Michigan State athletics is dominating the Big Ten and pushing for tournaments after having a successful weekend all around.
The gymnastics team dominated four teams in its Big Four meet, while women's basketball took the No. 6 seed in the Big Ten tournament, and hockey won its second consecutive Big Ten championship.
Women’s basketball: Spartans shine on senior night
On Saturday, MSU faced off against Minnesota and took home a 73-58 win on senior night, with five Spartans scoring in double figures.
Junior forward Grace VanSlooten put up 15 points, and freshman center Ines Sotelo had 13. They were followed by graduate guards Julia Ayrault with 13 points, Jaddan Simmons with 11 and Nyla Hampton with 10.
The team struggled with scoring, but Sotelo came in big to help the team out with two buckets behind the arc in the first quarter.
“I’m so grateful that in our last home game, we could send our seniors out with a win," head coach Robin Fralick said post-game.
The Big Ten tournament will commence on Wednesday, March 6, and MSU will take the No. 6 seed. The Spartans' first game will be on Thursday, March 6, starting 25 minutes after the end of Game 6, which begins at 6:30 p.m.
Gymnastics: Spartans dominate Big Four Meet
The women's gymnastics team headed to the Big Four Meet in Coralville, Iowa, where it dominated in its matches against Iowa, Penn State and Washington.
MSU won the meet with a score of 197.150 and took the highest event score of any team on bars with a 49.475.
Adding to the success, the team took five of the top eight spots in vault. The Spartans are 11-2 overall and finished second alongside Minnesota in the Big Ten conference, with UCLA taking the top spot.
Next up, the team will head to the Elevate the Stage quad meet in Huntsville, Alabama, where it will take on Alabama, North Carolina and California on Sunday, March 9 at 5 p.m.
Men’s basketball: Spartans extend win streak
The team walked out of the Breslin Center with its fifth consecutive win after beating Wisconsin 71-62.
Senior guard Jaden Akins had a commanding presence on the court. He scored 19 points — four of which were 3-pointers — and added eight rebounds.
“I give Jaden Akins credit for finding his shot,” head coach Tom Izzo said post-game.
The team continued its strong second half performances this game, shooting 48.5% compared to 31.6% in the first.
The team is first in the Big Ten standings and No. 8 in the NCAA.
MSU will hit the road to take on Iowa on Thursday, March 6 at 8 p.m.
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Hockey: Back-to-back Big Ten champions
The Spartans took on Notre Dame on Saturday in South Bend to conclude their regular season with a dominating 5-2 win.
This marks the team's second consecutive Big Ten Championship win, and it will receive a bye and automatic advancement into the Big Ten tournament semifinals.
Both freshman Shane Vansaghi and junior Tiernan Shoudy scored two goals on Saturday night.
The team will stay home and take on the lowest remaining seed at Munn Ice Arena on Saturday, March 15.
Baseball: Spartans sweep Harvard in Greenville
On Friday, the baseball team headed to Greenville, South Carolina for a weekend series against Harvard, where it swept all three games.
The team won its Friday game with a score of 14-1, with the help of six home runs coming from five different Spartans to showcase their depth.
On Saturday and Sunday the victories continued; on Saturday the team won with a score of 11-1 and on Sunday, it didn’t let up winning 13-3.
Michigan State is now 8-1, second in the Big Ten standings, and unranked nationally. The team will continue its stay in Greenville for its match up on Wednesday, March 5 at 6:30 p.m. against Western Carolina.
Track & field: 11 podium finishes at Big Ten Indoors
The Spartans took home a total of 11 podium finishes over the course of the weekend at the Big Ten Indoor Championships in Indianapolis.
On Friday, the women’s team had a strong showing and the distance medley relay team took a second-place finish behind Oregon with a time of 11:00.04. Long distance runner Kate Barnett-Stewart secured a second-place finish in her mile race with a time of 4:40.
The women’s team finished ninth in the meet with 32 points, while the men’s team finished 15th with nine points.
Women’s tennis: Eight-match streak snapped
On Sunday, the women's tennis team headed to New York City to take on Columbia, where its 4-2 loss broke the Spartans' eight-match win streak.
With MSU down and Columbia securing the doubles points, the Spartans had some catching up to do in their singles matches.
Amara Brahmbhatt and Issey Purser put the Spartans on the board by winning their matches, but Columbia ultimately prevailed and got the final point needed to win.
The team is now 8-3 and will face off against Iowa on March 7 at 6 p.m. in Iowa City.
After some commanding wins this past weekend, the Spartans will be looking to carry their momentum into their key, upcoming competitions.
With tournament play approaching and conference standings on the line, MSU athletes are poised for high stakes matchups in the weeks ahead.
