Michigan State women’s basketball off to red-hot start

Michigan State women’s basketball has entered a new era and it looks like the program is headed in the right direction.

You know who we haven’t been talking enough about? Michigan State women’s basketball. They are off to a wildly impressive start under first year head coach Robyn Fralick and not enough people are talking about it.

Let’s take a look at the Spartans season so far to see how they’ve been doing.

MSU season in review

The Spartans are off to a hot start this season, currently sitting at 11-2. Their most recent win came on the road after a huge offensive showing, beating Penn State 98-87. This took the Spartans to 1-1 in Big Ten play early in the conference season. You might see 98 points and be shocked by such a large number. That, however, is the norm with this team.

The Spartans are No. 3 in the country averaging 92.5 points per game. This includes scoring over 100 points in four of their 13 games as well. They also have only been held under 80 points twice this season and that was in their two losses. Those losses came against Creighton and Nebraska where they scored 69 and 74 points respectively.

Michigan State women’s basketball also already won a tournament this season as well. They won the Cherokee Invitational in Cherokee, N.C., with wins against Richmond and Coastal Carolina.

Individual stats

With all the offensive success the Spartans have had as a team, I’m sure you aren’t surprised to hear that many players are doing well individually. However, would it surprise you to know that only four Spartans are averaging double figures?

Senior guard Moira Joiner leads the way for the Spartans at 16.4 points per game. Fellow guards Julia Ayrault and Deedee Hagemann are both averaging about 14 points as well. As a team, the Spartans have nine total players averaging at least seven points per game with two more averaging about four points per game. Now that’s what you call a balanced attack.

The Spartans are also lethal from 3-point range, with four players above 40 percent from deep. This includes Hagemann who is at a blistering 51.1% this season which is No. 5 in the country.

Michigan State’s next game will tell us how good this team really is. The Spartans travel to Iowa on Jan. 2 to take on the No. 4 team in the country. If you follow sports even a little, you probably have heard about star Hawkeye Caitlin Clark who is the best player in the country. The Spartans will be tested, but they have a great opportunity for a major upset win on Tuesday night.