# 2015–16 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team

The 2015–16 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team represented Michigan State University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Spartans, led by ninth year head coach Suzy Merchant, played their home games at the Breslin Center and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished with a record of 25–9, 13–5 in Big Ten play to finish in third place. They advanced to the championship game of the Big Ten women's tournament, where they lost to Maryland. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA women's tournament, where they defeated Belmont in the first round before losing to Mississippi State in the second round.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/08/2015* 2:00 pm | No. 24 | Michigan Tech | W 74–43 | | Breslin Center (5,252) East Lansing, MI |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/15/2015* 2:00 pm | No. 24 | Western Michigan | W 78–40 | 1–0 | Breslin Center (6,270) East Lansing, MI |
| 11/18/2015* 7:30 pm | No. 23 | Georgia | W 66–45 | 2–0 | Breslin Center (5,117) East Lansing, MI |
| 11/21/2015* 12:00 pm | No. 23 | Idaho State | W 79–60 | 3–0 | Breslin Center (4,984) East Lansing, MI |
| 11/27/2015* 5:45 pm | No. 20 | vs. Cincinnati Junkanoo Jam Lucaya Division | W 103–63 | 4–0 | St. George HS Gymnasium (328) Freeport, BAH |
| 11/28/2015* 5:45 pm | No. 20 | vs. No. 5 Baylor Junkanoo Jam Lucaya Division | L 76–84 | 4–1 | St. George HS Gymnasium (684) Freeport, BAH |
| 12/03/2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 19 | Louisville ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge | L 78–85 | 4–2 | Breslin Center (5,721) East Lansing, MI |
| 12/06/2015* 2:00 pm | No. 19 | Loyola–Chicago | W 76–47 | 5–2 | Breslin Center (5,706) East Lansing, MI |
| 12/09/2015* 6:30 pm | No. 25 | at Davidson | W 73–44 | 6–2 | John M. Belk Arena (3,714) Davidson, NC |
| 12/13/2015* 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 25 | at Oakland | W 82–62 | 7–2 | Athletics Center O'rena (1,837) Rochester, MI |
| 12/18/2015* 8:00 pm, ASN | No. 24 | at Northeastern Northeastern Winter Showdown | W 77–52 | 8–2 | Matthews Arena (1,869) Boston, MA |
| 12/21/2015* 7:00 pm | No. 24 | Detroit | W 81–42 | 9–2 | Breslin Center (6,540) East Lansing, MI |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 12/31/2015 12:00 pm, BTN | No. 24 | at No. 9 Ohio State | L 80–85 | 9–3 (0–1) | Value City Arena (5,631) Columbus, OH |
| 01/03/2016 2:00 pm | No. 24 | Wisconsin | W 77–67 | 10–3 (1–1) | Breslin Center (6,950) East Lansing, MI |
| 01/07/2016 7:00 pm | No. 23 | at Penn State | W 71–55 | 11–3 (2–1) | Bryce Jordan Center (2,885) University Park, PA |
| 01/10/2016 2:00 pm, BTN | No. 23 | No. 16 Northwestern | W 74–51 | 12–3 (3–1) | Breslin Center (6,272) East Lansing, MI |
| 01/13/2016 7:00 pm | No. 18 | at Indiana | L 65–81 | 12–4 (3–2) | Assembly Hall (2,507) Bloomington, IN |
| 01/16/2016 4:30 pm, BTN | No. 18 | Iowa | W 80–73 | 13–4 (4–2) | Breslin Center (9,017) East Lansing, MI |
| 01/19/2016 6:00 pm, BTN | No. 21 | Rutgers | W 59–48 | 14–4 (5–2) | Breslin Center (4,911) East Lansing, MI |
| 01/27/2016 7:00 pm | No. 18 | Purdue | W 68–56 | 15–4 (6–2) | Breslin Center (5,272) East Lansing, MI |
| 01/31/2016 4:00 pm | No. 18 | at Wisconsin | W 77–54 | 16–4 (7–2) | Kohl Center (9,436) Madison, WI |
| 02/03/2016 7:00 pm | No. 17 | Michigan Rivalry | W 85–64 | 17–4 (8–2) | Breslin Center (8,003) East Lansing, MI |
| 02/05/2016 7:00 pm | No. 17 | at No. 5 Maryland | L 76–85 | 17–5 (8–3) | Xfinity Center (5,738) College Park, MD |
| 02/07/2016 3:00 pm | No. 17 | at Iowa | W 74–69 | 18–5 (9–3) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (6,255) Iowa City, IA |
| 02/11/2016 6:30 pm, BTN | No. 17 | Penn State | L 61–65 | 18–6 (9–4) | Breslin Center (5,588) East Lansing, MI |
| 02/14/2016 4:00 pm, BTN | No. 17 | at Nebraska | L 66–73 | 18–7 (9–5) | Pinnacle Bank Arena (8,338) Lincoln, NE |
| 02/18/2016 7:00 pm | No. 25 | at Rutgers | W 70–67 | 19–7 (10–5) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (2,156) Piscataway, NJ |
| 02/21/2016 1:00 pm, BTN | No. 25 | Minnesota | W 114–106 | 20–7 (11–5) | Breslin Center (9,436) East Lansing, MI |
| 02/24/2016 8:00 pm | No. 20 | at Illinois | W 71–43 | 21–7 (12–5) | State Farm Center (1,395) Champaign, IL |
| 02/27/2016 2:00 pm, BTN | No. 20 | No. 5 Ohio State | W 107–105 $^{3OT}$ | 22–7 (13–5) | Breslin Center (8,631) East Lansing, MI |
| Big Ten Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/04/2016 9:00 pm, BTN | (3) No. 19 | vs. (6) Purdue Quarterfinals | W 65–64 | 23–7 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| 03/05/2016 5:30 pm, BTN | (3) No. 19 | vs. (2) No. 9 Ohio State Semifinals | W 82–63 | 24–7 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| 03/06/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN | (3) No. 19 | vs. (1) No. 5 Maryland Championship Game | L 44–60 | 24–8 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (5,109) Indianapolis, IN |
| NCAA Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/18/2016* 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | (4 B) No. 16 | vs. (13 B) Belmont First Round | W 74–60 | 25–8 | Humphrey Coliseum Starkville, MS |
| 03/20/2016* 2:30 pm, ESPN2 | (4 B) No. 16 | vs. (5 B) No. 15 Mississippi State Second Round | L 72–74 | 25–9 | Humphrey Coliseum (7,094) Starkville, MS |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. B=Bridgeport Region. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not ranked previous week |
| (RV) | Received Votes |