Big opportunities in front of MSU women's basketball with pair of top-25 matchups on deck
EAST LANSING — Theryn Hallock remembers the feeling when the Michigan State women's basketball team picked up its biggest win of the season last winter and knocked off top-five ranked Indiana on its home court.
That contest in December 2022 marked the last win for MSU over a top-25 opponent.
Hallock and the Spartans (17-5 overall, 7-4 Big Ten) have two chances to add a significant victory to their NCAA tournament resume in the coming days, starting with a road matchup against No. 14-ranked Indiana on Thursday (7 p.m., Peacock). That contest will be followed by a home game against No. 5 Ohio State on Sunday (4 p.m. Peacock) as the Spartans complete a stretch with three games in seven days.
"Obviously we have a huge week coming up with Indiana and Ohio State," Hallock said. "We know that we have these stretches and everybody has these stretches. You just have to take it one by one, we have to play together, we have to play our game.
"I think when we go to a place like Indiana, it's going to be important that we do stay together because it's a tough crowd, similar to Iowa. We're definitely ready for this."
Indiana (18-3, 9-2) is third in the Big Ten and two games ahead of the Spartans after suffering a loss to Ohio State on Sunday. The Buckeyes (19-3, 10-1) are tied atop the Big Ten standings with Iowa. MSU is tied for fourth with Penn State and has a chance to show it belongs in the league's top tier.
“Both are great opponents in different ways," MSU coach Robyn Fralick said. "I think we’ve got to focus on what’s in front of us and play good basketball."
MSU is 0-3 against top-25 teams this season with losses to Creighton, Iowa and Ohio State. The setbacks to Iowa and Ohio State last month came by a combined eight points and were both on the road.
Those games, along with their current four-game winning streak, has the Spartans feeling they can play with the Big Ten's best. Now the mission is to prevail in a top-25 matchup to reach another level in what has been an improved season for the program in Fralick's first year.
"I just think that everybody knows what's at risk," MSU graduate student guard Moira Joiner said. "We've been talking about it the whole season and it seems like the conversations we have, our practices, everybody is locked into OK we're here, but we can get here. We set ourselves up preseason for this."
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU women's basketball has two big tests against top-25 opponents
