Michigan State women's basketball finally reached the end of the tunnel — the end of its "gauntlet" stretch of five ranked matchups in February. Though it won’t leave the month scot-free, it finished the final week strong with back-to-back wins. 

After a slow start, MSU used a dominant third quarter to take down then-No. 23 Minnesota 75-61. The guard duo of senior Jalyn Brown and redshirt sophomore Kennedy Blair combined for 38 points and helped the Spartans improve their record to 22-6 (11-6 Big Ten).

"Another top-25 matchup on the road, playing arguably the hottest team in the league and one of the hottest teams in the country. They're ranked, but we always felt like they've been under-ranked because of the NET [rankings]," MSU head coach Robyn Fralick said postgame Sunday. "We knew it was going to be a tough challenge."

This was arguably MSU's best win of the season

After beating Minnesota, the Spartans picked up their fourth win over an AP Top 25 opponent this season, and Sunday’s was likely their most impressive. The Golden Gophers are tied for the second-highest-ranked win by MSU this season, as the Spartans also defeated then-No. 23 Washington on the road in January. The highest-ranked win came against then-No. 15 Ole Miss at the Cherokee Invitational in December — a dominant 66-49 victory.

Blowing out Ole Miss at a neutral site may remain the Spartans’ highest-ranked win, but all things considered, their road victory Sunday is arguably their best yet. Minnesota was ranked No. 23 entering the matchup but is one of the most underrated teams in the country.

The Golden Gophers had won nine straight games before falling to the Spartans, defeating two top-10 teams during that stretch. They also owned a better Big Ten record than MSU, despite the Spartans being ranked five spots higher, and sit eighth in the NET rankings despite never cracking the top 20 in the AP poll.

The easy way to put it: Going on the road and beating Minnesota on Senior Day by 14 points is MSU's best win of the year — not only a resume-builder but a morale boost in the closing days of the regular season.

This win most likely secures home-court advantage for the NCAA Tournament

Nothing is truly set in stone until Selection Sunday, but MSU has to feel pretty good about its odds of earning at least a four seed after the win over Minnesota. Before a rough week in which the Spartans lost by 20 to both No. 2 UCLA and No. 8 Michigan, MSU was projected to earn a No. 4 seed in the tournament, which would mean home-court advantage for the first two rounds. After those losses, questions arose about whether they could hold onto that seeding.