MSU's Fralick Shares Next Steps After Lopsided Loss
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EAST LANSING, Mich. --- Michigan State women's basketball is going through a rough patch in what has otherwise been a pretty successful season.
The 13th-ranked Spartans suffered their third loss in the last four games after a sluggish start proved deadly against No. 2 UCLA in an 86-63 loss at the Breslin Center on Wednesday night. MSU's other two losses also came at home to ranked foes, dropping a game in overtime to No. 7 Michigan and then another to 20th-ranked Maryland. There was also a road win over Penn State (now 1-12 in Big Ten play), but that required a second-half comeback, too.
"We were late to the fight," head coach Robyn Fralick said after the game. "And you can't be late to the fight against the heavyweight."
This loss dropped MSU to 20-5 overall on the season and 9-5 during Big Ten play. The Bruins improved to 24-1 and 14-0, respectively. See more of what Fralick had to say about her team, UCLA, and the road ahead below.
Watch Robyn Fralick here:
More on Wednesday's Game
One of the things about women's basketball is simply that there are some pretty distinct tiers in the sport, moreso than on the men's side. In the 31 tournaments that have been held since it was expanded to 64 teams in 1994, a 1 seed has won it all 23 times, and no team lower than a 3 seed has ever won it all.
Michigan State is trying to break into that upper echelon of the sport, but it got shown that there is a ways to go before that happens. The Spartans very well might get a top-4 seed in March this year, which would come with hosting the first two rounds in East Lansing, but it got shown that they have a ways to go before they're on the same tier with those "heavyweights," as Fralick put it.
It became clear who was going to win rather quickly. The Bruins had already built a 23-9 lead after the first quarter and then got their lead up to 24 at halftime. MSU played better in the second half, but it felt like it was really exerting itself to even make up a little bit of ground during the final two quarters, where UCLA led by as much as 31 with a few minutes to go.
Michigan State has proven it can play better than this, though. UCLA head coach Cori Close, who also had to build her program up in a way Fralick has to, made it clear that Wednesday's game wasn't really indicative of the team Fralick had. The future is still bright in East Lansing, but it's still clear that the road ahead towards potentially joining the nation's elite, which Fralick achieved at the Division II level, is a long one.
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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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