No. 15 Spartans Head West to Take on No. 23 Washington Thursday

EAST LANSING, Mich. - No. 15/15 Michigan State women's basketball heads to the Pacific Northwest this week, beginning with No. 23/23 Washington on Thursday, Jan. 8 at Alaska Airlines Arena. Tipoff time is set for 9 p.m. ET. Elise Woodward and Ben Maya will be on the call for B1G+.

• The Spartans have now won six-straight games to improve to 14-1 overall and 3-1 in Big Ten play after an 81-75 win over Illinois on Jan. 4. Michigan State had four players in double figures in the Alumni Day win for the Spartans.

• This is the first time that the Huskies and Spartans have met in Seattle. Washington holds a 12-2 overall record and are 2-1 in Big Ten action. UW is coming off its biggest win of the season with a 64-52 win over then-No. 6 Michigan on Jan. 1.

• The Spartans have been willing to spread the wealth all season. Guard Kennedy Blair has been the leading scorer five times this season, which is tops on the team. Overall, eight different players have led or tied for the team in lead in scoring this season.

• Michigan State head coach Robyn Fralick reached a career milestone against Illinois. With the win, she earned her 250th career win mark, holding a 250-96 record in 11 seasons as a head coach. She has won 58 games at MSU.

SCOUTING WASHINGTON
Washington holds an overall record of 12-2 and 2-1 in Big Ten action. The Huskies are coming off a home upset against then-No. 6 Michigan, 64-52, on Jan. 1. UW's other B1G win came against Northwestern on Dec. 29. Washington's loss came on Dec. 7 against USC.

Savia Sellers is first on the team in scoring and seventh in the Big Ten, averaging 18.6 ppg. Avery Howell is second in scoring with 13.8 ppg. Howell also leads the team in rebounding with 7.9 rpg. Sellers is third in the league in 3-point field goals, making 3.71 per game. Brynn McGaughy is sixth in the Big Ten in blocked shots, averaging 1.43 bpg.

Washington is second scoring defense, allowing only 54.4 ppg. In league contests, Huskies are sixth in steals with 8.00 spg.

Washington head coach Tina Langley is in her fifth season at the helm of the Huskies with a record of 73-62. Overall in 11 seasons, she has a record of 199-123. Prior to Washington, Langley spent six seasons at Rice with a record of 126-61.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE HUSKIES
The series history between the Spartans and the Huskies is brief. Michigan State leads the season series, 2-1 with all three games taking place in East Lansing. This will be the first meeting between the teams in Seattle. The teams first met in 1987 with MSU winning 79-57. Last season, the Spartans defeated UW, 80-68, on Alumni Day at the Breslin Center. MSU had four reach double figures led by Julia Ayrault and Grace VanSlooten, who both scored 19 points. VanSlooten added 12 rebounds for her third double-double of the season.

FRALICK REACHES A MILESTONE
Michigan State head coach Robyn Fralick reached a career milestone against Illinois. With the win, she earned her 250th career win mark, holding a 250-96 record in 11 seasons as a head coach. She has won 58 games at MSU.

DID YOU KNOW?
The Spartans have now won six-straight games to improve to 14-1 overall and 3-1 in Big Ten contests. Illinois had its 11-game winning streak snapped, falling to 13-2 overall and 3-1 in league play. The Spartans are off to their best start since the 2010-11 season, when MSU opened the season 16-1.
LET'S GO STREAKING
Winning six-straight games, the Spartans hold the second-longest winning streak in the Big Ten behind UCLA, which has won eight in a row. The Spartans only loss of the season came at Wisconsin on Dec. 7. Washington and Iowa have the next longest winning streaks at three games.

BY THE NUMBERS vs. ILLINOIS
After struggling from the free throw line, Michigan State has now had two-straight games over 80 percent from the charity stripe. Against Indiana, the Spartans shot 87.5 percent (14-for-16). Against Illinois, MSU was 84 percent from the free throw line (21-for-25), including going 18-for-21 in the second half.
MSU cracked the 80-point mark for the second-straight game after scoring 80 on the road against Indiana. The Spartans had been held to under 80 points in its two previous games, scoring 70 against Rutgers on Dec. 28 and 66 against Ole Miss on Dec. 22. Michigan State has now scored at least 80 points 11 times this season, going 10-0 in those games.

TIGHTENING UP THE TURNOVERS
For the first time in eight games, the Spartans committed single-digit turnovers with just six against Illinois on Jan. 4. MSU has less than 10 turnovers in five games this season. Michigan State had a season-high 22 turnovers against No. 15 Ole Miss.

BLOCK PARTY
The Spartans registered a season-high nine blocks against Illinois. That total included a season-high three blocks from both Inés Sotelo and Emma Shumate. Three blocks tied the career high for both Sotelo and Shumate. Kennedy Blair, Jalyn Brown and Juliann Woodard also added to the Spartans' total block count.

DURING THE WINNING STREAK
During Michigan State's six-game winning streak, the Spartans are averaging 83.7 ppg, while allowing only 60.0 ppg. Grace VanSlooten leads the team in scoring with 13.8 ppg, while Kennedy Blair is second with 13.0 ppg. The Spartans have shot 47.5 percent from the field. Emma Shumate has been stellar from beyond the arc, shooting 46.9 percent from beyond the arc (15-for-32). Blair has been stellar in all facets, averaging 5.3 apg and 8.3 rpg.

