# 2018–19 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team

The 2018–19 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team represented Michigan State University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Spartans, led by 12th-year head coach Suzy Merchant, played their home games at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished with a record of 25–12, 9–9 in Big Ten play to finish in a 4 way tie for sixth place. They advanced to the quarterfinals 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 Central Michigan in the first round before losing to Notre Dame in the second round.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/01/2018* 7:00 pm | | Hillsdale | W 88–59 | | Breslin Center (2,547) East Lansing, MI |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/06/2018* 7:00 pm | | Bowling Green | W 99–69 | 1–0 | Breslin Center (4,278) East Lansing, MI |
| 11/11/2018* 1:00 pm | | East Tennessee State | W 75–53 | 2–0 | Breslin Center (4,379) East Lansing, MI |
| 11/18/2018* 1:00 pm | | Wright State | W 84–68 | 3–0 | Breslin Center (5,233) East Lansing, MI |
| 11/22/2018* 6:30 pm | | vs. No. 15 NC State Cancún Challenge Riviera Division | L 74–78 | 3–1 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya Cancún, Mexico |
| 11/23/2018* 9:00 pm | | vs. Kennesaw State Cancún Challenge Riviera Division | W 75–51 | 4–1 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (300) Cancún, Mexico |
| 11/28/2018* 7:00 pm, BTN | | Virginia ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge | W 91–66 | 5–1 | Breslin Center (4,219) East Lansing, MI |
| 12/02/2018* 2:00 pm | | Texas Southern | W 91–45 | 6–1 | Breslin Center (4,470) East Lansing, MI |
| 12/05/2018* 7:00 pm | | at Oakland | W 102–58 | 7–1 | Athletics Center O'rena (1,288) Rochester, MI |
| 12/09/2018* 3:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 3 Oregon | W 88–82 | 8–1 | Breslin Center (6,462) East Lansing, MI |
| 12/16/2018* 2:00 pm | No. 23 | at Hartford | W 74–66 $^{OT}$ | 9–1 | Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion (1,179) West Hartford, CT |
| 12/20/2018* 7:00 pm | No. 22 | Florida Atlantic | W 89–74 | 10–1 | Breslin Center (4,393) East Lansing, MI |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 12/30/2018 1:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 21 | No. 16 Iowa | W 84–70 | 11–1 (1–0) | Breslin Center (9,520) East Lansing, MI |
| 01/03/2019 8:00 pm | No. 15 | at Northwestern | L 62–70 | 11–2 (1–1) | Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,071) Evanston, IL |
| 01/06/2019 2:00 pm | No. 15 | at Indiana | L 64–68 | 11–3 (1–2) | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (6,380) Bloomington, IN |
| 01/09/2019 7:00 pm | No. 23 | No. 18 Minnesota | W 86–68 | 12–3 (2–2) | Breslin Center (5,018) East Lansing, MI |
| 01/14/2019 7:00 pm, BTN | No. 17 | at Ohio State | L 55–65 | 12–4 (2–3) | Value City Arena (4,695) Columbus, OH |
| 01/17/2019 6:00 pm, BTN | No. 17 | No. 9 Maryland | W 77–60 | 13–4 (3–3) | Breslin Center (5,651) East Lansing, MI |
| 01/20/2019 2:00 pm | No. 17 | at No. 20 Rutgers | L 62–76 | 13–5 (3–4) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (2,539) Piscataway, NJ |
| 01/24/2019 7:00 pm, BTN | No. 23 | Illinois | W 77–60 | 14–5 (4–4) | Breslin Center (4,745) East Lansing, MI |
| 01/27/2019 2:00 pm, BTN | No. 23 | at Michigan Rivalry | W 77–73 | 15–5 (5–4) | Crisler Center (12,707) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 02/03/2019 2:00 pm, BTN | No. 22 | Purdue | W 74–66 | 16–5 (6–4) | Breslin Center (7,450) East Lansing, MI |
| 02/07/2019 9:00 pm, BTN | No. 23 | at No. 16 Iowa | L 71–86 | 16–6 (6–5) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (6,287) Iowa City, IA |
| 02/11/2019 7:00 pm, BTN | No. 24 | Indiana | W 77–61 | 17–6 (7–5) | Breslin Center (3,542) East Lansing, MI |
| 02/14/2019 8:00 pm | No. 24 | at Wisconsin | L 62–79 | 17–7 (7–6) | Kohl Center (3,356) Madison, WI |
| 02/17/2019 4:00 pm, BTN | No. 24 | at Nebraska | L 71–82 | 17–8 (7–7) | Pinnacle Bank Arena (5,588) Lincoln, NE |
| 02/21/2019 6:00 pm, BTN | | Ohio State | L 70–77 | 17–9 (7–8) | Breslin Center (4,857) East Lansing, MI |
| 02/24/2019 2:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Michigan Rivalry | W 74–64 | 18–9 (8–8) | Breslin Center (11,368) East Lansing, MI |
| 02/27/2019 7:00 pm | | Penn State Rescheduled from January 31 | W 57–48 | 19–9 (9–8) | Breslin Center (2,356) East Lansing, MI |
| 03/04/2019 4:00 pm | | at Minnesota | L 63–81 | 19–10 (9–9) | Williams Arena (7,707) Minneapolis, MN |
| Big Ten tournament ||||||
| 03/07/2019 12:00 pm, BTN | (9) | vs. (8) Northwestern Second Round | W 68–52 | 20–10 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| 03/08/2019 12:00 pm, BTN | (9) | vs. (1) No. 8 Maryland Quarterfinals | L 55–71 | 20–11 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| NCAA Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/23/2019* 1:30 pm, ESPN2 | (7 C) | vs. (10 C) Central Michigan First Round | W 88–87 | 21–11 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (7,885) South Bend, IN |
| 03/25/2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN | (7 C) | at (1 C) No. 3 Notre Dame Second Round | L 63–91 | 21–12 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (6,694) South Bend, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. C=Chicago Region. All times are in Eastern Time Source. ||||||

## Rankings

2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings
Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | No Change |
| (RV) | Received Votes |
| (NR) | Not Ranked |