EAST LANSING — Robyn Fralick described UCLA as the cream of the crop as she looked ahead to the Michigan State women's basketball team's matchup against the Big Ten's top team and the No. 2 squad in the nation.
UCLA showed just why with a dominant performance Wednesday, Feb. 11 at Breslin Center.
No. 13-ranked MSU never led while suffering an 86-63 loss to the Bruins. The loss was the third straight at home and third in the last four games for the Spartans, who were held to a season low in points.
"We've got a lot of really good teams in our league and they're a team that can legitimately win a national championship," Fralick said. "The messaging I shared with the team is we were late to the fight. It's a four quarter game. Our second half we played tougher and better but it's a 40-minute game. We've got to be sharper, more connected and executing at a higher level over the whole 40 minutes.
"Credit to UCLA. They are big, they are tough and they are good. They do a lot of things really well."
UCLA won its 18th straight and had another dominant victory over a team in the top half of the Big Ten standings, which includes wins by more than 20 points over nationally ranked Iowa and Maryland. The only games decided by less than 10 points in conference play for the Bruins were against Michigan and UCLA, who entered play Feb. 11 tied for second in the Big Ten.
Rashunda Jones had 15 points to lead the Spartans. Emma Shumate added 12 points off the bench and Kennedy Blair finished with 10 points for MSU (20-5, 9-5).
National player of the year candidate Lauren Betts had 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting, seven rebounds and five assists to lead UCLA (24-1, 14-0).
MSU had its worst opening half of the season while trailing 44-20 at the intermission. It marked the biggest halftime deficit and the fewest points scored in an opening half this season for the Spartans, who shot just 22.9% and were out-rebounded 27-14 in the first 20 minutes.
"i just have a lot of respect for Michigan State," UCLA coach Cori Close said. "Robyn I think is doing a heck of a job building this program. I don't think the way her team was tonight is reflective of how well they've been playing."
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway and Bluesky @briancalloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan State women's basketball falls to UCLA