MSU Women Routed by No. 2 UCLA, Shown More Progress Needed
In this story:
EAST LANSING, Mich. --- There's levels to college sports. Michigan State women's basketball was shown that it has a lot more work to do before it can approach the first tier of its sport.
No. 2 UCLA thoroughly outplayed the 13th-ranked Spartans on Wednesday night, particularly early on, winning 86-63 and handing MSU its third loss in four games. All of those three losses have been to ranked opponents, with Michigan State now sliding to 20-5 overall on the season and 9-5 during conference play.
MSU is still in position to host an NCAA Tournament game or two. ESPN's women's basketball bracketologist, Charlie Creme, had the Spartans as a 3 seed in his projected bracket that he released on Tuesday morning. The top four seeds in each region get to host the first two rounds at their home arena.
Securing that home-court advantage will still be tough. Michigan State has to travel to No. 7 Michigan next for a game on Sunday (4 p.m. ET, FS1). It also concludes its regular season campaign on March 1 with a game against eight-ranked Ohio State at home.
Game Recap
First Quarter
It did not take long for the Bruins to show their superiority. UCLA hardly gave the Spartans' offense, which is used to getting what they want a lot, any truly great looks early on in the game. Michigan State started 3-for-14 from the field.
On the other end, UCLA got what it wanted. The Bruins scored on their first six possessions of the game, which helped them build their early lead. MSU's defense settled in a bit from there, but UCLA still looked much more physical and built a 23-9 lead through 10 minutes.
Second Quarter
It really did not improve during the second quarter. There was a point where UCLA had more than triple the amount of points the Spartans had (34-11). The Bruins just completely kept dominating down low, led by the 6-foot-7 Lauren Betts, and were about doubling up Michigan State in the rebounding battle.
Even though the back end of the second quarter was still better, multiplying MSU's score by two would still have it trailing. UCLA went to the break with a 44-20. The Spartans ended up shooting just 8-for-35 (22.9%) from the field in the first half, while the Bruins went 18-of-33 (54.5%).
Third Quarter
There was certainly some improvement from MSU in the third quarter, but both teams' true intensity is always in a bit of question when one team is up by 24 points at halftime.
It was Michigan State's highest-scoring quarter by a bit, but the Bruins still gained another four points of ground to take a 28-point lead into the final quarter.
Fourth Quarter
Both teams were largely just riding out the rest of the way, given UCLA's large advantage. One of the only bright spots of the night came when MSU had a six-point possession --- Kennedy Blair hit a three, with the Bruins also being whistled for a foul down low with the ball in the air, which gave the Spartans the ball back and allowed Rashunda Jones to knock down another three.
The scary moment, though, came when Jones went down with what appeared to be a back injury a little past the midway point of the final quarter. She needed assistance from two others while leaving the court. The positive sign is she went to the bench, rather than to the locker room.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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