ANALYSIS: After losing two of three, can Michigan State claw back?

jayln brown — Michigan State guard Jalyn Brown ranks fourth on the team at 10.9 points per game, but is capable of going off for more, down the stretch. | Photo courtesy @MSU_WBasketball

EAST LANSING, Mich. - It’s something Michigan State’s women’s basketball team hasn’t had to worry about or address all season. Poor starts. Sure, the No. 13 Spartans have had to work harder to improve rebounding and have been plagued by some poor shooting in some of its games, but as Michigan State (20-4, 9-4) prepares to face No. 2 UCLA (23-1, 13-0) at 8 p.m. Wednesday night in Breslin Center, slow starts and a seeming lack of fire and effort hadn’t been a problem. Unfortunately, those issues were front and center in Michigan State’s last two games – an 86-70 loss at home last Wednesday against No. 22 Maryland and a scrambled and desperate 81-70 comeback win on the road Saturday at Penn State, a team that has just one Big Ten win and sits in last place in the conference standings. In the loss to Maryland, the Terrapins outscored MSU 23-13 in the second quarter and won the third and fourth quarters by a combined six points to earn an easy upset win over Michigan State. Senior forward Grace VanSlooten took ownership of the team’s poor outing against Maryland. More of her teammates will need to do the same going forward. (MORE inside SpartanMag. Join SpartanMag: $1 to get started, and enjoy a complimentary year of The Athletic included with your membership. Get Deal Now! 👉 https://www.on3.com/teams/michigan-state-spartans/join/)