Michigan State's Women's Basketball Rockets to Sweet Sixteen!
Michigan State women’s basketball coach Robyn Fralick has led the Spartans to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in her three seasons leading the program. The Spartans (22-8), ranked No. 20 nationally, is a No.
5 seed and will face No. 12 Colorado State (27-7) in the first round on Friday at Norman, Oklahoma. The winner advances to face the winner of host No.
4 Oklahoma and No. 13 Idaho. This tournament gives the Spartans an opportunity to erase the finish to the season and try to get back to how they started.
Michigan State was on fire with an 18-2 record to open the season and was projected to be one of the NCAA Tournament top-16 seeds to host first- and second-round games. More: Printable bracket for 2026 Women's March Madness predictions and picks But a challenging finish to the regular season and a second-round loss in the Big Ten Tournament dropped the Spartans in the poll and out of contention for an opportunity to host in the NCAA Tournament. They lost their final two games, and in the last 10, finished 4-6.
Grace VanSlooten and Kennedy Blair have been the stalwarts for the Spartans this season and both were voted second-team All-Big Ten. VanSlooten leads the team in scoring averaging 15 points a game and 6. 6 rebounds, while Blair, who had a career-high 30 points in a second-round Big Ten Tournament loss to Illinois, averages 14.