# 2016–17 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team

The 2016–17 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team represented Michigan State University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Spartans, led by tenth-year head coach Suzy Merchant, played their home games at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 21–12, 9–7 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for sixth place. In the Big Ten tournament, they beat Wisconsin and Michigan before losing in the semifinals to Maryland. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 8 seed where the lost in the First Round to Arizona State. Head Coach Suzy Merchant took a medical leave of absence of January 17, 2017 after fainting on the sidelines during a game against Illinois. She also missed the following game against Purdue days after fainting.

## Previous season

The Spartans finished the 2015–16 season 25–9, 13–5 in Big Ten play to finish in third place. They defeated Purdue and Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament before losing in the championship game to Maryland. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 4 seed. They defeated Belmont in the First Round before losing to Mississippi State in the Second Round.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/06/2016* 2:00 pm | | Northwood | W 82–47 | | Breslin Center (4,304) East Lansing, MI |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 7:00 pm | | Davidson | W 70–34 | 1–0 | Breslin Center (3,640) East Lansing, MI |
| 11/13/2016* 2:00 pm | | Wyoming | W 63–51 | 2–0 | Breslin Center (4,138) East Lansing, MI |
| 11/15/2016* 7:00 pm | | Southern | W 70–55 | 3–0 | Breslin Center (4,027) East Lansing, MI |
| 11/18/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Western Michigan | W 68–64 $^{OT}$ | 4–0 | University Arena (1,788) Kalamazoo, MI |
| 11/22/2016* 11:00 pm, P12N | No. 24 | at Oregon | L 55–88 | 4–1 | Matthew Knight Arena (2,056) Eugene, OR |
| 11/25/2016* 8:00 pm | No. 24 | vs. Delaware Radisson Thanksgiving Classic | W 81–64 | 5–1 | Matadome (218) Northridge, CA |
| 11/26/2016* 7:00 pm | No. 24 | at Cal State Northridge Radisson Thanksgiving Classic | W 63–59 | 6–1 | Matadome (399) Northridge, CA |
| 11/30/2016* 7:00 pm | | at No. 20 Syracuse ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge | L 64–75 | 6–2 | Carrier Dome (768) Syracuse, NY |
| 12/02/2016* 7:00 pm | | Oakland | W 81–76 | 7–2 | Breslin Center (4,638) East Lansing, MI |
| 12/06/2016* 7:00 pm | | at Quinnipiac | W 71–54 | 8–2 | TD Bank Sports Center (1,293) Hamden, CT |
| 12/08/2016* 7:00 pm | | at Rhode Island | W 85–48 | 9–2 | Ryan Center (205) Kingston, RI |
| 12/18/2016* 12:00 pm | | Northeastern | W 78–44 | 10–2 | Breslin Center (4,018) East Lansing, MI |
| 12/20/2016* 7:00 pm, BTN | | No. 2 Notre Dame | L 61–79 | 10–3 | Breslin Center (7,924) East Lansing, MI |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 01/01/2017 3:00 pm | | Illinois | W 71–47 | 11–3 (1–0) | Breslin Center (5,757) East Lansing, MI |
| 01/04/2017 6:00 pm | | at Purdue | L 54–66 | 11–4 (1–1) | Mackey Arena (5,776) West Lafayette, IN |
| 01/07/2017 7:00 pm | | Nebraska | W 93–73 | 12–4 (2–1) | Breslin Center (6,155) East Lansing, MI |
| 01/10/2017 8:00 pm, BTN | | No. 11 Ohio State | W 94–75 | 13–4 (3–1) | Breslin Center (5,538) East Lansing, MI |
| 01/14/2017 12:00 pm, BTN | | at Rutgers | L 58–62 | 13–5 (3–2) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (2,646) Piscataway, NJ |
| 01/17/2017 9:00 pm, BTN | | at Northwestern | L 65–76 | 13–6 (3–3) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (783) Evanston, IL |
| 01/22/2017 5:00 pm, BTN | | Purdue | L 66–76 | 13–7 (3–4) | Breslin Center (9,808) East Lansing, MI |
| 01/25/2017 8:00 pm | | at Wisconsin | W 81–57 | 14–7 (4–4) | Kohl Center (3,085) Madison, WI |
| 01/30/2017 8:00 pm, BTN | | at Minnesota | W 93–74 | 15–7 (5–4) | Williams Arena (3,490) Minneapolis, MN |
| 02/02/2017 6:00 pm, BTN | | Indiana | W 69–60 | 16–7 (6–4) | Breslin Center (6,438) East Lansing, MI |
| 02/09/2017 7:00 pm, BTN | | at Iowa | L 83–87 $^{OT}$ | 16–8 (6–5) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (4,384) Iowa City, IA |
| 02/12/2017 2:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 3 Maryland | L 72–89 | 16–9 (6–6) | Breslin Center (10,646) East Lansing, MI |
| 02/16/2017 7:00 pm | | Minnesota | W 85–69 | 17–9 (7–6) | Breslin Center (5,387) East Lansing, MI |
| 02/19/2017 2:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 20 Michigan | W 86–68 | 18–9 (8–6) | Crisler Center (12,707) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 02/22/2017 7:00 pm | | Penn State | W 73–64 | 19–9 (9–6) | Breslin Center (6,038) East Lansing, MI |
| 02/26/2017 2:00 pm | | at Nebraska | L 74–76 $^{OT}$ | 19–10 (9–7) | Pinnacle Bank Arena (4,630) Lincoln, NE |
| Big Ten tournament ||||||
| 03/02/2017 9:00 pm, BTN | (6) | vs. (11) Wisconsin Second Round | W 70–63 | 20–10 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (3,431) Indianapolis, IN |
| 03/03/2017 9:00 pm, BTN | (6) | vs. (3) Michigan Quarterfinals | W 74–64 | 21–10 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (4,065) Indianapolis, IN |
| 03/04/2017 6:30 pm, BTN | (6) | vs. (2) No. 4 Maryland Semifinals | L 89–100 | 21–11 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (5,408) Indianapolis, IN |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 03/17/2017* 7:30 pm, ESPN2 | (9 S) | vs. (8 S) Arizona State First Round | L 61–73 | 21–12 | Colonial Life Arena (8,215) Columbia, SC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=Stockton Region Source. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Rankings

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