1. That loss to Michigan could not have gone worse for MSU’s women’s basketball team
ANN ARBOR — At the moment the Spartans went up 19-11 with 2:50 remaining the first quarter Sunday, they looked comfortable and up for the fight. No one could have imagined how dreadful the rest of the game would be for Michigan State’s women’s basketball team.
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The Spartans were outscored by Michigan 75-46 the rest of the way, with the game mercifully ending in a decisive 86-65 defeat that could have lasting reverberations.
Some of what took place was Michigan intensifying its defense. A lot of it was self-inflicted by MSU — turnovers that were simply errors in “passing and catching,” as MSU’s Kennedy Blair said. And some of it was awful luck — losing Rashunda Jones to a painful left foot or ankle injury late in the third quarter, and Julian Woodard to a scary situation in the fourth quarter, which required medical attention on the court after she hit the floor. She was eventually taken off the court in a wheelchair with a noticeable bump and bruising near her left eye.
“That’s one of my best friends,” Blair said, “so seeing somebody go through that is not nice, especially when you see blood coming off their face, and she was kind of limp for a second. I knew she was all right when she was moving and talking a little bit, but it’s definitely scary to see.”
Because Woodard appears to be OK — she took the bus back to East Lansing with the team — we can keep talking about this in basketball terms.
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If she’s out, that doesn’t help MSU (20-6, 9-6 Big Ten) find itself again, after losing four of five games. If Jones is out for any length of time, the Spartans are in trouble. Jones is a massive part of MSU’s attack on both ends, playing alongside Blair and without her, sometimes as the primary point guard.
“I mean, we play a lot of minutes together, so that’s that kind of throws off a lot of our tandem there,” Blair said. “It’s not nice to see. I don’t think we really know what’s going on, but just to see her like screaming like that, it’s not nice to watch.”
MSU coach Robyn Fralick wasn’t sure immediately how serious Jones’ injury was, but Jones didn’t put any weight on her leg as she left the court. Then, as MSU’s players each comforted Woodard before she was wheeled away, Isa Alexander carried Jones, cradling her over to Woodard. The Spartans are already without guard Theryn Hallock, who they could use right about now. Fralick said after MSU’s loss to UCLA on Wednesday that Hallock hadn’t begun practicing yet and a decision on whether she would return this season was yet to be made. I’d be surprised if Hallock sacrificed a medical redshirt at this point to play the last few games of the season.
The Spartans’ next game, at home Wednesday against 8-16 Northwestern, could not come at a better time. MSU needs the break from playing against a series of Big Ten behemoths, and needs to taste a win again. And the Spartans could also use a game they can win without Jones. Hello, Wildcats.
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“With Spider (Jones) going out, more people have to step up across the board,” Fralick said. “I thought in that second quarter (Sunday), we subbed in and we got sped up. But when you go in the game, you’ve go to help the game. We’ve got to find a way to do that again. When we were playing our best basketball, everybody was helping, make a positive impact on the game. And we’ve got to get back to more people doing that.
“We have some things to figure out so that we have a chance … we want to finish the story strong. And right now, there are things that we’re not doing well that are getting really exposed. (It) starts with me. (I’m) responsible for figuring out how to get us back playing confident, competitive. One of the things that we always feel is a signature (of ours) is we’re going to fight. We’ve got to find a way to get that back at a high level quickly.”
Michigan State forward Juliann Woodard (33) is tended to after taking an elbow to the face, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Ann Arbor.
2. MSU turned the ball over at a record-setting pace for a while
MSU didn’t set the program record for turnovers in a game Sunday — that mark remains safely in the hands of the 1979 team, which turned the ball over 41 times in a 53-50 win at Purdue. But the Spartans were above that pace in the second quarter Sunday, when they coughed it up 12 times in 10 minutes, on their way to a season-high 24 turnovers for the game.
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After Michigan trimmed MSU’s 21-15 first-quarter lead to 21-20 at the 8:34 mark of the second quarter, the Spartans turned the ball over on 11 of their next 14 possessions. And the 12 total turnovers for the quarter were by five different players (plus a shot clock violation), though Blair did have four herself on four straight possessions.
MORE: Second quarter dooms MSU women against rival Michigan
“I think we might have had like 10 turnovers in a row at one point,” Blair said. “Like, that was terrible. And a lot of that is on me, too. I need to do a better job taking care of the ball.”
She finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds and eight turnovers — getting close to the sort of triple-double Aerial Powers used to flirt with occasionally during her MSU career. It takes a great player to be valuable enough to be on the court long enough to pull that off, without being benched. Blair is getting to that point. But she can’t have nights like this have for MSU to win. Especially if Jones is out. Blair had seven turnovers in the first meeting with the Wolverines, the overtime loss at Breslin Center.
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“I feel like the first game, they pressured me more,” Blair said. “I felt like they trapped me more. A lot of it (Sunday) was unforced turnovers, a lot of just passing and catching.”
That second quarter had a number of brutal statistics for MSU including: Michigan outscored the Spartans 26-6 until the final possession; and MSU took seven shots and turned the ball over 12 times.
Michigan State guard Rashunda Jones (1) watches the ball sail out of bounds for a turnover against Michigan, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Ann Arbor.
3. MSU likely needs one quality win still to secure a top 4 seed in the NCAA tournament
The Spartans knew exactly where they stood with the NCAA tournament selection committee entering Sunday’s game with Michigan — 14th overall, a 4 seed if the season ended today, hosting the first two rounds at Breslin Center. Saturday night’s initial selection committee rankings made it clear the Spartans were in a good spot.
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The question is: What will it take for MSU to stay among the top 16 seeds?
Losing on the road Sunday at Michigan, which is the No. 6 team in the selection committee’s eyes, shouldn’t knock the Spartans from their place. But MSU probably has to do more than just beat Northwestern (ranked No. 122 in the NET) this Wednesday at home to keep the spot.
MSU also has games remaining at Minnesota, next Sunday, and a home game against Ohio State to close the regular season on March 1, before the Big Ten tournament. The Gophers are No. 10 in the NET rankings, but somehow not among the selection committee’s top 16. They’ll be motivated to change that next week. Ohio State sits at No. 16 in the committee’s rankings.
The Spartans would be wise to beat Northwestern and win one of those games against Minnesota or Ohio State. If they do that, they’re probably safe going into the Big Ten tournament, as long as they don’t lose to someone they should beat in Indianapolis. Keep in mind, because the women’s Big Ten tournament is played a week before the NCAA tournament selection process, those results have more weight than the men’s Big Ten tournament games do, which are played after some decisions have been made.
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MSU’s best win all season is over Ole Miss, 66-49, on a neutral court just before Christmas. The Rebels are No. 15 in the selection committee’s ranking and 18 in the NET.. After that, the Spartans’ home wins over USC (No. 22 NET), Nebraska (26) and Illinois (32), and their road win at Washington (31) are leading their resume. That win over Ole Miss — who could be compared to MSU by the committed when deciding on those precious final few spots in the top 16 — ought to help the Spartans all the way to Selection Sunday. A win over Ohio State or Minnesota, also in the same boat, would be another nice head-to-head edge to own.
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on X @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @GrahamCouch.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU women’s basketball suffers painful loss at Michigan: 3 quick takes
