Michigan State women's basketball released its full 2023-2024 non-conference schedule Wednesday afternoon. MSU will play 11 games in non-conference action plus an exhibition matchup against Davenport.
The Spartans will kick off the Robyn Fralick era in East Lansing with four-straight home matchups at the Breslin Center before heading south of the border for Thanksgiving in Cancun, Mexico. After returning to the United States afterwards, MSU will face its only true road game when it takes on DePaul on Nov. 30 in Chicago.
Two more home matchups will remain after that for the non-conference action before the Spartans head to North Carolina to participate in the Cherokee Invitational prior to the holidays.
The full schedule is available below.
Looking at the schedule, Michigan State will likely find its toughest challenges in the Cancun Challenge. Both James Madison and Creighton made trips to the NCAA Tournament last season and are the two teams the Spartans draw in the event.
Besides those two, Richmond and UT Chattanooga were the only teams above .500 last season that will appear on this year's schedule for MSU. Richmond finished the season 21-11 and advanced to the second round of the WNIT before falling to Rhode Island. As for the Mocs, UT Chattanooga finished 20-13 and also earned a bid tot he NCAA Tournament, falling at Virginia Tech in the first round. The Spartans draw one of the two teams in the second game of the Cherokee Invitational.
Coastal Carolina (14-16) and DePaul (16-17) both came close to finishing .500 on the year as well and look to pose challenges for Michigan State.
Michigan State will be adjusting this year as Fralick begins her tenure as head coach in East Lansing. The sixth women's basketball head coach was announced by MSU March 31 after longtime program leader Suzy Merchant stepped down on March 13.
The Big Ten conference schedule will be released at a later date. Opponent pairings were released in late June.
Michigan State will play five opponents both home and away for the 2023-2024 league schedule, facing in-state rival Michigan, Ohio State, Purdue, Minnesota, and Rutgers twice this season.
Single-game visits to the Breslin Center by Illinois, Maryland, Nebraska, and Northwestern await as well, in addition to road games at Indiana, Iowa, Penn State, and Wisconsin.
