"To be a good full court team, you've got to be able to bother people, and then you gotta be able guard," Fralick said. "It’s not a home run; we're just trying to make people work."

A 32-point win was not an 86-point blowout like Tuesday’s victory over Mercyhurst, but the game plan did not change — force turnovers, create steals and convert them into points. The result: a defense that consistently suffocated EMU.

Just like in the season opener, MSU piled up steals, finishing with 15 — six of them coming in the first quarter alone.

Those deflections helped produce 30 turnovers, which the Spartans flipped into 36 points. It created too steep of a hill for EMU to climb, especially after going into halftime trailing 47-25 after being down just four following the first quarter.

Defense fueled the separation, but hot shooting made it permanent. MSU exploded in the second quarter, shooting 10-of-14 (71.4%) after a slower 8-of-19 (42.1%) start.

"It was a great response," Fralick said regarding MSU’s play after a struggling first quarter. "I will say the first quarter we missed five layups. That's something we got clean up."

Balance defined Michigan State’s offense, with four Spartans reaching double figures. Senior forward Grace VanSlooten, junior guard Rashunda Jones and senior guard Jalyn Brown each scored 15 points, while senior guard Theryn Hallock added 14.

"It’s exciting," Brown said. "You guys saw it the first game. It was kind of the same way. We are very versatile. I think this team is able to do a lot of things with the ball, without the ball. We're able to move the ball. We have a lot of shooters. So, I think it's just being ready when you're called."

Brown’s efficiency stood out most, dropping 15 points off the bench on 5-of-7 shooting in just her second game in East Lansing.

"Anytime you come in somewhere new, there's a lot to learn," Fralick said. "She’s been very willing to learn. And when you stack practices with a good attitude, good effort, boom, on game day, those things all come together."

One of the loudest moments of the night came long after the score was settled. Sophomore forward Juliann Woodard, playing her first minutes since tearing her ACL on Jan. 22, knocked down a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter — her first shot attempt since the injury.

"To see her get in the game and do it, it was just a thrill for everyone. Like, it's amazing," Brown said. "You can see the excitement on the bench, like we were all really, really excited for her."

While the offense flowed, Fralick emphasized there is still work to do. She pointed to defensive physicality and rebounding as areas that need immediate growth.

"We’ve got to match our speed with physicality moving forward, and we got exposed on that tonight," Fralick said. "Defensively, we got out of position too easily."

Three-point shooting, too, was inconsistent, finishing 0% in the second quarter and 16.7% in the third before ending the night at 33.3%. It looked concerning on paper, but Fralick brushed the worry aside.

The Spartans now turn their attention to Youngstown State (2-0) on Nov. 12 at Breslin Center in its third straight home game.

"I think we learned a lot from this game a lot more than from our first game," Fralick said. "A lot of things to clean up. I don't think any of us leave this game feeling like, 'Oh, we're locked in on all cylinders defensively.'"