Michigan State Women Rack Up All-Big Ten Honors
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EAST LANSING, Mich. --- Several players on Michigan State's best women's basketball team in some time have gotten Big Ten recognition.
On Tuesday, the conference released its postseason honors. The headliner for 18th-ranked MSU was both redshirt sophomore guard Kennedy Blair and senior forward Grace VanSlooten receiving Second-Team All-Big Ten honors from the coaches and the media. Junior guard Rashunda Jones was also included on the media's All-Defensive team, and senior guard Emma Shumate was the team's sportsmanship honoree.
"I walked down the stairs from film about probably a couple hours ago, and [my teammates] were just on their phones and they told me," Blair said about how she found out on Tuesday. "It's just a lot of emotions, very thankful. It's been a good year or so. Really proud of Grace, too, Emma, Spider (Jones' nickname). I think we all deserve what we got, and I'm just thankful that we got it.
The Spartans are currently prepping for their Big Ten Tournament run after receiving a 7 seed following an 11-7 record during conference play this season (22-7 overall). They'll face either No. 10 seed Illinois or No. 15 seed Wisconsin on Thursday (6:30 p.m. ET, BTN). Claiming some wins in the BTT will be important for MSU, as it is trying to secure a top 16 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, which would allow it to host the first two rounds in East Lansing.
More on Players' Seasons
The rise of Blair has been particularly great for the Michigan State program here. Blair was originally committed to play for Robyn Fralick at Bowling Green coming out of Divine Child in Dearborn, but opted to follow her to MSU and walk onto the team once Fralick took the job.
After Blair missed her true freshman season with a foot injury, she started playing a little bit last season, but still only saw 8.9 minutes per game across 20 appearances. Now, Blair is the Spartans' all-around guard, averaging 13.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 2.4 steals per game. She has the chance to really leave a legacy behind her with two more years of eligibility remaining.
VanSlooten, the former transfer from Oregon, has been elite in the Michigan State frontcourt for two seasons now. She made the conference's second team last year, too, and is averaging 15.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game this year.
Jones, the team's point guard, transferred in from Purdue this past offseason. She averages 2.1 steals per game, but still also plays a big role with her offense, averaging 12.0 points and 3.5 assists while splitting time with Blair as the team's point guard.
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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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