Michigan State University
22-9,11-7Big Ten
(10) Harvard
24-5,11-3Ivy League
Behind Three in Double Figures, MSU Battles Past Harvard in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament
3/22/2025 9:43:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Michigan State earns its first NCAA Tournament win since 2019.
With the win, Michigan State will now take on No. 2-seeded and host NC State on Monday, March 24. Tipoff times will be announced at a later date. Saturday night was MSU's first NCAA Tournament win since defeating Central Michigan, 88-87, in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament in South Bend, Indiana.
The Spartans improve to 22-9, which matches last season's win total. This is the first time that MSU has had back-to-back 22-win seasons since the 2012-13 and 2013-14 campaigns. Harvard's season comes to an end with a 24-5 mark.
Michigan State was led in scoring by 17 points from junior forward Grace VanSlooten. She earned her sixth double-double of the season by adding 10 rebounds. Senior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate was excellent on both ends of the court, scoring 13 points and adding a team-high four steals. Junior guard Theryn Hallock added 10 points to go along with three assists.
With 11 steals on the night, Michigan State broke the school record for single-season steals with 384. The previous record was 375 set by the 2004-05 team.
Harvard was led by All-American Harmoni Turner, who led all scorers with 24 points.
The Spartans scored the first nine points of the game, leading to an early Harvard timeout. After MSU took an 11-0 lead, the Crimson got on the board with a pair of Turner free throws just over four minutes into action. The Spartans went over three minutes without a field goal, as Harvard trimmed the deficit to 13-9. The Crimson's 9-0 run was halted by a pair of free throws from graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault. Michigan State led at the end of the first period, 15-11. Tate led all scorers with eight points.
In the second quarter, both teams struggled to score. The Crimson started the game 0-for-13 from beyond the arc.
Leading 22-17, MSU went over three minutes without scoring, before a pair of VanSlooten free throws with under two minutes left in the half. Despite going the final 5:18 of the quarter without scoring, the Spartans led at the half, 24-19.
VanSlooten scored five-straight points for the Spartans to increase the lead to 31-25 with 6:15 left in the period. Michigan State continued its spurt and took its first double-digit lead of the second half, 37-25, as part of an 11-0 run topped off by treys from freshman center Inés Sotelo and Tate. VanSlooten was the real spark for MSU in the third quarter, scoring eight points, including going 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.
The Spartans dominated the fourth quarter, using a 7-0 run to take a 60-40 advantage with 4:23 left in the game. The Crimson weren't done fighting using a 7-0 run to trim the deficit. But the Spartans were able to take care of business at the free throw line down the stretch. MSU went 6-for-9 in the fourth period and 22-for-27 for the game to seal the victory. Seven different Spartans scored in the final 10 minutes to guide the Green and White to the second round.
Game time and television network for Monday's match-up between MSU and NC State will be announced at a later date and time by the NCAA.
Michigan State Women's Basketball Post-Game Notes: vs. Harvard in NCAA Tournament
• Seventh-seeded Michigan State beat 10th-seeded Harvard for MSU's first NCAA Tournament win since March 23, 2019 when the ninth-seeded Spartans posted an 88-87 win over eighth-seeded Central Michigan.
• Michigan State advances to play regional No. 2 seed and host, NC State, in the second round on Monday.
• MSU's No. 7 seed is the Spartans' highest since 2016 when they were a No. 4 seed, and it is the first time that the Spartans are a No. 7 seed . . . overall, MSU is making its 20th overall trip to the "Big Dance," having made it to the NCAA Tournament in 17 of the last 22 completed seasons . . . Michigan State improved to 20-19 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including 14-5 in the First Round.
• Saturday was the first-ever meeting on the hardwood between Michigan State and Harvard in women's basketball . . . while it was the first meeting between the Spartans and the Crimson, MSU is now 6-0 against teams from the Ivy League, including 2-0 this season, now 2-0 vs. Yale after playing earlier this season, along with 2-0 vs. Dartmouth, along with 1-0 vs. both Brown and Princeton.
• Michigan State swiped 11 steals Saturday, breaking the single-season record for steals, now with 384 steals in 31 games, passing the record of 375 steals set by the 2004-05 Spartan squad in 37 games.
• The 11 steals Saturday marked the Spartans' second game in a row with 11 swipes, after 11 steals vs. Iowa (3/6/25) in the B1G Tournament . . . overall, it was MSU's 23rd game this season with double-digit steals, including the sixth in the last eight games.
• Saturday's win moves MSU to 22-9 overall, matching last season's record.
• It is the first time with 20-win seasons in consecutive years since 2015-16 and 2016-17, with 25 and 21 wins, respectively . . . It is also the first time with at least 22 wins in back-to-back seasons since 2012-13 and 2013-14, winning 25 games in 2012-13 and 23 in 2013-14.
• MSU's defense held Harvard to just 50 points in Saturday's game, tying the Crimson's season-low from a 52-50 loss at Princeton on Jan. 11 . . . by holding Harvard to 50 points, the Spartans held the Crimson to 19.4 points below their season average of 69.4 ppg coming into Saturday's game.
• The Spartan defense held the opposition under 70 for the 19th time this season and MSU improved to 18-1.
• Michigan State's 64 points were its fewest points scored in a win this season, and only the eighth time this season that the Spartans were held under 70 in the 31 games this season and the first time held under 70 in back-to-back games in the 2025 portion of the schedule, last doing so on Dec. 29 that was the fourth in a row .. MSU is now 3-5 this season when scoring 60-69 points.
• MSU's 64 points on Saturday brings the Spartans' season average to 79.0 points per game, after dipping below 80 for the first time all season after last game's 61 points vs. Iowa . . . the Green & White entered Saturday's game ranked third in the B1G and 14th in the NCAA in scoring offense (79.5 ppg).
• The Spartans are now 9-7 away from home, including 5-5 in true road games and 4-2 on neutral courts.
• MSU is now 10-6 in games at night with Saturday's win . . . the Spartans are now 3-0 in games played on a Saturday . . . MSU is now 2-1 in March . . . Michigan State is now 2-0 in games televised on the ESPN Family of Networks, now 1-0 on ESPNNews and 1-0 on ESPN+.
