Michigan State University Athletics
Post-Game Quotes: USC
1/23/2026 12:35:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Michigan State Head Coach Robyn Fralick
Opening Statement…
Thanks everyone for being here tonight. I want to thank our fans. I thought they were awesome tonight for showing up. I am going to encourage them to keep coming. I think our next home game is February 1st vs Michigan. I thought they made a big difference tonight. The student section was awesome and I loved the Breslin Boom jerseys. This is what the Big Ten feels like. It is a grind. It is hard. It is challenging. I think there are segments of the game where we played really well and some that we didn't. At the end of the day, we found a way to beat a really good team in USC. We knew coming in they were a very good team that was hard to guard. They have a lot of tough match ups with Kennedy Smith back. I think she is one of their best and most important players. I love the way our group dug in. Giving up 10 points in a minute there at the end will be some good learning film. I was proud of how we didn't collapse. A lot of times in a game when that happens against a really good team. We got our composure back and put together stops, made some big plays, and figured out how to beat a really good team.
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On keeping the players going for the next couple games…
We have tried to keep the focus really small. They have been teasing me for how much I have been saying "Empty the tank." We are coming off a road game at Iowa and this was a really big important home game. We just needed to empty the tank on this game and now there is a little bit of a break where we get some time to focus on us. We have to sharpen up some of the things we are doing. Our team has done a really good job of trying to figure out how to win the game in front of us. These are the really important things, and they have done a great job at paying attention, being focused and understanding that if we do these things, good outcomes are going to happen. USC is a really good defensive team so for us to get to 74 is great. I shared at the half that one of the biggest things we have to do is pass and move the ball. If we try to do things off one side of over-dribbling, that is where they feast. In the second quarter we forgot all of those things. Coming out of half time I thought our team settled in and the better we played offensively, the better it allowed us to play defensively too.
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On what was said in the timeout…
Well we have to get settled in our press break. To be honest we have handled our press break well this year. I feel like we do a good job at handling pressure and for whatever reason we just sort of freaked out. So we actually changed our press break a little bit and got it across. I told Grace (VanSlooten) she had the biggest offensive rebound of the night. That rebound changed the game for us. It made it back to a two possession game and settled us in. I reminded them that we are ahead and that there is this much time left. We just needed to settle in and continue to do the things we were doing and we did. The biggest piece of that was we got stops. To score 10 points in a minute and then to settle down, get stops, and make enough free throws. I am proud of our group and am glad we can learn from that from a win.
On Ines's (Sotelo) performance…
I am glad that you brought that up because Ines was out for three months. Recently, we have been challenging her because we know what she is capable of. We know how much she helps our team when she is competing at that level. We have been pressing on that, and I thought yesterday she had her best practice that she has had all year since coming back and it transferred. I think when you practice with some pace, pep, and competitive spirit, we saw that immediately tonight. She was incredible. She was on both sides of the ball. We are going to build on this from here because this was really encouraging to see her play at that level of intensity.
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On losing the rebound battle…
Well that was frustrating because I feel like if we got them to miss or take some perimeter shots, they were still getting put backs. That is so frustrating defensively to do everything you are supposed to do and then give up a layup. We got to clean that up. As I said, the game happens. It's an imperfect game but if we could clean that up. When we would get back early we would let them back in the game with plays like that. It's something we can get better at moving forward but once again in this league it is about just figuring out how to be on the right side of the scoreboard. It is a collection of work and effort and then there are obviously things we have to keep getting better at.
Â
On the free throw differentials and physicality of the game…
I mean that is what we do. That is something that has been part of how we play. We attack the basket, we get to the free throw line, and we are aggressive. I thought we had some huge "and ones" tonight. Kennedy and Grace had one when I felt like we didn't really have any momentum. We were kind of in a tough part of the game and we had some huge "and ones" that just got the game back on our side. Our ability to get to the free throw line is going to continue to be important.
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On the threes that Spider (Jones) and Jalyn (Brown) hit…
I mean they were huge. We hadn't shot the three well all night and then to put two back to back, the game extensions open. We were up 12 and then we had our minute meltdown. Those were big time plays and really timely shots.Â
On keeping foot on the gas after mishaps...
Some composure. Giving up 10 points wouldn't be composure. But we kept the lead and just settled in. We broke the press the next time. Grace (VanSlooten) had the huge offensive rebound. We got some stops, which also helped because they couldn't set up the press. Proud of our group. The game keeps going, and the previous play has absolutely no impact on the next play. A phrase we use in our program all the time is, do the next thing right. I thought we did a good job at that point of settling down after the timeout and doing the next thing right.
Â
On impact of Kennedy (Blair) and Rashunda (Jones) as a duo...
I think they're really complementary. They're sort of fire and ice. Rashunda is really calm and brings the team together. Kennedy is spirit, energy, and instinct. I think together, they have just been really complementary. They both have the ability to create, play on the ball, play off the ball, get other people open, and finish at the basket. They really help each other out.
Â
On importance of having people support the team...
 It's huge. Home court advantage is a thing for a reason. When you get a place filled with energy and enthusiasm, and it's our kids' favorite place to play in the world, that's what it's all about for these student athletes. This league is deserving of it. Our league is incredible. Night in and night out, it is a Top 25 matchup after a Top 25 matchup. These women are incredible. It is worthy of your time. It is worthy of your resources. I share that because I wouldn't say that unless I thought that. I know what time and resources are for people. It is worth it. I'm going to keep encouraging people to come out. I think all we have left are Top 25 matchups, and our fans make a huge difference. Tonight, even at the end, it's hard to hear their play calls. Those are the sort of things. Kennedy's (Blair) and one, the place was roaring. Our students were awesome tonight in the Breslin Boom. I love that for our players. These women, in this league, the basketball has never been better. I'm going to keep encouraging people.
