Michigan State women’s basketball has finally hit a bit of a wall

Michigan State women’s basketball has hit a bit of a skid recently, and it has Robyn Fralick searching for answers.

Coming off of a disappointing 94-91 overtime loss against No. 8 Michigan on Sunday, the Lady Spartans seemed like they were not letting the result, “stay with them” as head coach Robyn Fralick stated.

Fast forward to Wednesday night, as MSU entered a top 25 matchup with No. 22 Maryland. The game played fast as both teams scored rapidly with the first quarter ending in a tie, 20-20.

The second quarter is when the Terrapins took off, scoring 23 points compared to Michigan State’s 13. Turnovers plagued MSU as the game went on, eventually tallying 19 total in 40 minutes. It seemed like everything worked for Maryland as the red and gold charged ahead due to intensive defense, and a chemistry that propelled them forward.

After halftime, it seemed almost the same for the rest of the game. Michigan State would make a basket, and Maryland would immediately respond on the other side of the court. It also did not help that the Spartans best players, Grace VanSlooten and Kennedy Blair played almost 36 of the 40 total minutes each.

The final score was 86-70, dropping the green and white to 19-4. VanSlooten lead MSU with 19 points and nine rebounds, almost tallying another double-double.  The senior Spartan also documented three steals, which lead Michigan State, and allowed the Spartans to get out on their fast-break and turn opportunities into points.

In her postgame press conference, Fralick was, “surprised” by her team’s performance.

“Everything that we do we do together. It’s a staple of our program. Tonight we just were not playing together, and we are going to figure out why.”

The Spartans now look forward to stop their two-game losing streak with a quick turnaround at Penn State on Saturday afternoon. It will be a classic Big Ten matchup, between two teams who are looking to change their recent woes. Michigan State and Fralick are determined to play hard and come out victorious.