MSU Turns Attention to NCAA Tournament After Big Ten Upset
The No. 6-seeded Michigan State women’s basketball's ambitions for a conference tournament title were cut short, falling to No. 11-seed Iowa 74-61 in an upset loss in the Big Ten Tournament.
The Spartans (21-9 overall, 11-7 Big Ten) looked to get their second victory against Iowa this season — beating the Hawkeyes back on Dec. 15 — but this time on the grand stage of the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis on Thursday.
The game was tightly contested through three and a half periods until Iowa pulled away in the final moments of the game. Prior to the Hawkeye's late-game run, there were four lead changes and four ties. Iowa closed the game on an 8-0 run, and held the Spartans scoreless in the final 2:49 frame.
Turnovers for the Spartans stopped them from fully taking control of the contest. The team turned the ball over 24 times and allowed Iowa to generate 28 points off turnovers.
“Turnovers killed us before the first media timeout. Just dug ourselves a little hole. I was really proud of our fight. I think we showed that all year, just kind of sticking with it, and we made a good run and kind of let it slip away,” MSU star graduate guard Julia Ayrault said postgame.
Senior guard Lucy Olsen took over the game for Iowa, dropping a game-high 21 points while adding 9 assists and four steals. Ayrault had a team-high 17 points for the Spartans while junior forward Grace VanSlooten added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
However, the efforts of Ayrault and VanSlooten weren’t enough to get MSU out of the second round in this year's Big Ten Tournament.
The season isn’t over just yet for MSU — the No. 24 nationally ranked Spartans will undoubtedly get a bid for the NCAA tournament, but the team must correct its late-game execution in order to make a run against college basketball’s premier teams.
“I think our kids played really hard," said Spartans coach Robyn Fralick after the game. "Took a lead in the second half off of playing hard, moving the ball better and playing hard.
"The way we finished the fourth was frustrating, and there are things we know moving into the NCAA Tournament we're going to have time to work on, and we will.”
The Spartans have about a week and a half to regroup before the start of the NCAA Tournament on March 19, and won’t know their seeding until Selection Sunday on March 16.
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Khassim Diakhate pursued his Bachelor's degree in journalism at Loyola Marymount University. He is passionate about the world of journalism and storytelling. He joins the On SI team, having previously worked at NBCUniversal, ESPN, and TMZ Sports.