Michigan State women's basketball ready to build on record start, top-25 ranking

Michigan State women’s basketball ready to build on record start, top-25 ranking

Posted by author December 5, 2024 Basketball

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EAST LANSING — Grace VanSlooten figured the Michigan State women’s basketball team had a chance to accomplish more special things in its second season under coach Robyn Fralick.

It’s part of why she chose the Spartans after deciding to leave the Oregon program in the offseason.

And with the first full month of the season in the books, things have played out as VanSlooten had hoped.

The Spartans have matched the best start in school history with their 8-0 mark, which ties the record set by the 2012-13 and 2020-21 squads led by former coach Suzy Merchant.

And MSU has climbed into the top-25 of the national rankings for the first time under Fralick with its record-tying start. MSU is No. 25 in the USA Today coaches poll and No. 24 in the Associated Press rankings this week.

“I think it’s deserved,” Fralick said of the national rankings. “I think our team has had to earn it. You look at the list and there’s some really, really good teams. I’m proud of them, and I think it’s deserved and we also know it’s really early in the season. It’s part of our story and we’ve still got to keep getting better.”

While the ranking marked a big step, MSU is focused on cementing its place among the nation’s top teams by building off winning the title at the Acrisure Classic last week. The Spartans beat previously unbeaten teams in Cal and Vanderbilt to win the tournament.

“It’s obviously a tremendous honor to be ranked,” MSU’s Julia Ayrault said. “We talked about it recently and about you’ve got to act like it and you have to treat every day like it’s important. We know that and we know you have to approach every day with the same mindset and not take it for granted and keep working towards getting better and the things we need to do to improve our team.”

The next opportunity for the Spartans to show their improvement comes at 2 p.m. Sunday when they host DePaul (3-6) with a chance to secure the program’s best start. That game marks the final test for MSU before it opens Big Ten play at home against No. 20 Iowa on Dec. 15.

With how the season has started and how they fought through adversity last week to win the tournament in California, VanSlooten is looking forward to seeing what else the Spartans can achieve.

“I think we’re just really excited to see where we can go,” VanSlooten said.

Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway.