Michigan State faced a challenging game against Oregon, with Head Coach Robyn Fralick expressing disappointment over the team's performance at home. In her opening statement, Fralick acknowledged Oregon's strong gameplay and pointed out the issues that plagued her team from the start. "It's a disappointing one for us tonight at home. A lot of credit to Oregon, I think they played a good game," she said.
Fralick noted that Michigan State struggled in the first quarter due to their lack of readiness and execution. She mentioned that while there were valuable lessons learned, missed opportunities at the free-throw line hindered their comeback efforts. "Especially when we were clawing back into the game. It was a tough one, we can definitely learn from this," she added.
Discussing the early scoring difficulties, Fralick attributed part of it to Oregon's defensive prowess and size advantage in the paint. "They have been very good defensively... We knew moving the ball was going to be really important," she explained.
When asked about adapting their style when shots aren't falling, Fralick highlighted how offensive struggles impact defensive performance as well. "I mean if you're not making shots it puts a ton of pressure on your defense all the time," she remarked.
Regarding facing teams with similar size advantages before, Fralick admitted that Oregon presented an unmatched challenge at guarding the rim: "I don't think we've played anyone with that sort of size at the rim."
On their strategy against Oregon's Kyei, Fralick noted their attempt to double-team her but acknowledged issues with timing: "We knew she's a tough match-up... If our helps early, we can look a little different in that."
Alerts Sign-up