Thursday, January 15
East Lansing, Mich.
7 PM
Michigan State University
17-1,6-1Big Ten
73
vs
71
No. 24/RV Nebraska
14-4,3-4Big Ten
1
2
3
4
F
Nebraska
19
14
21
17
71
Michigan St.
24
12
19
18
73
No. 15 MSU Nips No. 24 Nebraska for Best Start in School History
1/15/2026 11:31:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Michigan State improves to 17-1 behind a season-high 22 points from Grace VanSlooten.
EAST LANSING, Mich. - No. 15 Michigan State women's basketball solidified its best start in school history with a gritty, 73-71 win over No. 24 Nebraska Thursday night at the Breslin Center.
The Spartans have now won nine-straight games to improve to 17-1 overall and 6-1 in Big Ten contests. The 6-1 league record ties the 1996-97 team for the best start. Nebraska falls to 14-4 overall and 3-4 in league action. MSU snapped a three-game losing streak to the Huskers.
The game was tight all night with 10 lead changes and was tied nine times.
The Spartans had three players in double figures led by a season-high 22 points from senior forward Grace VanSlooten. Junior guard Rashunda Jones reached double figures for the ninth-straight game, scoring 15 to go along with five assists and three steals. Redshirt-sophomore Kennedy Blair scored 14 points to go along with six rebounds and six assists.
Nebraska was led by 21 points off the bench from Amiah Hargrove.
An Inés Sotelo layup from Jones gave the Spartans the early 8-3 lead. Michigan State's defense was pesky early on forcing three turnovers in under three minutes. MSU's run jumped to 7-0 after a Jones free throw. Both teams got hot toward the end of the period trading baskets. After VanSlooten got into early foul trouble, Sotelo came on strong with seven points in the first quarter. Michigan State led 24-19 after the first 10 minutes. The Spartans forces seven turnovers in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Huskers scored the first six of the period to take 25-24 lead with under eight minutes left in the half. The turnover bug bit the Spartans with five in the second quarter as Nebraska jumped out to a 31-27 lead. Emma Shumate's trey at the 2:02 mark put MSU back on top 34-33. The Spartans ended the first half on a 7-0 run, keeping Nebraska off the scoreboard for the final 2:45.
Michigan State scored six of the first eight points of the third period to take a 42-35 lead. Nebraska used a 7-0 run to tie the score 47-47, before Blair put MSU back on top by two. The back and forth continued as VanSlooten put the Spartans back on top 55-54 with nine seconds left in the period. VanSlooten and Blair took over for MSU in the period scoring 12 of the Spartans' 19 points.
In the fourth quarter, the Huskers used a 7-0 run to take 67-64 lead with three minutes remaining. VanSlooten halted the run to cut the deficit to 67-66 with under two minutes remaining. After Nebraska pulled ahead by three once again, MSU continued to battle back to tie the score after Jalyn Browns trey with 1:22 left tied the score 69-69. The 3-pointer was just the third of the game for Michigan State. With the score tied at 71-71 and 39 seconds remaining, Juliann Woodard was fouled pulling down a huge offensive board. She drained both free throws and the Spartans were able to get a stop on the defensive end to seal the victory.
The 22 Husker turnovers were a season high, as the MSU defensive was tough all night.
The Spartans now hit the road for yet another ranked battle. Michigan State will travel to No. 11 Iowa on Sunday, Jan. 18 at 8 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
Michigan State Women's Basketball Post-Game Notes
• No. 15/14 Michigan State improved to 17-1 overall, for it's best record in program history through 18 games, bettering the previous best start since 2010-11 when going 16-1 before losing game 18.
• MSU's 6-1 B1G record is also its best league record through seven conference contests since 1996-97 when also going 6-1 on the way to opening 8-1 in league play.
• The Spartans have now won nine-straight games, their longest win streak since winning the first 10 contests last season, opening the 2024-25 season with 10-straight wins.
• Thursday's contest against No. 24/RV Nebraska was Michigan State's third match-up against a ranked opponent, beating No. 15/15 Ole Miss, 66-49 (12/22/25 in Cherokee, North Carolina) and at No. 23/23 Washington, 82-67 (1/8/26).
• The Spartans were held under 80 points for the first time in the 2026 portion of the schedule, in the last five games, scoring 80 or more points in the previous four games, last scoring in the 70s on Dec. 28 in a 70-64 Victory for MSU.
• Michigan State's starting five of junior guard Rashunda Jones, sophomore center Ines Sotelo, senior forward Grace VanSlooten, redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair and senior guard Jalyn Brown was the fourth game in a row with that starting quartet . . . it marks the Spartans' fifth different starting line-up of the season . . . MSU is now 5-0 with that starting five.
• Senior forward Grace VanSlooten, junior guard Rashunda Jones and redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair all started for the 18th-straight game this season, remaining the only three Spartans to start all 18 contests.
• Three Spartans scored in double-figures for the second time in the last three games, with senior forward Grace VanSlooten leading the way with a game-high 22 points, while junior guard Rashunda Jones tallied 15 points and redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair added 14 points . . . Thursday was the eighth game that MSU had three players net 10+ points, moving to 8-0 when three score in double-digits.
• Michigan State played at home for only the second time in the last five games in the 2026 portion of the schedule, with the Spartans' only other home game on Jan. 4 . . . MSU improved to 9-0 at home and are 4-0 in neutral games and 4-1 in road games.
• Michigan State also improved to 5-0 in January, winning their first five games of a month for the second time this season, also winning the first five in November on the way to an 8-0 mark in the month.
• Thursday's game was nationally televised on Big Ten Network, and MSU is now 3-1 in games played on BTN . . . Thursday was the first of four-straight games played on BTN, including Sunday's game at Iowa, next Thursday's home game vs. USC and the game at Purdue (1/29/26).
• The Spartans had a 36-33 lead at halftime, improving to 16-0 this season when leading at intermission.
• MSU had a 46-34 points in the paint advantage on Thursday and the Spartans have had the points in the paint advantage in all 18 games played this season, moving to 17-1 when doing so.
• The Spartan defense forced Nebraska into a season-high 22 turnovers, four more than the Huskers' previous high of 18 at No. 14/14 Iowa (1/1/26).
• MSU's 22 turnovers forced was right at the Spartans' season average of 22.06 turnovers forced per game coming into Thursday, ranking third in the Big Ten and 22nd in the NCAA . . . MSU forced the opponent into 20+ miscues for the 11th time this season.
• Michigan State had six blocks Thursday, led by sophomore forward Juliann Woodard's career-high tying two blocks . . . the six blocks was MSU's ninth game overall this season with five or more blocks, as well as just the second time in a Big Ten game, joining the season-high nine rejections in the game vs. Illinois (1/4/26).
• The Spartans were 16-of-20 at the free throw line for 80.0 percent, marking the third time this season in shooting 80.0 percent or better at the charity stripe and all three occasions have come in the last five games.
• MSU made a season-low tying three 3-pointers Thursday night, matching three triples vs. Rutgers (12/28/25) . . . the Spartans finished 3-of-17 behind the arc and Thursday's 17.6 percent was just the second time under 20.0 percent from distance, behind the 12.5 percent (3-of-24) from the Rutgers game, as part of only the fifth time being held under 30 percent from 3-point range.
• Senior forward Grace VanSlooten netted a season-high 22 points for her first 20-point outing of the season . . . she had nine points in the first half and 13 in the second half . . . it was her sixth 20-point outing as a Spartan, as part of the 13th game of her collegiate career with 20 points, doing so seven times during her two seasons at Oregon . . . MSU is now 5-1 when VanSlooten nets 20+ points, and her team is now 10-3 in her collegiate career when she scored 20-points after going 5-2 during her career at Oregon.
