# 2023–24 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team

The 2023–24 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team represented Michigan State University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Spartans, were led by first-year head coach Robyn Fralick and played their home games at Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan.
They finished the regular season 22–7, 12–6 in Big Ten play to finish in fourth place, marking the first time since 2016 that the team had double digit conference wins and won at least 22 games in a season. As a result, they earned a double bye in the Big Ten tournament. They lost to Nebraska in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 9 seed in Regional 1. There they lost to North Carolina in the first round.

## Previous season

The Spartans finished the 2022–23 season 16–14, 7–10 in Big Ten play to finish in ninth place. They defeated Nebraska in the second round of the Big Ten tournament before losing to Indiana. The Spartans were invited to the National Invitation Tournament, but declined the invitation due in part to the Michigan State shooting on campus.
On January 28, 2023, head coach Suzy Merchant was involved in an automobile crash which led to her being hospitalized. Assistant coach Dean Lockwood took over as the acting head coach for the remainder of the season. Merchant stepped down as head coach of the Spartans after the conclusion of the season. On March 31, the school named Bowling Green head coach Robyn Fralick the team's new head coach.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 2, 2023* 6:30 p.m., B1G+ | | Davenport | W 99–46 | | Breslin Center (2,481) East Lansing, MI |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 8, 2023* 6:30 p.m., B1G+ | | Oakland | W 87–62 | 1–0 | Breslin Center (2,596) East Lansing, MI |
| November 12, 2023* 2:00 p.m., B1G+ | | Wright State | W 99–55 | 2–0 | Breslin Center (3,137) East Lansing, MI |
| November 16, 2023* 6:30 p.m., B1G+ | | Detroit Mercy | W 105–44 | 3–0 | Breslin Center (2,936) East Lansing, MI |
| November 19, 2023* 1:00 p.m., B1G+ | | Evansville | W 105–49 | 4–0 | Breslin Center (3,107) East Lansing, MI |
| November 23, 2023* 6:30 p.m., FloSports | | vs. James Madison Cancún Challenge | W 95–69 | 5–0 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (197) Cancún, Mexico |
| November 24, 2023* 4:00 p.m., FloSports | | vs. Creighton Cancún Challenge | L 69–83 | 5–1 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (250) Cancún, Mexico |
| November 30, 2023* 7:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at DePaul | W 102–64 | 6–1 | Wintrust Arena (1,174) Chicago, IL |
| December 3, 2023* 2:00 p.m., B1G+ | | Miami (OH) | W 89–44 | 7–1 | Breslin Center (2,861) East Lansing, MI |
| December 9, 2023 2:00 p.m., BTN | | Nebraska | L 74–80 | 7–2 (0–1) | Breslin Center (3,194) East Lansing, MI |
| December 17, 2023* 2:00 p.m., B1G+ | | Central Michigan | W 91–67 | 8–2 | Breslin Center (4,340) East Lansing, MI |
| December 20, 2023* 9:30 p.m., FloSports | | vs. Richmond Cherokee Invitational | W 83–76 | 9–2 | The Cherokee Convention Center (302) Cherokee, NC |
| December 21, 2023* 9:30 p.m. | | vs. Coastal Carolina Cherokee Invitational championship | W 105–66 | 10–2 | The Cherokee Convention Center (723) Cherokee, NC |
| December 30, 2023 4:00 p.m., BTN | | at Penn State | W 98–87 | 11–2 (1–1) | Bryce Jordan Center (2,967) State College, PA |
| January 2, 2024 9:00 p.m., Peacock | | at No. 4 Iowa | L 73–76 | 11–3 (1–2) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (14,998) Iowa City, IA |
| January 9, 2024 6:00 p.m., BTN | | Maryland | W 74–69 | 12–3 (2–2) | Breslin Center (2,886) East Lansing, MI |
| January 14, 2024 4:00 p.m., BTN | | at No. 17 Ohio State | L 65–70 | 12–4 (2–3) | Value City Arena (7,601) Columbus, OH |
| January 17, 2024 6:30 p.m., B1G+ | | Northwestern | W 91–72 | 13–4 (3–3) | Breslin Center (2,816) East Lansing, MI |
| January 20, 2024 3:00 p.m., B1G+ | | at Minnesota | L 50–69 | 13–5 (3–4) | Williams Arena (5,020) Minneapolis, MN |
| January 24, 2024 6:30 p.m., B1G+ | | Purdue | W 97–70 | 14–5 (4–4) | Breslin Center (3,096) East Lansing, MI |
| January 27, 2024 12:00 p.m., B1G+ | | Michigan | W 82–61 | 15–5 (5–4) | Breslin Center (9,385) East Lansing, MI |
| January 30, 2024 7:00 p.m., B1G+ | | at Rutgers | W 82–64 | 16–5 (6–4) | Jersey Mike's Arena (1,409) Piscataway, NJ |
| February 5, 2024 6:00 p.m., BTN | | Minnesota | W 76–65 | 17–5 (7–4) | Breslin Center (3,154) East Lansing, MI |
| February 8, 2024 7:00 p.m., Peacock | | at No. 14 Indiana | L 91–94 | 17–6 (7–5) | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (8,580) Bloomington, IN |
| February 11, 2024 4:00 p.m., Peacock | | No. 5 Ohio State | L 71–86 | 17–7 (7–6) | Breslin Center (5,753) East Lansing, MI |
| February 18, 2024 12:00 p.m., BTN | | at Michigan | W 70–66 | 18–7 (8–6) | Crisler Center (10,461) Ann Arbor, MI |
| February 21, 2024 7:00 p.m., B1G+ | | at Purdue | W 68–59 | 19–7 (9–6) | Mackey Arena (3,856) West Lafayette, IN |
| February 24, 2024 2:00 p.m., B1G+ | | Rutgers | W 93–57 | 20–7 (10–6) | Breslin Center (7,696) East Lansing, MI |
| February 29, 2024 8:00 p.m., BTN | | Illinois | W 87–70 | 21–7 (11–6) | Breslin Center (3,392) East Lansing, MI |
| March 3, 2024 1:00 p.m., B1G+ | | at Wisconsin | W 78–52 | 22–7 (12–6) | Kohl Center (4,542) Madison, WI |
| Big Ten tournament ||||||
| March 8, 2024 3:00 p.m., BTN | (4) | vs. (5) Nebraska Quarterfinals | L 61–73 | 22–8 | Target Center (18,481) Minneapolis, MN |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 22, 2024* 11:30 a.m., ESPN2 | (9 A1) | vs. (8 A1) North Carolina First round | L 56–59 | 22–9 | Colonial Life Arena Columbia, SC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. A1=Albany 1. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | — | RV | RV | — | — | RV | — | — |
| Coaches | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | — |

## Awards and honors
### Postseason awards
#### Julia Ayrault

* All-Big Ten First Team (unanimous)

#### Deedee Haemann

* All-Big Ten Second Team

#### Theryn Hallock

* Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year

#### Moira Joiner

* All-Big Ten Second Team