Michigan State’s women face 22-game homecourt winning streak and Final Four veterans
PHOTO: North Carolina State senior Saniya Rivers (22) is one of three returning starters from the Wolfpack’s Final Four team in 2024.
Visit my homepage: TomShanahan.Report
Click here for review and purchase link: THE RIGHT THING TO DO, The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s.
***
By TOM SHANAHAN
RALEIGH – NCAA Tournament road trips lack the luxury of sightseeing, but Michigan State’s players have spent enough time this weekend at Reynolds Coliseum on North Carolina State’s campus to know history drips from the venerable arena’s rafters.
The Spartans are playing their second game in three days after their first-round victory. They face host NC State after both teams won their first-round Saturday afternoon games. The seventh-seeded Spartans (22-9) and No. 2 seed Wolfpack (27-6) meet at noon on Monday in the tournament’s second round.
Outside on the Reynolds ground are five statues commemorating NC State’s proud men’s and women’s basketball history:
Everett Case, who brought big-time basketball to the South as NC State’s coach (1946-64); Kay Yow (1975-2009), a giant among the original women’s coaches; Norm Sloan, who won the 1974 NCAA title; Jimmy Valvano, who won the 1983 NCAA title; and David Thompson, one of the game’s all-time greats on the Wolfpack’s 1974 national championship team.
“We try to see as much as we can, but we’re in the gym a lot of the day to try to prepare for the game,” said Michigan State junior guard Theryn Hallock. “It’s really cool where the history, and especially with women’s sports, just all the things we can see around campus. It’s really beautiful, because it’s a lot different than East Lansing.”
Aside from history, here are three factors to watch:
1. THE HOMECOURT WINNING STREAK
The pressing concern the Spartans face playing on Kay Yow Court at Reynolds is NC State’s 22-game winning streak behind a vocal crowd. The cozy, 5,500-seat area was renovated in 2016 from its original capacity of 12,400 as the South’s largest arena, but it has maintained its hometown charm.
Michigan State’ 64-50 win over 10th seeded Harvard was the second game of Saturday’s first-round double-header, so they heard the decibels the arena can reach while NC State was putting away from 15th-seeded Vermont 75-55.
“This place is going to be rocking,” Michigan State second-year coach Robyn Fralick said. “It’s going to be loud. It’s going to be hot. That’s what this part of the season is about. We’re excited to be part of a time of women’s basketball when people really care about it.”
MORE OF MY NCAA COVERAGE RALEIGH
March 19: Reynolds wraps history around basketball in the South and the women’s game – Tom Shanahan Report
March 23: Michigan State’s women face 22-game homecourt winning streak and Final Four veterans – Tom Shanahan Report
March 23: Fralick building reputation with her game plans – Tom Shanahan Report
March 24: NC State’s hot hands end Michigan State’s season – Tom Shanahan Report
One game in NC State’s home winning streak was upsetting then-No. 1-ranked Notre Dame on February 23 in a double-overtime result, 104-95. The win gave the Wolfpack the tiebreaker for the ACC regular-season title.
“Not a lot of teams can say they won 22 straight games at home,” said graduate guard Madison Hayes. “It’s hard to do because were in a great conference and now in we’re the NCAA Tournament. It’s the culture we’ve built with the team and the fans as well. They love us, they support us through the hard times and the losses. They always come out and show out. I feel they’re the best fan base in the nation.”
2. THE INSIDE GAME
Michigan State plays a three-guard offense with two experienced inside post players, 6-2 junior Grace VanSlooten and 6-2 graduate Julia Aryault.
NC State plays a four-guard offense with one guard, with Madison Hayes (6-0) out of position defensively against the opponent’s 4.
Van Slooten was the difference in the Harvard game with 17 points and 10 rebounds while drawing 10 fouls. Aryault had an off night from her 13.8 per-game scoring average with only eight, but she pulled down eight rebounds.
“I love to say it’s a big girls game,” Fralick said. “The further along you move, the bigger of a girls game it gets. You’ve got to be able to take contact. You’ve got to be able to hold your line. I love that.
“I think when we go through Big Ten play, the Big Ten is very physical. You have to do it the right way. It’s physicality with purpose. It’s physicality with discipline. But, yeah, it’s a big girls game.”