• With the 22 points and two rebounds Thursday, VanSlooten has tallied 88 points and 43 rebounds in the last five games, since being held to eight points and four rebounds vs. Rutgers (12/28/25) . . . VanSlooten is averaging 17.6 points and 8.6 rebounds per game over the last five outings.
• VanSlooten's 22 points was her 16th game this season with 10+ points out of the 18 games this season . . . the Spartan senior now has tallied double-figures in the points column in 35 of her last 38 games . . . overall, VanSlooten has registered 10+ points in 45 of her 49 total games as a Spartan, being held to single digits twice this season and twice last season, and also missing one game last season due to illness.
• Thursday was VanSlooten's 100th game of her collegiate career netting double-digits, and she's now posted double-figures in 100 out of the 112 career games, logging 10+ points in 55 games during her time at Oregon.
• Junior guard Rashunda Jones tallied 15 points Thursday and has posted double-figures in each of the nine games during the Spartans' nine-game win streak, last being held under 10 points with eight points in the loss at Wisconsin (12/7/25) . . . Jones posted double-figures alone in the second half with 10 points after intermission, and now has scored 10+ points in a game 14 times out of the 18 games played this season.
• Jones has snared five or more rebounds in each of the last three games after only having one outing of five or more rebounds before the 10-rebound outburst at Washington and now has four outings of five or more rebounds on the season, and all four have come in the last six games, as the only other 5+ rebounding outing came vs. Rutgers (12/28/25).
• Jones has 21 rebounds in the last three games, averaging 7.0 rebounds per game in those last three contests, after averaging 2.9 rpg entering the game at Washington.
• Jones also swiped three steals Thursday, for her third-straight game with three or more steals as part of the 10th total time this season.
• Jones also has 11 steals in the last three games, good for 3.7 steals per game over that span . . . she now has a team-leading 47 steals (2.6 spg) this season.
• Redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair tallied 14 points, nearly split with eight points in the first half and six points in the second half.
• Blair tallied 10+ points for the sixth game in a row, as part of 13 total times this season in the 18 games . . . she now has 16 double-figure scoring outings in her career.
• Blair pulled down a game-high six rebounds, including four in the first quarter . . . Blair has snared five or more rebounds in the last 11 games as part of in 15 of the 18 games this season.
• Additionally, Blair dished out a team-high six assists, logging the sixth-straight game with four or more helpers . . . Thursday's six assists marked Blair's 17th time out of the 18 games this season . . . MSU is 16-1 when she distributes four or more assists.
• Senior guard Emma Shumate netted one 3-pointer, as she has made at least one triple in each of the last six games and in 16 of the 18 games this season.
• Shumate has made 13 3-pointers in the last six games after being held without a 3-pointer vs. Ole Miss, averaging 2.2 triples per game over the last six contests . . . Shumate has 20 3-pointers in the last eight games, boosted by her career-best seven 3-pointers vs. Indiana State in the opening game of the Cherokee Invitational in Cherokee, North Carolina, and is averaging 2.5 treys per game over the last eight contests.
• On the season, Shumate now has a team-leading 40 3-pointers on the season out of 43 total field goals . . . Shumate is averaging 2.2 3-pointers per game for the season.
• Shumate also added a block on Thursday for her fifth-straight contest with at last one block as part of a total of seven blocks over the last five games with a career-high tying three rejections vs. Illinois (1/4/26) . . . she also has at least one block in nine games this season, with 11 overall blocks on the season.
• Shumate swiped a season and career-high tying three steals, posting her new high in a Big Ten game and matching her season-high of three for the second time this season, joining the game vs. Oakland (11/23/25) . . . Shumate matched her career-high for the third time of her career.
• Sophomore forward Juliann Woodard recorded four points, three rebounds and one assist, along with drawing two fouls, including two boards, two points, one assist and drawing both fouls in the fourth quarter in playing 5:33 of the stanza . . . Woodard got an offensive rebound and drew a foul with five seconds left, hitting 2-of-2 free throws for the game-winning points . . . she also drew a foul with 8:24 left in the quarter, added an assist on a bucket by Jones with 8:16 to go and got a defensive rebound with 7:23 to go, before subbing out with 4:49 left and subbed back into the game with 27 seconds left.