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Opening Statement…
Thanks everyone for being here tonight. I want to thank our fans. I thought they were awesome tonight for showing up. I am going to encourage them to keep coming. I think our next home game is February 1st vs Michigan. I thought they made a big difference tonight. The student section was awesome and I loved the Breslin Boom jerseys. This is what the Big Ten feels like. It is a grind. It is hard. It is challenging. I think there are segments of the game where we played really well and some that we didn't. At the end of the day, we found a way to beat a really good team in USC. We knew coming in they were a very good team that was hard to guard. They have a lot of tough match ups with Kennedy Smith back. I think she is one of their best and most important players. I love the way our group dug in. Giving up 10 points in a minute there at the end will be some good learning film. I was proud of how we didn't collapse. A lot of times in a game when that happens against a really good team. We got our composure back and put together stops, made some big plays, and figured out how to beat a really good team.
Â
On keeping the players going for the next couple games…
We have tried to keep the focus really small. They have been teasing me for how much I have been saying "Empty the tank." We are coming off a road game at Iowa and this was a really big important home game. We just needed to empty the tank on this game and now there is a little bit of a break where we get some time to focus on us. We have to sharpen up some of the things we are doing. Our team has done a really good job of trying to figure out how to win the game in front of us. These are the really important things, and they have done a great job at paying attention, being focused and understanding that if we do these things, good outcomes are going to happen. USC is a really good defensive team so for us to get to 74 is great. I shared at the half that one of the biggest things we have to do is pass and move the ball. If we try to do things off one side of over-dribbling, that is where they feast. In the second quarter we forgot all of those things. Coming out of half time I thought our team settled in and the better we played offensively, the better it allowed us to play defensively too.
Â
On what was said in the timeout…
Well we have to get settled in our press break. To be honest we have handled our press break well this year. I feel like we do a good job at handling pressure and for whatever reason we just sort of freaked out. So we actually changed our press break a little bit and got it across. I told Grace (VanSlooten) she had the biggest offensive rebound of the night. That rebound changed the game for us. It made it back to a two possession game and settled us in. I reminded them that we are ahead and that there is this much time left. We just needed to settle in and continue to do the things we were doing and we did. The biggest piece of that was we got stops. To score 10 points in a minute and then to settle down, get stops, and make enough free throws. I am proud of our group and am glad we can learn from that from a win.
On Ines's (Sotelo) performance…
I am glad that you brought that up because Ines was out for three months. Recently, we have been challenging her because we know what she is capable of. We know how much she helps our team when she is competing at that level. We have been pressing on that, and I thought yesterday she had her best practice that she has had all year since coming back and it transferred. I think when you practice with some pace, pep, and competitive spirit, we saw that immediately tonight. She was incredible. She was on both sides of the ball. We are going to build on this from here because this was really encouraging to see her play at that level of intensity.
Â
On losing the rebound battle…
Well that was frustrating because I feel like if we got them to miss or take some perimeter shots, they were still getting put backs. That is so frustrating defensively to do everything you are supposed to do and then give up a layup. We got to clean that up. As I said, the game happens. It's an imperfect game but if we could clean that up. When we would get back early we would let them back in the game with plays like that. It's something we can get better at moving forward but once again in this league it is about just figuring out how to be on the right side of the scoreboard. It is a collection of work and effort and then there are obviously things we have to keep getting better at.
Â
On the free throw differentials and physicality of the game…
I mean that is what we do. That is something that has been part of how we play. We attack the basket, we get to the free throw line, and we are aggressive. I thought we had some huge "and ones" tonight. Kennedy and Grace had one when I felt like we didn't really have any momentum. We were kind of in a tough part of the game and we had some huge "and ones" that just got the game back on our side. Our ability to get to the free throw line is going to continue to be important.
Â
On the threes that Spider (Jones) and Jalyn (Brown) hit…
I mean they were huge. We hadn't shot the three well all night and then to put two back to back, the game extensions open. We were up 12 and then we had our minute meltdown. Those were big time plays and really timely shots.Â
On keeping foot on the gas after mishaps...
Some composure. Giving up 10 points wouldn't be composure. But we kept the lead and just settled in. We broke the press the next time. Grace (VanSlooten) had the huge offensive rebound. We got some stops, which also helped because they couldn't set up the press. Proud of our group. The game keeps going, and the previous play has absolutely no impact on the next play. A phrase we use in our program all the time is, do the next thing right. I thought we did a good job at that point of settling down after the timeout and doing the next thing right.
Â
On impact of Kennedy (Blair) and Rashunda (Jones) as a duo...
I think they're really complementary. They're sort of fire and ice. Rashunda is really calm and brings the team together. Kennedy is spirit, energy, and instinct. I think together, they have just been really complementary. They both have the ability to create, play on the ball, play off the ball, get other people open, and finish at the basket. They really help each other out.
Â
On importance of having people support the team...
 It's huge. Home court advantage is a thing for a reason. When you get a place filled with energy and enthusiasm, and it's our kids' favorite place to play in the world, that's what it's all about for these student athletes. This league is deserving of it. Our league is incredible. Night in and night out, it is a Top 25 matchup after a Top 25 matchup. These women are incredible. It is worthy of your time. It is worthy of your resources. I share that because I wouldn't say that unless I thought that. I know what time and resources are for people. It is worth it. I'm going to keep encouraging people to come out. I think all we have left are Top 25 matchups, and our fans make a huge difference. Tonight, even at the end, it's hard to hear their play calls. Those are the sort of things. Kennedy's (Blair) and one, the place was roaring. Our students were awesome tonight in the Breslin Boom. I love that for our players. These women, in this league, the basketball has never been better. I'm going to keep encouraging people.
Â
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