Michigan State University Athletics
Post-Game Quotes: Michigan
2/1/2026 5:40:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Michigan State Head Coach Robyn Fralick
Coach Robyn Fralick's opening statement:
First of all, thank you all for being here. I want to thank our fans. I thought they were incredible tonight. It was a great basketball game. Unfortunately, we were on the wrong side of the scoreboard at the end, but I thought it was a really really good basketball game. We knew coming in, Michigan is a good team. It was going to be a battle of toughness and possessions, and I thought our kids competed really well. The margin is small. There's a few possessions that we're going to be able to learn a lot from, but I thought it was a heck of a game and these are the type of games we're going to be seeing consistently in our league night in and night out. So there were some very good lessons learned.
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On he almost buzzer beater at the end of regulation…
I thought it was in. She made one just like that at the ball and strangely she practices that shot. But yeah, from my angle it was like 'Oh my gosh. I think that's good.'
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Kennedy Blair's strides and what is the next step for her whether that's taking care of the team or knowing when to take risks…
She played so tough. She made a huge shot to tie the game at the end, but taking better care of the ball, those will be some good lessons. When to attack, when to not attack, decision making for sure. But her spirit, her competitiveness, her toughness. She wills a lot to happen, and the reason we got back in the game to tie it up, she had a lot to do with that. So I love her physical impact on the game and definitely a lot of good lessons learned in the game.
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Ability to force Michigan into foul trouble early…
Well we play aggressive. We have a lot of kids who can get to the paint and make plays. And that's how hard we played all year. I think there probably could have been some more things called. But that's just a big part of our identity.
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When asked about what made Michigan successful..
They have some big guards, they have some size, we knew that coming in. They won by being effective in the paint. It is not necessarily through post game, they just have a lot of big guards they will post up. So, I thought we got hurt in that a little bit.
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When asked about worries about depth when playing top teams…
Yes and No, we have played more people throughout the whole season and I think that we can still do that. This game is a little tricky because they press the whole time, so there's just certain people you need in the game. They played one more player, so it was kind of a battle of endurance.
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When asked about forcing turnovers consistently…
We have pretty consistently done that, so I think we have done a lot of it in the half court, in different ways we guard and play. I say there are just players and teams that have an instinct for the ball, and we do have a number of kids who do that well. I think we turned them over but the trick is we just gave them too many extra shots.
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On the Michigan/MSU rivalry with both teams ranked in the top 15…
I mean, that's what it's about. Women's basketball keeps getting better and better. I keep saying it. Our league has never been better, our rivalries never been better, women's basketball has never been better. We saw, I mean it was a hell of a game tonight. I'm not discouraged, but I'm disappointed, but it's great for our game. These women are incredible - so athletic, so strong, so fierce, so tough. We're going to keep seeing that and this league is worthy of your time to come and watch, and our crowd tonight was awesome. They willed us back, I thought, a number of times when Michigan went on a run. The crowd really willed us back into the game. I think it's great for the game.
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On not letting the team get discouraged…
I mean, we have a game on Wednesday. The good news is that you don;t have a lot of time to wallow in it, you have a really good team like Maryland coming in on Wednesday and we're in the middle of conference play. There is so much in front of us, so much season left. There's so many things left to play for. I think the biggest thing we can take away is learning. In a game like this the last seconds are loud and clear, and those are the things we can take away as we head into Wednesday.
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Michigan Head Coach Kim Barnes Arico
Opening statement…
I thought it was an excellent basketball game, two great teams, two top teams in the country in the same state. It's pretty incredible. The rivalry is real. We watched, wow, I'm still trying to catch my breath. I felt like I played defense there for an hour and a half. But we watched our men kind of be in a battle the same way the other night, and, you know, we just had to make play after play down the stretch, and I thought our kids were really able to do that. Hard fought game, but anytime you can win in the Big Ten on the road, it's really incredible, and we were able to do that tonight together.
On what this game meant for women's college basketball…
I think that's an incredible question. And I think that's something that our team always talks about. How can we continue to promote whether it's our game, whether it's women in general, how can we all be strong, powerful women, and get communities and people to come out and watch the incredible product that we have? And today, people came out and watched the incredible product. People in the state of Michigan showed up. I don't care if you're a Michigan State fan or a Michigan fan, to have the environment that we had today in this state is unbelievable, I think, for all the young girls out there watching, there's hope. There's hope that you can play in front of a packed crowd on every night, like the men play in front of a packed crowd on every night. I think for us to be on national TV and to have that audience, which is one of the top viewed, that's amazing, amazing for young girls to aspire to be. It's environments like this. It's people that support this and get behind this and give women these opportunities. And then when you come as a fan, heck, you're gonna come back. Because that was an awesome basketball game, that was an awesome environment, and that's something that you want to be a part of.Â
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Coach Robyn Fralick's opening statement:
First of all, thank you all for being here. I want to thank our fans. I thought they were incredible tonight. It was a great basketball game. Unfortunately, we were on the wrong side of the scoreboard at the end, but I thought it was a really really good basketball game. We knew coming in, Michigan is a good team. It was going to be a battle of toughness and possessions, and I thought our kids competed really well. The margin is small. There's a few possessions that we're going to be able to learn a lot from, but I thought it was a heck of a game and these are the type of games we're going to be seeing consistently in our league night in and night out. So there were some very good lessons learned.