The Spartans have now won nine-straight games to improve to 17-1 overall and 6-1 in Big Ten contests. The 6-1 league record ties the 1996-97 team for the best start. Nebraska falls to 14-4 overall and 3-4 in league action. MSU snapped a three-game losing streak to the Huskers.
The game was tight all night with 10 lead changes and was tied nine times.
The Spartans had three players in double figures led by a season-high 22 points from senior forward Grace VanSlooten. Junior guard Rashunda Jones reached double figures for the ninth-straight game, scoring 15 to go along with five assists and three steals. Redshirt-sophomore Kennedy Blair scored 14 points to go along with six rebounds and six assists.
Nebraska was led by 21 points off the bench from Amiah Hargrove.
An Inés Sotelo layup from Jones gave the Spartans the early 8-3 lead. Michigan State's defense was pesky early on forcing three turnovers in under three minutes. MSU's run jumped to 7-0 after a Jones free throw. Both teams got hot toward the end of the period trading baskets. After VanSlooten got into early foul trouble, Sotelo came on strong with seven points in the first quarter. Michigan State led 24-19 after the first 10 minutes. The Spartans forces seven turnovers in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Huskers scored the first six of the period to take 25-24 lead with under eight minutes left in the half. The turnover bug bit the Spartans with five in the second quarter as Nebraska jumped out to a 31-27 lead. Emma Shumate's trey at the 2:02 mark put MSU back on top 34-33. The Spartans ended the first half on a 7-0 run, keeping Nebraska off the scoreboard for the final 2:45.
Michigan State scored six of the first eight points of the third period to take a 42-35 lead. Nebraska used a 7-0 run to tie the score 47-47, before Blair put MSU back on top by two. The back and forth continued as VanSlooten put the Spartans back on top 55-54 with nine seconds left in the period. VanSlooten and Blair took over for MSU in the period scoring 12 of the Spartans' 19 points.
In the fourth quarter, the Huskers used a 7-0 run to take 67-64 lead with three minutes remaining. VanSlooten halted the run to cut the deficit to 67-66 with under two minutes remaining. After Nebraska pulled ahead by three once again, MSU continued to battle back to tie the score after Jalyn Browns trey with 1:22 left tied the score 69-69. The 3-pointer was just the third of the game for Michigan State. With the score tied at 71-71 and 39 seconds remaining, Juliann Woodard was fouled pulling down a huge offensive board. She drained both free throws and the Spartans were able to get a stop on the defensive end to seal the victory.
The 22 Husker turnovers were a season high, as the MSU defensive was tough all night.
The Spartans now hit the road for yet another ranked battle. Michigan State will travel to No. 11 Iowa on Sunday, Jan. 18 at 8 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
Michigan State Women's Basketball Post-Game Notes
• No. 15/14 Michigan State improved to 17-1 overall, for it's best record in program history through 18 games, bettering the previous best start since 2010-11 when going 16-1 before losing game 18.
• MSU's 6-1 B1G record is also its best league record through seven conference contests since 1996-97 when also going 6-1 on the way to opening 8-1 in league play.
• The Spartans have now won nine-straight games, their longest win streak since winning the first 10 contests last season, opening the 2024-25 season with 10-straight wins.
• Thursday's contest against No. 24/RV Nebraska was Michigan State's third match-up against a ranked opponent, beating No. 15/15 Ole Miss, 66-49 (12/22/25 in Cherokee, North Carolina) and at No. 23/23 Washington, 82-67 (1/8/26).
• The Spartans were held under 80 points for the first time in the 2026 portion of the schedule, in the last five games, scoring 80 or more points in the previous four games, last scoring in the 70s on Dec. 28 in a 70-64 Victory for MSU.
