"Honestly, I wasn’t really picturing going 9-for-9 in 12 minutes," Alexander said after her career night Sunday against Western Michigan. "I was just working towards being on the floor with my teammates. Whether that means I just need to rebound for my team, whether that means I need to set screens for my team, I just wanted to get back on the floor."

Getting on the floor has been difficult for the redshirt senior ever since her last full season back in 2022-23 — a year before current MSU head coach Robyn Fralick even arrived in East Lansing.

As a junior in 2023-24, Alexander played just three games, starting two, before suffering a foot injury against Wright State that ended her season. Last year, as a redshirt junior, she faced a similar setback when she tore her ACL and missed the entire year.

For any athlete, playing just three games across two seasons due to injuries can be frustrating, yet it requires patience — taking a deep breath and trusting the process, one step at a time.

"You just are going day by day, week by week. So you go from 'Oh, last week I wasn’t able to walk at all, and this week I can walk,'" Alexander said regarding her mental process during recovery. "I have to go back and realize I came so far from the start when I couldn’t walk, to now, when I’m running around, pivoting, getting scores and getting rebounds for my team."

It is a process that requires discipline and a commitment to show up even when progress feels small. Fralick recalls plenty of moments over the past two seasons when Alexander’s dedication stood out.

"I remember every away game we’re at Courtyard Marriott, they're down there in the exercise room," Fralick said of Alexander and MSU strength coach Claire Sporer. "Some days I don’t think she wanted to go, but Claire was like, 'We’re doing this.'"

Those long two years without game action not only strengthened Alexander’s mental toughness but also sharpened her basketball IQ. Spending so much time on the bench forced her to see the game differently — from a perspective she admits is hard to describe. Not quite a coach’s point of view, not exactly a spectator’s, but something in between that helped her better understand what the staff sees and communicates throughout games.

"I really got to take a step back and see it [the game] from … another point of view," Alexander said. "It’s being able to see what your coaches are talking about when they say certain things that they see. … Just being able to understand it better, to translate it from what they're seeing to what you understand, and then being able to execute it on the floor."

If that perspective helps her drop 20 every once in a while, her teammates will gladly take it. But no one may be happier for her than redshirt sophomore guard Kennedy Blair.

When Blair arrived at Michigan State as a freshman, she missed the entire 2023-24 season alongside Alexander with a foot injury — ultimately leading the two to spend long stretches together on the bench and in the gym.

"It means the world," Blair said. "Just to see how hard she's worked, I'm generally so proud of her, and I know it's been a hard two years for her, but she's been in the gym, she's put in the time. She's gotten herself in great shape and this is just the beginning for her.”

Alexander playing a full season for the first time since 2022-23 would not only be a huge boost for the team, but a major accomplishment for her personally. For now, she is simply grateful to be back on the court with two years of injuries finally in the rearview mirror.

"I've been through adversity. I know what it's like to be at like rock bottom, whatever it was, and to see how far I've come," Alexander said. "To know that all my teammates, the coaches, the staff, the fans and Michigan State all have my back. That just honestly hits really deep in my heart, and I'm just really happy for myself and then also thankful for everybody that's had my back."

Just like she did against WMU, Alexander will look to help her team however she can when MSU hosts Eastern Illinois on Thursday at 6:30 p.m., marking the Spartans' fifth straight game in East Lansing.