Michigan State Cheerleader Stuns With Sweet 16 Photos
The Michigan State Spartans pulled off a win against No. 6 seed Ole Miss on March 28, and doing so, they earned themselves a spot in the Elite Eight. It was a tight, 73-70 win victory, but a win is a win.
Now, the No. 2 seed Spartans will go up ahead No. 1 seed Auburn on March 30, and the appearance marks the team's first trip to the Elite Eight since 2019.
Following the victory, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said that Ole Miss was the toughest team his team had played "in years."
Izzo was visibly emotional, tearing up as he talked to CBS' Tracy Wolfson about how much he loves this current MSU team.
"I love these guys because they keep grinding," Izzo said in the postgame press conference. "They keep grinding. Getting close before half was very critical."
After the game, star freshman Jase Richardson talked about how the team knew they had to get more aggressive to pull off a victory.
"Coach basically came in here and told us they were punking us," said Richardson, whose father was a member of the Spartans' 2000 national championship team. "We were being soft. So, we knew we had to fight as hard as possible to get to those boards because one rebound could change the whole game."
The Michigan State cheerleaders came out in full force for the Sweet 16 game, and they've been cheering for the team throughout the tournament and season.
Ahead of the Sweet 16 game, the cheerleading squad took to their Instagram Stories to share some footage of them cheering the team on as they left for Atlanta. They also shared some video clips taken after the victory, with the squad jumping up and down in excitement.
Also ahead of the Sweet 16, MSU cheerleader Gigi Schultz took to her Instagram to share photos from the NCAA Tournament. "Life is sure sweet," she captioned the photos, with the hashtag #gogreen. The photo carousel featured shots of her with the squad at the tourney, as well as some behind-the-scenes bathroom mirror selfie shots.
"So awesome and fun and cool and pretty," one follower commented on the post. "Such an unforgettable memory. So proud of you," another commented with a bunch of green and white hearts.
Michigan State and Auburn tip off at 5:05 p.m. EDT on March 30 on CBS.