GETTING IN THE STARTING LINEUP
After using the same starting lineup for seven games, Michigan State used a different starting lineup against Clemson on Nov. 30. After an injury to Theryn Hallock, MSU went with the lineup for senior forward Grace VanSlooten, senior forward Marah Dykstra, senior guard Emma Shumate, junior guard Rashunda Jones and redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair. MSU is 2-1 with that lineup. MSU rolled out its third lineup against Indiana State with Blair, Jones, Van Slooten, Inés Sotelo and Sara Sambolić, which is now 1-0. The Spartans changed it up for a fourth time against No. 15 Ole Miss and Rutgers with VanSlooten, Jones, Blair, Sotelo and Isaline Alexander making the starting five.

Yet another lineup was debuted against Indiana in Blair, Jones VanSlooten, Sotelo and Jalyn Brown with that group improving to 2-0 after defeating Illinois on Jan. 4. Overall MSU has had five different starting lineups. VanSlooten, Blair and Jones are the only three Spartans to start all 15 games.

TAKING DOWN THE BEST
No. 24/23 Michigan State knocked off No. 15/15 Ole Miss for the Spartans' highest ranked win under head coach Robyn Fralick. It is the Spartans' third overall win over an AP Top 25 team in their three seasons under Coach Fralick, with all three coming in last two years after beating No. 21 Iowa (68-66, 12/15/24) and No. 24 Michigan (88-58, 1/25/25).

SPARTANS VS. THE NCAA
After the first 15 games, Michigan State stands sixth in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (1.82). The Spartans are fourth in the NCAA and first in the Big Ten in turnover margin (+11.4). Michigan State is seventh in scoring margin and first in the Big Ten (+33.1). MSU is seventh in the country shooting 39.0 percent from long range. Redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair is 17th in the NCAA in assists per game (5.9 apg). Emma Shumate is 10th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (.466)

STRONG BENCH
The Spartans' 59 points scored by their bench was more than Eastern Illinois' entire team scoring of 53 points on Nov. 20. Against DePaul on Dec. 14, the Spartan bench scored 44 of 90 points. MSU kept that trend up against Indiana State with 64 bench points. This season, the MSU bench has out-scored opponents 517-258. The Spartans are 12-1 this season when their bench out-scored their opponent.

HOME SWEET HOME
MSU played its sixth-straight game away from home on Dec. 22 against No. 15 Ole Miss as the Spartans are now 8-0 at home, 4-0 in neutral games and 2-1 in road games. When Michigan State faced Rutgers on Dec. 28, it had been 35 days since its last game at the Breslin Center against Oakland on Nov. 23. In January, the Spartans will play five of their eight games away from the Breslin Center.

SUNDAY FUNDAY
With the Spartans' win against Illinois on Jan. 4, Michigan State is now 7-1 on Sunday, their most-played day of the week. MSU is also 5-1 in day games.

BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE
By winning the 2025 Cherokee Invitational crown, Michigan State not only defended its 2023 Cherokee Invitational championship, but also collected its second tournament title of the season after winning the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship of the Junkanoo Division in the Bahamas on Nov. 30. It is also MSU's fourth tournament title in the last three seasons after winning the 2023 Cherokee Invitational and the 2024 Acrisure Classic crown last season in Palm Springs, Calif.

VANSLOOTEN GETS BACK ON TRACK
Against Indiana on Jan. 1, senior forward Grace VanSlooten got back on track in scoring in double-figures after being held to single-digits with eight points last time out, for just the second time this season in single-digit scoring. VanSlooten has tallied 10+ points in 13 of the 15 games this season and in 32 of her last 34 games. Overall, Van Slooten has posted double-figures in the scoring column in 42 of her 46 total games as a Spartan, being held to single digits twice last season and missing one game due to illness.

Additionally, VanSlooten has now tallied double-figures scoring 92 times out of 108 career games, registering 10+ points in 56 games during her time at Oregon.

KEEPING UP WITH JONES
During the Spartans six-game winning streak, junior guard Rashunda Jones has been superb, reaching double figures in all six games. She has averaged 12.8 ppg during that stretch. She has shot 52.2 percent from the field, 54.5 percent from beyond the arc and 92.0 percent from the charity stripe. She has been getting involved in all facets of the game with 3.7 rebounds per game and 2.8 assists per game. Jones also has eight steals in that six-game span.

LOOKING AT THE NET
In the current women's basketball NET ranking, the Spartans stand No. 8. They are third among Big Ten schools behind No. 2 UCLA and No. 6 Michigan. UConn stands No. 1.

RANKED TEAMS IN BIG TEN
This Big Ten continues to be one of the toughest conferences in the country with three teams in the top 10 in the rankings. In the AP poll, UCLA is No. 4, while Maryland and Michigan stand No. 8 and No. 9, respectively. Iowa continues to hold the No. 14 spot followed by No. 15 Michigan State. Ohio State (No. 19), USC (No. 21) Washington (No. 23) and Nebraska (No. 25) round out the group.