The Wolfpack lines up the tallest player on the court with 6-6 freshman Tilda Trygger from Stockholm, Sweden. Trygger (pronounced TREE-ger) has blossomed as a “trigger” while starting 15 of the last 17 games. She scored 19 points with nine rebounds against Notre Dame.
“She’s really improved over the course of the season,” Fralick said. “I think she’s been a big part of their team’s development with her size and her ability to guard in the paint and be a big screen and roll for them.”
But Trygger will be tested by Michigan State’s two older opponents known for their physical style. NC State plays Trygger as a 5, but she grew up playing the 4 with a three-point shot. In NC State’s most recent loss to Duke in the ACC Tournament title game, the Wolfpack struggled against Duke’s physical game plan.
Hayes is not the Wolfpack’s only starter playing out of position. With the 6-footer plays as guard in the Wolfpack runs a four-guard offense, Hayes ends up defending the opponent’s 4.
“I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job in guarding their 4 players, even though I’m undersized,” Hayes said. “But I’m going to continue to do that for my team and help us win.”
3. GAINING EXPERIENCE VS. EXPERIENCE
Michigan State’s inexperienced post-season players and North Carolina State’s post-season veterans offered similar comments following their first-round Saturday victories. They wanted to play with poise and energy.
That might sound odd, but the difference was Michigan State’s goal was to gain maturity, while NC State’s consistency is built into the program’s run of success that included last year’s Final Four trip.
Michigan State focus on overcoming first-round jitters made sense. The Spartans were still hurting from 2024 when a slow start bounced them with a first-round loss to North Carolina. Last season, Fralick’s first at Michigan State was the Spartans’ first NCAA trip in three seasons. The players learned their lesson, jumping out to a 13-2 lead enroute to a win over Harvard, 64-50.
“I think it’s a big part of taking the game in front of you really seriously,” Fralick said. “At this time in the season, anybody playing is really good. Anybody playing is really dangerous. Anybody still playing is doing things really well.
“You always say the most important game is the game in front of you. We say that all season long. Then when you get into March, there has to be an incredible intentionality behind the game in front of you, the possession in front of you, the details that go into that.”
NC State returned three starters from last year’s Final Four team, senior 5-10 guard Aziaha James, senior 6-1 guard Saniya Rivers and sophomore 5-10 guard Zoe Brooks. Although there were 15 players named to the first team, James was fourth in the voting, Rivers eighth and Brooks 11th.
This is NC State’s eighth straight year under coach Wes Moore in the NCAA Tournament and its second season in a row as the host for the first two rounds. He’s ingrained in the culture not overlooking an opponent. The younger players learn it from the juniors and seniors. NC State beat No. 15 seed Vermont 75-55.
“No matter who the team is, they’re going to come out and play their best basketball,” Brooks said. “Vermont played very well. They shot very well. They hung around in the game till about three minutes left in the fourth quarter, which is very impressive. So just not taking anybody for granted.”
-30-
Tom Shanahan is an award-winning sportswriter and frequent contributor to Spartanmag.com in addition to posting on his website. His new book on Michigan State leading college football integration is, “THE RIGHT THING TO DO, The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s.” His first book was “RAYE OF LIGHT, Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the Integration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans.”
I invite you to follow me on Twitter @shanny4055
Below are links to click on to purchase my books focused.
My books tell the true story of college football integration in the 1960s and address the myths and fiction that allowed a false narrative surrounding the 1970 USC-Alabama game to usurp the credit from the true pioneers. As I said when I spoke at the National Sports Media Association book festival, no two books provide an accurate portrayal more than RAYE OF LIGHT and THE RIGHT THING TO DO.
I’ll put my facts up against anybody, anytime, anywhere. Watch here.
Click here for my story on the 1962 Rose Bowl and Segregation awarded first place by the Football Writers Association of America. I tell untold stories on Michigan State’s leading role and the true pioneers of college football integration. Click here to read the summary as a first-place story.
***
Click here to purchase The Right Thing To Do
THE RIGHT THING TO DO
The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s
Foreword by Ruffin McNeill
***
Click here to purchase Raye of Light.
RAYE OF LIGHT
Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the 1ntegration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans
Foreword by Tony Dungy
***
Click here to purchase my children’s book, Bubba’s Dad, Duffy and College Football’s Underground Railroad
The book for now is only a Kindle version on Amazon. Print and audio platforms available soon.
