MSU Women’s Basketball: A Program Best 17-1 Record With Tough Games Ahead
- Tobias Webb
- 9 minutes ago
- 3 min read
The Big Ten is a gauntlet
MSU won a pair of nail-biters this week against Oregon and 24th ranked Nebraska, closing out games that were within one possession in the last minute of play. The Big Ten has already tested the Spartans, with our one loss coming from an away game at Wisconsin, and the Rutgers and Illinois also games played extremely close, not to mention overcoming an 11 point early deficit against a 23rd ranked Washington.
There are no more games on the schedule that look easy; the Big Ten has had 7-9 teams in the AP top 25 all season long, and Spartans still have to face all of the best teams, starting with an 11th ranked Iowa on Sunday. A win at Carver Hawkeye Arena would be coach Fralick’s highest ranked win at MSU so far and could put the Spartans in the top ten ahead of the much anticipated home and away series with Michigan. Last season we played our first ranked matchup in over 20 years in the rivalry game at Michigan and won by 30, but lost by 10 a couple weeks later to the unranked Wolverines at the Breslin center. Now it looks as though ranked matchups could be the norm between these two teams as 8th ranked Michigan is led by a trio of sophomores, and Coach Fralick has consistently drawn in good recruiting classes for MSU, making great use of the transfer portal.
Over half of our remaining games are against teams currently ranked in the top 15, with Maryland, Ohio State, and UCLA also still on the schedule, and the Spartans will have to pull off some tough wins to earn a high seed in March Madness. This team’s ability to stay in games and chip away at opponents for come-from-behind wins will almost certainly come into play, and their determination to win close games will be pivotal, as they seek some impressive wins to bolster their resume for the NCAA committee.
Our bench has gotten shorter
Every year under coach Fralick the Spartans have seen rotations tighten up during Big Ten play. This year it looked like our bench was too deep to reduce down to 7 or 8 players, but with long term injuries to key players Theryn Hallock, and Isa Alexander the bench is looking less impactful than we hoped it would be down the stretch.
Sambolic and Dykstra are still getting minutes but are now typically playing less than a quarter of each game. Our two main players coming off the bench this year are Emma Shumate, the three point specialist with excellent defense, and Juliann Woodard the versatile small forward with great shooting and rebounding. Both of them help space out defenses by shooting over 40 percent from deep.
A smaller rotation is not necessarily a bad thing but it’s forcing young players like Inés Sotelo and Kennedy Blair to bear more of the team’s burden, and if we see any more injuries Sambolic or Dykstra will have to step up in a major way.
Rashunda Jones is a baller
Jones may turn out to be Robyn Fralick’s most pivotal recruit out of the transfer portal so far. The junior guard leads the Spartans and is 31st in the country in assist to turnover ratio with 2.44 assists for every lost ball, and looks very in control during her minutes at the point. On the defensive end she very seldom gets in a bad position, and manages to corral 2.6 steals per game, which she often turns into easy points.
What really sets her apart is her consistent effort, and the fire she brings to the 4th quarter. Fralick trusts her to get in the lane and make tough shots near the basket to close out games, and she takes that role seriously, seeking contact and firing up our team with impressive and-1s. Her upper body control when shooting fade aways makes her extremely tough to defend, as she can go from contacting a defender’s chest to a jump outside their reach very quickly, and hang in the air to make a tough shot. She leads the team free throw attempts, and free throw percentage, and her ability to seek contact and score has kept the Spartans alive in all of their close games.
After the Rutgers game, where she scored multiple and-1s in the 4th quarter to retake the lead, she told us that her focus is on what the team needs and “if the team needs me to score, I’m gonna score”. Her confidence and ability has a steadying effect on this team and her impact goes beyond the stat sheet.
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