• Michigan State's starting five of junior guard Rashunda Jones, sophomore center Ines Sotelo, senior forward Grace VanSlooten, redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair and senior guard Jalyn Brown was the fourth game in a row with that starting quartet . . . it marks the Spartans' fifth different starting line-up of the season . . . MSU is now 5-0 with that starting five.
• Senior forward Grace VanSlooten, junior guard Rashunda Jones and redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair all started for the 18th-straight game this season, remaining the only three Spartans to start all 18 contests.
• Three Spartans scored in double-figures for the second time in the last three games, with senior forward Grace VanSlooten leading the way with a game-high 22 points, while junior guard Rashunda Jones tallied 15 points and redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair added 14 points . . . Thursday was the eighth game that MSU had three players net 10+ points, moving to 8-0 when three score in double-digits.
• Michigan State played at home for only the second time in the last five games in the 2026 portion of the schedule, with the Spartans' only other home game on Jan. 4 . . . MSU improved to 9-0 at home and are 4-0 in neutral games and 4-1 in road games.
• Michigan State also improved to 5-0 in January, winning their first five games of a month for the second time this season, also winning the first five in November on the way to an 8-0 mark in the month.
• Thursday's game was nationally televised on Big Ten Network, and MSU is now 3-1 in games played on BTN . . . Thursday was the first of four-straight games played on BTN, including Sunday's game at Iowa, next Thursday's home game vs. USC and the game at Purdue (1/29/26).
• The Spartans had a 36-33 lead at halftime, improving to 16-0 this season when leading at intermission.
• MSU had a 46-34 points in the paint advantage on Thursday and the Spartans have had the points in the paint advantage in all 18 games played this season, moving to 17-1 when doing so.
• The Spartan defense forced Nebraska into a season-high 22 turnovers, four more than the Huskers' previous high of 18 at No. 14/14 Iowa (1/1/26).
• MSU's 22 turnovers forced was right at the Spartans' season average of 22.06 turnovers forced per game coming into Thursday, ranking third in the Big Ten and 22nd in the NCAA . . . MSU forced the opponent into 20+ miscues for the 11th time this season.
• Michigan State had six blocks Thursday, led by sophomore forward Juliann Woodard's career-high tying two blocks . . . the six blocks was MSU's ninth game overall this season with five or more blocks, as well as just the second time in a Big Ten game, joining the season-high nine rejections in the game vs. Illinois (1/4/26).
• The Spartans were 16-of-20 at the free throw line for 80.0 percent, marking the third time this season in shooting 80.0 percent or better at the charity stripe and all three occasions have come in the last five games.
• MSU made a season-low tying three 3-pointers Thursday night, matching three triples vs. Rutgers (12/28/25) . . . the Spartans finished 3-of-17 behind the arc and Thursday's 17.6 percent was just the second time under 20.0 percent from distance, behind the 12.5 percent (3-of-24) from the Rutgers game, as part of only the fifth time being held under 30 percent from 3-point range.
• Senior forward Grace VanSlooten netted a season-high 22 points for her first 20-point outing of the season . . . she had nine points in the first half and 13 in the second half . . . it was her sixth 20-point outing as a Spartan, as part of the 13th game of her collegiate career with 20 points, doing so seven times during her two seasons at Oregon . . . MSU is now 5-1 when VanSlooten nets 20+ points, and her team is now 10-3 in her collegiate career when she scored 20-points after going 5-2 during her career at Oregon.
• With the 22 points and two rebounds Thursday, VanSlooten has tallied 88 points and 43 rebounds in the last five games, since being held to eight points and four rebounds vs. Rutgers (12/28/25) . . . VanSlooten is averaging 17.6 points and 8.6 rebounds per game over the last five outings.
• VanSlooten's 22 points was her 16th game this season with 10+ points out of the 18 games this season . . . the Spartan senior now has tallied double-figures in the points column in 35 of her last 38 games . . . overall, VanSlooten has registered 10+ points in 45 of her 49 total games as a Spartan, being held to single digits twice this season and twice last season, and also missing one game last season due to illness.
