No. 7-seeded Michigan State opened play Saturday afternoon against No. 10-seeded Harvard looking for its first NCAA Tournament win since 2019. The Spartans did just that while improving to 7-0 all-time against Ivy League opponents while securing head coach Robyn Fralick her first career-tournament win in her second attempt in as many years.
MSU downed the Crimson 64-50 to move onto the second round against No. 2-seed North Carolina State. Start time and broadcast information will be available at a later time. The game will be played on Monday, March 24.
Grace VanSlooten led MSU with a double-double, notching the team high in points (17), rebounds (10), and blocks (3). Jocelyn Tate added 13 points along with the team high in steals with four. Theyrn Hallock added 10 points as well for Spartans in double figures.
Julia Ayrault fell just shy of a double-double with eight points and eight boards alongside two blocks. Nyla Hampton led the team in helpers with four assists.
Harvard's Harmoni Turner led all scorers on the day with 24 points. No other players for the Crimson finished in double figures, though three finished with eight points apiece.
Overall, MSU managed to be far more efficient in its scoring on the day as it went 19-for-45 from the field compared to 18-for-65 for Harvard. The Crimson outpaced the Spartans on the offensive glass to the tune of 22-12 but managed a paltry two points from second chance opportunities.
Michigan State got off to a fast start and never looked back in terms of the lead. The Spartans scored 11 unanswered points and kept Harvard off the scoreboard for almost 4.5 minutes of game play to open the matchup.
The Crimson did finally wake up and trimmed their deficit to within two before a pair of free throws by Ayrault ended the first stanza with MSU in the lead 15-11. Tate scored all eight of her first half points in the opening quarter, though picking up her second foul early in the second quarter saw her minutes limited for the remainder of the first half.
The second quarter was a defensive slug fest as the two teams combined for 7-for-24 shooting from the field and 13 total turnovers combined. The Spartans went almost four minutes without scoring after a layup by Ines Sotelo with 5:18 to go, but the Crimson spent much of the period struggling as well with the teams mostly trading scores.
At the half, Michigan State led 24-19. Tate led MSU with eight points while Ayrault held the edge on the boards with five rebounds (alongside five turnovers). Turner led all scorers with 12 points for Harvard.
The third quarter started with the Crimson getting two straight layups to bring it within one twice in the first few minutes, coming as close as the team would toward seizing the lead or at least tying it. The Spartans rallied and mounted an 11-0 run that forced a Harvard timeout at the midway point of the stanza.
The teams mostly traded scores from there as MSU kept the Crimson at arm's length but also struggled to find a run of its own to ice the game. At the buzzer to end the third, Michigan State led 45-35.
The fourth quarter was all MSU as the Spartans poured on the gas offensively. Just before the media break, the Spartans opened a 17-point lead before a trey from Harvard's Karlee White trimmed it back to 14. Just a few minutes later, MSU tore off a 7-0 run that forced another timeout from the Crimson as they suddenly trailed 60-39 with 4:30 left in the game.
Harvard managed to cut its deficit back to as close as 13 before a free throw by Simmons with :51 remaining would be the final score by either team.
Michigan State improves to 22-9 on the season with the win and will now face the 27-6 NC State Wolfpack on Monday. The winner will advance to the Sweet 16 in Spokane to face any of No. 3 LSU, No. 14 San Diego State, No. 6 Florida State, or No. 11 George Mason. The Spartans have not advanced to the Sweet 16 since 2009.
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