BIG TIME BIG TEN NUMBERS
The Spartans are first in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging 89.1 ppg and first in scoring margin (+33.1). Michigan State is also first in 3-point field goal field percentage (.390). The Spartans stand third in assists per game, averaging 20.3 apg and third in steals per game with 12.6 spg.

Individually, Rashunda Jones is third in the league in steals per game, averaging 2.4 spg, while senior forward Grace VanSlooten is tied for ninth (2.0 spg). Kennedy Blair is also fourth in assists with 5.87 apg. Jones is fourth in the B1G in assist/turnover ratio (2.73).

FINDING THE MAGIC NUMBER
Michigan State's 102 points against Oakland on Nov. 23 marked the Spartans' sixth time out of six games scoring 90+ points. MSU's 90 points against DePaul on Dec. 14 was the first time reaching 90 in the last four games, after the Spartans had scored 90 or more points in each of the first six games of the season. MSU is now 7-0 when scoring 90+ points.
The Spartans' 115 points in the win against Indiana State on Dec. 21 was MSU's second-most of the season, behind the season-high 125 points in the season-opener vs. Mercyhurst (11/4/25). It was Michigan State's fourth 100-point game, moving to 4-0.

WELCOME BACK
After tearing her ACL on Jan. 22, 2025 against Penn State, Juliann Woodard returned to the lineup against Eastern Michigan. Woodard entered the game at the 3:46 mark of the fourth quarter. At the 3:39 point, she drained her first shot, which was a 3-pointer. Her trey gave the Spartans a 32-point advantage.

ADDING UP THE ACCOLADES
Senior forward Grace VanSlooten was named to the 2025-26 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Women's College Player of the Year Watch List Presented by AXIA Time. She was one of 50 players named to the watch list that honors the best players in the nation.

VanSlooten is one of 13 Big Ten players named to the watch list, including her team USA teammate Hannah Stuelke from Iowa. VanSlooten was also named to the Preseason All-Big Ten team as well the Cheryl Miller Award Watch List.

OH WHAT A NIGHT!
With her career-best 25 points against Oakland on Nov. 23, redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair is the second Spartan to score 20 points this season, as well as the first MSU player with 25 or more points since Theryn Hallock netted 29 points last year at Ohio State (2/26/25).

One game earlier against Eastern Illinois, Blair became the first Spartan player with 15 or more rebounds since former Spartan great Julia Ayrault had 15 boards, nearly two years to the day, on Nov. 23, 2023, vs. James Madison.

HOLDING ON TO THE BALL
The Spartans only had three turnovers on Nov. 4 against Mercyhurst, also setting a school record for fewest turnovers, bettering the previous record of five done three previous times, first done in a 56-55 win at Northwestern on Jan. 22, 1989, then again in a 76-69 win vs. Stanford on March 29, 2005 and most recently in a 68-66 win over Toledo on March 18, 2018.

BRINGING HOME THE GOLD
Three players earned gold medals for their home countries this summer. Grace VanSlooten won the FIBA Women's Americup for Team USA. Marah Dykstra won gold for Canada in the FIBA 3x3 Junior Pan American Games. Inés Sotelo and Spain won a gold medal in the 2025 FIBA Eurobasket.

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
Michigan State head coach Robyn Fralick has announced senior forward Grace VanSlooten and senior guard Abbey Kimball as team captains, as voted on by the players on the 2025-26 women's basketball team. This is the first time that either has been named a captain for Michigan State. VanSlooten is in her second season with MSU after transferring from Oregon. Kimball is in her fourth season as a Spartan.

NEW DIGS
The Spartans welcome four transfers to the 2025-26 season. Rashunda Jones is a junior guard, who comes to Michigan State after two years at Purdue. Marah Dykstra is a senior forward who spent three season at Montana State in the Big Sky Conference. Jalyn Brown is the second-straight player to come to MSU from Arizona State. The guard played two seasons at ASU. Last season, senior Jaddan Simmons spent one season with MSU. Finally, Sara Sambolić is a junior guard from Slovenia who transferred from the University of Ljubljana.

ROBYN FRALICK RADIO SHOW
Michigan State women's basketball head coach Robyn Fralick started her weekly radio call-in show, the Robyn Fralick Radio Show, on Nov. 18 at One North Kitchen and Bar. Coach Fralick joins host Dalton Shetler, the Spartans' play-by-play voice, from 12-1 p.m., for an in-depth look into the MSU women's basketball program.

Radio Show Dates
Tuesday, Jan. 13
Tuesday, Jan. 20
Tuesday, Jan. 27
Tuesday, Feb. 3
Tuesday Feb. 10
Tuesday, Feb. 17
Tuesday, Feb. 24

No. 15 Spartans Head West to Take on No. 23 Washington Thursday

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Players Mentioned

Isaline Alexander

Julia Ayrault

Kennedy Blair

Jalyn Brown

Marah Dykstra

Theryn Hallock

Rashunda Jones

Abbey Kimball

Emma Shumate

Jaddan Simmons

Grace VanSlooten

Juliann Woodard