• Thursday was VanSlooten's 100th game of her collegiate career netting double-digits, and she's now posted double-figures in 100 out of the 112 career games, logging 10+ points in 55 games during her time at Oregon.
• Junior guard Rashunda Jones tallied 15 points Thursday and has posted double-figures in each of the nine games during the Spartans' nine-game win streak, last being held under 10 points with eight points in the loss at Wisconsin (12/7/25) . . . Jones posted double-figures alone in the second half with 10 points after intermission, and now has scored 10+ points in a game 14 times out of the 18 games played this season.
• Jones has snared five or more rebounds in each of the last three games after only having one outing of five or more rebounds before the 10-rebound outburst at Washington and now has four outings of five or more rebounds on the season, and all four have come in the last six games, as the only other 5+ rebounding outing came vs. Rutgers (12/28/25).
• Jones has 21 rebounds in the last three games, averaging 7.0 rebounds per game in those last three contests, after averaging 2.9 rpg entering the game at Washington.
• Jones also swiped three steals Thursday, for her third-straight game with three or more steals as part of the 10th total time this season.
• Jones also has 11 steals in the last three games, good for 3.7 steals per game over that span . . . she now has a team-leading 47 steals (2.6 spg) this season.
• Redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair tallied 14 points, nearly split with eight points in the first half and six points in the second half.
• Blair tallied 10+ points for the sixth game in a row, as part of 13 total times this season in the 18 games . . . she now has 16 double-figure scoring outings in her career.
• Blair pulled down a game-high six rebounds, including four in the first quarter . . . Blair has snared five or more rebounds in the last 11 games as part of in 15 of the 18 games this season.
• Additionally, Blair dished out a team-high six assists, logging the sixth-straight game with four or more helpers . . . Thursday's six assists marked Blair's 17th time out of the 18 games this season . . . MSU is 16-1 when she distributes four or more assists.
• Senior guard Emma Shumate netted one 3-pointer, as she has made at least one triple in each of the last six games and in 16 of the 18 games this season.
• Shumate has made 13 3-pointers in the last six games after being held without a 3-pointer vs. Ole Miss, averaging 2.2 triples per game over the last six contests . . . Shumate has 20 3-pointers in the last eight games, boosted by her career-best seven 3-pointers vs. Indiana State in the opening game of the Cherokee Invitational in Cherokee, North Carolina, and is averaging 2.5 treys per game over the last eight contests.
• On the season, Shumate now has a team-leading 40 3-pointers on the season out of 43 total field goals . . . Shumate is averaging 2.2 3-pointers per game for the season.
• Shumate also added a block on Thursday for her fifth-straight contest with at last one block as part of a total of seven blocks over the last five games with a career-high tying three rejections vs. Illinois (1/4/26) . . . she also has at least one block in nine games this season, with 11 overall blocks on the season.
• Shumate swiped a season and career-high tying three steals, posting her new high in a Big Ten game and matching her season-high of three for the second time this season, joining the game vs. Oakland (11/23/25) . . . Shumate matched her career-high for the third time of her career.
• Sophomore forward Juliann Woodard recorded four points, three rebounds and one assist, along with drawing two fouls, including two boards, two points, one assist and drawing both fouls in the fourth quarter in playing 5:33 of the stanza . . . Woodard got an offensive rebound and drew a foul with five seconds left, hitting 2-of-2 free throws for the game-winning points . . . she also drew a foul with 8:24 left in the quarter, added an assist on a bucket by Jones with 8:16 to go and got a defensive rebound with 7:23 to go, before subbing out with 4:49 left and subbed back into the game with 27 seconds left.
Team Stats
Nebr
MSU
FG%
.510
.500
3FG%
.350
.176
FT%
.923
.800
RB
27
26
TO
22
15
STL
5
9
Game Leaders
Pts
22
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
F
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