriela Jaquez who got eight of her 13 points in that quarter alone.
The Bruins head coach Cori Close said that her squad defensively switched every ball screen, except for the senior center Lauren Betts and senior forward Grace VanSlooten matchup, because Close wanted to keep Betts guarding VanSlooten.
Switching on the ball screens and taking away MSU’s right hand drives to the basket were the two biggest points Close focused on, trying to make the Spartans uncomfortable, especially in the first half.
“So, because we took away those right-hand drives, we were able to stay home on the matchup with Lauren (Betts) versus Grace (VanSlooten) and that’s an advantage we have,” Close said.
Betts is one of the best players in the country, and as the reigning national defensive player of the year, standing at 6’7, she is a force to be reckoned with for anybody, and her performance against Sparty was no different.
The second quarter was when Betts took over. Betts finished the first half with 13 points, four rebounds and a block. The Green and White couldn’t seem to find a way around the Bruins height, which led to redshirt sophomore guard Kennedy Blair being MSU’s leading scorer at the half with just five points.
Fralick knew coming into this game that UCLA’s height would be a challenge, especially because they’re big at every position. This disadvantage led to the Spartans facing a 44-20 deficit heading into the second half.
Senior guard Emma Shumate said she liked her teammates’ and her defense in the first half, and they couldn’t afford the lackluster offensive outing against a team like the Bruins.
In the third quarter, MSU’s offense began finding open looks and capitalizing on them. Junior guard Rashunda Jones was the main contributor during this period, putting up eight of the 18 points the Green and white scored in this quarter.
However, UCLA senior guard Kiki Rice caught fire as well, putting up seven points in the third, contributing to her 18-point night.
Coach Fralick was proud of the response her team came into the second half with but wished they could’ve shown that same effort in the first 20 minutes.
“I was happy to see our second-half response, and we got to be able to build on that,” Fralick said.
The fourth quarter included more domination from the Bruins, as they continued to be all over the boards, finishing the game with 48 rebounds as a team compared to Fralick’s squad, which only got 28.
Coach Close said UCLA focused on forcing the Spartans to rotate more than they’d like on defense, which led to more advantages for the Bruins by beating MSU to a better box-out position.
“When you have someone like Lauren (Betts) who forces rotation on almost every catch… that’s what opened up some of our guard rebounding,” Close said.
Coach Fralick thought her team wasn’t physical enough when going for rebounds, and would tip the ball, instead of trying to grab it.
Shumate said if the Green and White play like they did during the last two quarters, they’ll be in good shape moving forward.
“The second half, I liked the way we played,” Shumate said. “I thought it was encouraging and I think that if we play like we did in the second half, we can stick with anyone.”
The Spartans schedule doesn’t get easier from here, as they’ll travel just 65 miles to Ann Arbor, to take on No. 7 Michigan on Sunday, Feb. 15 at 4 p.m. Josh Lee and Brian Rivers will be on the call from the Crisler Center and it can be listened to locally on 88.9 FM or streamed at https://impact89fm.org/.
