Free Press writer Jalen Williams breaks down Sunday’s women’s NCAA Tournament second -round game between No. 20-ranked Michigan State basketball and 10-ranked Oklahoma.
Fast facts
Matchup: 5-seed Michigan State (27-7, 11-7 Big Ten) vs 4-seed Oklahoma (25-7, 11-5 SEC)
Tipoff: 8 p.m. Sunday, March 22; Lloyd Noble Center, Norman, Oklahoma.
TV: ESPN.
Series: Tied at 1-1 since their first game in 2005. The Sooners beat the Spartans 66-55 their last time, on Dec. 16, 2007.
At stake: The winner will be headed to the Sweet 16 in Sacramento, California. There, they’ll play the winner of Monday’s game between 1-seed South Carolina and 9-seed USC.
Michigan State basketball: Meet the Spartans
The buzz: MSU’s No. 5 seed is the Spartans’ highest in three seasons under Fralick. Overall, it is Michigan State’s highest tourney seed since 2016, when the Spartans were a No. 4 seed. The Spartans lost to NCAA 7-seed Illinois, 71-69, in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament, falling out of the top 16 teams and losing the chance to host the first and second round games of the NCAA Tournament.
VanSlooten, a senior forward, and Blair, a redshirt sophomore guard, received second-team All-Big Ten nods from both the coaches and media. Jones, a junior guard, was named to the Big Ten’s All-Defensive team by the media.
The 5-seed Spartans beat the 12-seed Colorado State Rams, 65-62, in the first round in Norman, Oklahoma on Friday.
Oklahoma basketball: Meet the Sooners
The buzz: Coming off a loss in the SEC Tournament quarterfinal to No. 5 LSU, 112-78, the Sooners, which are the No. 3 scoring offense in the nation, left no doubt when they beat the No. 13 seed Idaho, 89-59, on Friday to open the NCAA Tournament. OU won seven straight games before falling to LSU.
Their offensive attack is mostly led by freshman Chavez, a former No. 1 overall recruit who was selected to an All-SEC team this year and averaged 18.4 points per game in the regular season. Beers, meanwhile, was named a third-team All-American.
Jalen Williams is a trending reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at jawilliams1@freepress.com.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Get to know Michigan State women’s basketball vs Oklahoma
Reporting by Jalen Williams, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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