The Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team is the intercollegiate women's basketball program representing

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

. The school competes in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

in Division I of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA). The

Spartans Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the valley of Evrotas river in Laconia, in southeastern P ...

play home basketball games at the

Breslin Student Events Center The Jack Breslin Student Events Center is a multi-purpose arena at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. The arena opened in 1989, and is named for Jack Breslin, MSU alumnus, former athlete and administrator, who first began pus ...

on the university campus in

East Lansing, Michigan East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County, although a small portion extends north into Clinton County. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 47,741. The city is located immediate ...

History

The Spartans began play in 1972. In 1991, the Spartans made their first ever

NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, sometimes referred to as Women's March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 women's college basketball teams from the Div ...

, their first postseason appearance since the 1977 AIAW women's basketball tournament. In 2005, the Spartans won 33 games (a school record), advancing all the way to the

championship, before losing 84–62 to Baylor. The Spartans have been to 20 NCAA Tournaments in their history, with their most recent trip coming in 2025.

Coaching history

Postseason results

NCAA Division I

The Spartans have made 20 appearances in the

. Their combined record is 21–20. † The Spartans received a bye into the Second Round.

WNIT

The Spartans have made 5 appearances in the

Women's National Invitation Tournament The Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) is a women's national college basketball tournament. It used to feature both a preseason and postseason version played every year, but the preseason tournament was last held in 2023. It is operate ...

. Their combined record is 12–5.

AIAW Division I

The Spartans made one appearance in the

AIAW women's basketball tournament The AIAW women's basketball tournament was a national tournament for women's collegiate basketball teams in the United States, held annually from 1972 to 1982. The winners of the AIAW tournaments from 1972 to 1981 are recognized as the national ...

, with a combined record of 0–2.

Big Ten Medal of Honor

* 1983 – Karen Wells * 1985 – Kelly Belanger * 1986 – Julie Polakowski * 1990 – Eileen Shea * 2006 – Liz Shimek * 2010 – Allyssa DeHaan

Big Ten Coach of the Year

* 1988 – Karen Langeland * 2005 – Joanne P. McCallie * 2011 – Suzy Merchant

References

External links

* {{Big Ten Conference women's basketball navbox