# 2014–15 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team

The 2014–15 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team represented Michigan State University during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Spartans, led by eighth year head coach Suzy Merchant, played their home games at the Breslin Center and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 16–15, 7–11 in Big Ten play to finish in ninth place. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the Big Ten women's tournament, where they lost to Maryland. They did not participate in a postseason tournament for the first time since 2001.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/09/2014* 4:00 pm | No. 14 | Grand Valley State | W 70–51 | – | Breslin Center (4,818) East Lansing, MI |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/16/2014* 2:00 pm | No. 14 | Eastern Michigan | W 68–61 | 1–0 | Breslin Center (5,311) East Lansing, MI |
| 11/19/2014* 7:00 pm, BTN | No. 15 | No. 3 Notre Dame | L 63–71 | 1–1 | Breslin Center (8,644) East Lansing, MI |
| 11/23/2014* 2:00 pm | No. 15 | IUPUI | W 64–45 | 2–1 | Breslin Center (5,200) East Lansing, MI |
| 11/26/2014* 7:30 pm | No. 16 | Oakland | W 79–64 | 3–1 | Breslin Center (5,396) East Lansing, MI |
| 11/30/2014* 2:00 pm | No. 16 | Miami (OH) | W 85–39 | 4–1 | Breslin Center (4,007) East Lansing, MI |
| 12/04/2014* 7:00 pm | No. 15 | Georgia Tech ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge | W 79–73 $^{OT}$ | 5–1 | Breslin Center (6,636) East Lansing, MI |
| 12/07/2014* 4:00 pm, SECN | No. 15 | at No. 19 Georgia | L 60–69 | 5–2 | Stegeman Coliseum (3,524) Athens, GA |
| 12/14/2014* 3:00 pm | No. 19 | at Loyola–Chicago | W 90–38 | 6–2 | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (583) Chicago, IL |
| 12/16/2014* 7:00 pm | No. 18 | Alcorn State | W 77–41 | 7–2 | Breslin Center (5,243) East Lansing, MI |
| 12/20/2014* 4:00 pm | No. 18 | vs. No. 9 Baylor Florida Sunshine Classic | L 65–84 | 7–3 | Worden Arena (755) Winter Haven, FL |
| 12/21/2014* 4:00 pm | No. 18 | vs. No. 19 Syracuse Florida Sunshine Classic | W 89–76 | 8–3 | Worden Arena (502) Winter Haven, FL |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 12/28/2014 2:00 pm | No. 20 | Northwestern | L 57–61 | 8–4 (0–1) | Breslin Center (8,128) East Lansing, MI |
| 12/31/2014 7:00 pm | No. 24 | at Indiana | L 51–70 | 8–5 (0–2) | Assembly Hall (2,714) Bloomington, IN |
| 01/04/2015 2:00 pm, BTN | No. 24 | at Michigan Rivalry | L 65–74 | 8–6 (0–3) | Crisler Center (4,520) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 01/08/2015 8:30 pm, BTN | | No. 19 Nebraska | L 67–71 | 8–7 (0–4) | Breslin Center (4,652) East Lansing, MI |
| 01/11/2015 3:00 pm | | at Northwestern | L 70–77 | 8–8 (0–5) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (1,152) Evanston, IL |
| 01/15/2015 7:00 pm | | Illinois | W 63–56 | 9–8 (1–5) | Breslin Center (4,419) East Lansing, MI |
| 01/18/2015 3:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 22 Iowa | L 50–52 | 9–9 (1–6) | Breslin Center (8,923) East Lansing, MI |
| 01/22/2015 7:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 7 Maryland | L 56–85 | 9–10 (1–7) | Xfinity Center (5,012) College Park, MD |
| 01/25/2015 2:00 pm | | Wisconsin | W 77–71 | 10–10 (2–7) | Breslin Center (7,560) East Lansing, MI |
| 01/28/2014 7:00 pm | | Indiana | W 72–57 | 11–10 (3–7) | Breslin Center (4,800) East Lansing, MI |
| 02/02/2015 6:30 pm, BTN | | at Ohio State | L 62–76 | 11–11 (3–8) | Value City Arena (4,234) Columbus, OH |
| 02/05/2015 7:00 pm | | Michigan Rivalry | L 59–72 | 11–12 (3–9) | Breslin Center (5,315) East Lansing, MI |
| 02/08/2015 3:00 pm | | at Minnesota | L 79–86 | 11–13 (3–10) | Williams Arena (6,570) Minneapolis, MN |
| 02/11/2015 7:00 pm | | at Penn State | W 74–67 | 12–13 (4–10) | Bryce Jordan Center (3,319) University Park, PA |
| 02/16/2015 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 5 Maryland | L 69–75 | 12–14 (4–11) | Breslin Center (5,562) East Lansing, MI |
| 02/22/2015 2:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 19 Rutgers | W 60–50 | 13–14 (5–11) | Breslin Center (8,110) East Lansing, MI |
| 02/25/2015 8:00 pm | | at Illinois | W 67–65 | 14–14 (6–11) | State Farm Center (1,815) Champaign, IL |
| 02/28/2015 2:00 pm, BTN | | at Purdue | W 61–56 | 15–14 (7–11) | Mackey Arena (7,030) West Lafayette, IN |
| Big Ten Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/05/2015 12:30 pm, BTN | | vs. Michigan Second Round/Rivalry | W 69–49 | 16–14 | Sears Centre (N/A) Hoffman Estates, IL |
| 03/06/2015 12:30 pm, BTN | | vs. No. 4 Maryland Quarterfinals | L 60–70 | 16–15 | Sears Centre (N/A) Hoffman Estates, IL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking Movement Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Final |
| AP | 14 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 19 | 21 | 20 | 24 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Coaches | 15 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 21 | 18 | 22 | RV | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |