MSU Women Stave Off Upset vs. Colorado State in NCAA Tournament
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It was probably not how Michigan State imagined how things would go, but the Spartans found a way.
Despite trailing for a pretty good portion of the game, fifth-seeded MSU women's basketball squeaked past (12) Colorado State, 65-62, during the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The game was tied after the third quarter and CSU had the chance to tie it up at the buzzer, but the Spartans managed to still hang on.
Grace VanSlooten led the way for Michigan State, dropping 18 points with 10 rebounds. Kennedy Blair also provided 18 points with six rebounds and two assists.
MSU will face the winner of (4) Oklahoma and (13) Idaho, with that game also being played Friday night. Assuming it's the Sooners, Michigan State will have to take down OU on its home court on Sunday to reach the Sweet Sixteen, as Oklahoma got to host as the subregion's highest seed. No matter what happens next, though, this is the first time since 2013 and 2014 the program has reached the Round of 32 in back-to-back seasons.
Game Recap
The CSU defense that entered the tournament inside the top 10 in the nation gave Michigan State some fits early on. Colorado State was pretty consistently denying MSU from getting the ball into the post for VanSlooten, instead making the Spartans chuck up some threes.
They weren't making those threes, either. Michigan State was a mere 2-for-18 from behind the arc towards the end of the third quarter. Jalyn Brown accounted for both of those made threes; everyone else was 0-of-13 combined. It's a little bit stunning in the moment, given that MSU's team-wide three-point percentage of 36.9 was 10th in the country entering Friday. Kennedy Blair was the first player besides Brown to knock a three down with 1:03 to go in the third.
That three from Blair tied the game up at 47-47, with that score being the same when the buzzer at the end of the third quarter sounded. It had been a very frustrating game to this point for the Spartans, but they still were on a level playing field with 10 minutes to play in order to avoid being the victims of a 5-12 upset.
After trailing for most of the game, Michigan State finally began to look like the higher-seeded team. An 11-3 run from the Spartans surged MSU out ahead by six points, which was its largest lead of the night at the time. Colorado State had some responses, but Michigan State was now the team doing enough to maintain a one- or two-possession lead.
CSU called a timeout with the Spartans up by five with 1:52 remaining. The Rams scored to cut it to three, but then MSU, after calling a timeout mid-possession, went to Blair, who got a clutch shot to go that extended the lead back out to five with a minute left. Grace VanSlooten added one more free throw to make it a six-point game with 42 seconds to go.
That wasn't enough to put the Rams away. Colorado State's Brooke Carlson, who finished with 26 points, drained a three just a few seconds later. After CSU got a stop on the other end, it had one more chance to try and even it up. Carlson passed up the shot, with the ball eventually going to Hannah Ronsiek. Her shot was too strong at the buzzer, and that was that.
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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