EAST LANSING — The Michigan State women’s basketball team gained plenty of confidence during the early weeks of the season as it feasted on mid-major opponents at home while starting 6-0.
But tougher challenges are coming soon.
And they’ll start this weekend when No. 21-ranked MSU travels to the Bahamas to kick off a month-long stretch of road games.
The Spartans could face their first major conference opponent this weekend in Clemson, will open Big Ten play at Wisconsin (Dec. 7) and could play their first ranked opponent of the season in Ole Miss (Cherokee Invitational Dec. 21-22) over a six-game road stretch before returning home to face Rutgers (Dec. 28).
“We know we have big challenges ahead,” MSU coach Robyn Fralick said. “There’s going to be some new challenges so our team has to get that focus and be ready for that as we head to the Bahamas for Thanksgiving.”
Several positive takeaways emerged from the early season dominance. For one, MSU has shown it has solid depth, with numerous players contributing over the first six games. That includes from a scoring standpoint as nine of the 12 players who have appeared in a game have reached double figures in points at least once. That balance has led to MSU ranking in the top five nationally in bench points per game.
”I think we’re a really hard-working team,” MSU captain and senior forward Grace VanSlooten said. “I think we do a good job of when the second group comes in there’s no drop off.
“Everybody competes, everybody can play, we have really good depth. I’d just say we’re really deep and everybody works really hard.”
Sophomore guard Kennedy Blair said ball movement has also been a strength so far. The Spartans lead the nation in assists at 27.0 per game while averaging 102.3 points through six games, and Blair credits unselfish play.
As the schedule picks up, Fralick hopes MSU can continue to lean on those strengths.
“We have a lot of kids we can count on, a lot of kids who can bring different things,” Fralick said. “The other thing I’ve liked so far is we’ve been a pretty good passing team. That’s got to remain. The game is much easier when you share the ball and so that’s something we’ve got to continue.“
MSU’s first game in the Bahamas will be at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 28, against Temple (3-3). The Spartans will then play either Clemson (4-2) or West Carolina (2-4) at a time to be announced on Nov. 30.
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway and Bluesky @briancalloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU women’s basketball bracing for tougher tests as it begins road swing
Reporting by Brian Calloway, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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