Â
On he almost buzzer beater at the end of regulation…
I thought it was in. She made one just like that at the ball and strangely she practices that shot. But yeah, from my angle it was like 'Oh my gosh. I think that's good.'
Â
Kennedy Blair's strides and what is the next step for her whether that's taking care of the team or knowing when to take risks…
She played so tough. She made a huge shot to tie the game at the end, but taking better care of the ball, those will be some good lessons. When to attack, when to not attack, decision making for sure. But her spirit, her competitiveness, her toughness. She wills a lot to happen, and the reason we got back in the game to tie it up, she had a lot to do with that. So I love her physical impact on the game and definitely a lot of good lessons learned in the game.
Â
Ability to force Michigan into foul trouble early…
Well we play aggressive. We have a lot of kids who can get to the paint and make plays. And that's how hard we played all year. I think there probably could have been some more things called. But that's just a big part of our identity.
Â
When asked about what made Michigan successful..
They have some big guards, they have some size, we knew that coming in. They won by being effective in the paint. It is not necessarily through post game, they just have a lot of big guards they will post up. So, I thought we got hurt in that a little bit.
Â
When asked about worries about depth when playing top teams…
Yes and No, we have played more people throughout the whole season and I think that we can still do that. This game is a little tricky because they press the whole time, so there's just certain people you need in the game. They played one more player, so it was kind of a battle of endurance.
Â
When asked about forcing turnovers consistently…
We have pretty consistently done that, so I think we have done a lot of it in the half court, in different ways we guard and play. I say there are just players and teams that have an instinct for the ball, and we do have a number of kids who do that well. I think we turned them over but the trick is we just gave them too many extra shots.
Â
On the Michigan/MSU rivalry with both teams ranked in the top 15…
I mean, that's what it's about. Women's basketball keeps getting better and better. I keep saying it. Our league has never been better, our rivalries never been better, women's basketball has never been better. We saw, I mean it was a hell of a game tonight. I'm not discouraged, but I'm disappointed, but it's great for our game. These women are incredible - so athletic, so strong, so fierce, so tough. We're going to keep seeing that and this league is worthy of your time to come and watch, and our crowd tonight was awesome. They willed us back, I thought, a number of times when Michigan went on a run. The crowd really willed us back into the game. I think it's great for the game.
Â
On not letting the team get discouraged…
I mean, we have a game on Wednesday. The good news is that you don;t have a lot of time to wallow in it, you have a really good team like Maryland coming in on Wednesday and we're in the middle of conference play. There is so much in front of us, so much season left. There's so many things left to play for. I think the biggest thing we can take away is learning. In a game like this the last seconds are loud and clear, and those are the things we can take away as we head into Wednesday.
Â
Michigan Head Coach Kim Barnes Arico
Opening statement…
I thought it was an excellent basketball game, two great teams, two top teams in the country in the same state. It's pretty incredible. The rivalry is real. We watched, wow, I'm still trying to catch my breath. I felt like I played defense there for an hour and a half. But we watched our men kind of be in a battle the same way the other night, and, you know, we just had to make play after play down the stretch, and I thought our kids were really able to do that. Hard fought game, but anytime you can win in the Big Ten on the road, it's really incredible, and we were able to do that tonight together.
On what this game meant for women's college basketball…
I think that's an incredible question. And I think that's something that our team always talks about. How can we continue to promote whether it's our game, whether it's women in general, how can we all be strong, powerful women, and get communities and people to come out and watch the incredible product that we have? And today, people came out and watched the incredible product. People in the state of Michigan showed up. I don't care if you're a Michigan State fan or a Michigan fan, to have the environment that we had today in this state is unbelievable, I think, for all the young girls out there watching, there's hope. There's hope that you can play in front of a packed crowd on every night, like the men play in front of a packed crowd on every night. I think for us to be on national TV and to have that audience, which is one of the top viewed, that's amazing, amazing for young girls to aspire to be. It's environments like this. It's people that support this and get behind this and give women these opportunities. And then when you come as a fan, heck, you're gonna come back. Because that was an awesome basketball game, that was an awesome environment, and that's something that you want to be a part of.Â
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Players Mentioned
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