This is only the second meeting between the Spartans and the Bulldogs.
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State women's basketball continues its four-game, season-opening homestand against Yale on Friday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. Joe DesVergnes and Derrick Mitchell will be on the call for B1G+.
• MSU opened up the season with a dominating 107-42 win over Oakland to open the season. Tuesday's 107 points were MSU's most points scored in a season-opener since the 2008-09 opener when the Spartans routed Niagara, 116-50. The 107 points was the first time topping the century mark in a season-opener since Nov. 11, 1017 in a 100-58 rout of Robert Morris.
• Yale started the season with a 64-61 win over Monmouth at home. Mckenzie Egger led the way for the Bulldogs with 25 points.
• The Spartans return two All-Big Ten selections in first-team All-Big Ten guard/forward Julia Ayrault and Sixth Player of the Year guard Theryn Hallock. Ayrault was first on the team in scoring last season, averaging 15.4 ppg, while Hallock was fourth with 11.2 ppg. MSU returns three starters in Ayrault, junior guard Abbey Kimball and senior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate.
• Against Oakland, all 14 active Spartan players saw the court Tuesday with 13 of the 14 scoring points. Six different player reached double figures.
SCOUTING YALE
Yale started the season with a home win against Monmouth, 64-61 on Nov. 4. The Bulldogs trailed by 12 points with nine minutes left in the third period. Senior Mackenzie Egger led Yale with 25 points, one more than her previous career high. Both the Bulldogs and the Spartans did not allow a 3-pointer in their season openers. Monmouth went 0-for-11 from beyond the arc. MSU held Oakland to 0-for-17 from long range.
Egger will be returning to her home state. The guard hails from Mount Pleasant, Mich.
Head coach Dalila Eshe is in her third season at the helm of the Bulldogs. She holds an overall record of 22-33. Last season, Yale went 8-19 overall and 5-9 in the Ivy League.
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE BULLDOGS
This is only the second meeting between the Spartans and the Bulldogs. In 1995, MSU defeated Yale, 76-53 in East Lansing on Nov. 24.
DID YOU KNOW??
Tuesday's 107 points were MSU's most points scored in a season-opener since the 2008-09 opener when the Spartans routed Niagara, 116-50.
LAST TIME OUT
With six players reaching double figures, the Michigan State opened the 2024-25 season with a dominating wire-to-wire, 107-42, win over Oakland on Nov. 5 at the Breslin Center.
The Spartans were led by 15 points from junior forward Grace VanSlooten in her Spartan debut. In her first game since transferring from Oregon, VanSlooten added nine rebounds and two steals. Junior guard Theryn Hallock scored 14 points, while senior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate added 13 points and four steals. Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault scored 11 points with seven boards, three assists and two blocks. Junior guard Abbey Kimball and redshirt-freshman guard Kennedy Blair both added 10 points.
As a team, Michigan State's defense was dominating, forcing 22 steals just shy of the school record of 24 set in both 1980 and 1996. The Spartans would go on to score 44 points off of turnovers in the game.
SEASON OPENERS
Michigan State won its 11th-straight season-opener and second in a row under head coach Robyn Fralick. MSU's last season-opening loss was on Nov. 11, 2013 at #6/7 Notre Dame. The Spartans have won 15-consecutive home openers, as their last loss in the first home game of the season was on Nov. 19, 2009 vs. #5/6 Notre Dame.
STICKY FINGERS
Michigan State forced 33 Oakland turnovers, including swiping 22 steals, with 11 of the 14 Spartans posting at least one steal. Graduate guard Nyla Hampton led the way with a game-high five steals. Four Spartans swiped multiple steals as Hampton was followed by four from senior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate, three by graduate guard Jaddan Simmons and two each by junior forward Grace VanSlooten and junior guard Abbey Kimball. The 22 steals were just shy of the school record of 24 set in both 1980 and 1996.
BRINGING THE BOOM
For the 2024-25 season, Michigan State women's introduced its new student section - the Breslin Boom. First introduced by Coach Fralick at Michigan State Madness, Spartan students will be encouraged to yell "BOOM" on any big MSU plays.
WELCOME TO THE BRESLIN CENTER
All six of the Spartan freshmen saw action against Oakland on Nov. 5. Redshirt-freshman guard Kennedy Blair had her first double-digit scoring game with 10 points in just 14 minutes. Forward Juliann Woodard added eight points with two rebounds, while Inés Sotelo added three assists and three rebounds.
RISING TO THE CHALLENGE
Michigan State will play seven teams that are ranked in the preseason top 25 polls (AP/Coaches Poll), led by No. 3/3 USC (Feb. 16) and No. 5/6 UCLA (Feb. 19). At the West Palm Beach Classic, the Spartans will take on No. 24/25 Alabama. Big Ten teams Ohio State (No. 14/14), Maryland (No. 18/18), Nebraska (No. 23/23) and Indiana (No. 25/24) are all ranked in the preseason polls.
BRINGING THE EXPERIENCE
Michigan State adds four transfers with a wealth of experience. Graduate Nyla Hampton comes to MSU very familiar with Coach Fralick and the Spartan coaching staff. She was at Bowling Green for three seasons before playing last season at Ball State. Graduate guard Jaddan Simmons played four seasons at Arizona State. MSU also welcomes juniors Grace VanSlooten from Oregon and Emma Shumate from Ohio State.
O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
Michigan State head coach Robyn Fralick has announced guard/forward Julia Ayrault and guard Nyla Hampton as team captains, as voted on by the players on the 2024-25 women's basketball team.
This is Ayrault's second season as a captain for the Spartans. She is the first Spartan to be a captain in back-to-back seasons since Jenna Allen during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.
Hampton is in her first season with the Spartans, but is familiar with head coach Robyn Fralick. She played three seasons with Bowling Green before transferring to Ball State last season.
GUESS WHO'S BACK
Despite losing two of its top three scorers, Michigan State still returns a quite potent offense. Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault led the team in scoring with 15.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Off the bench, junior guard Theryn Hallock scored 12.3 ppg, which was fourth on the team. MSU lost second-leading scorer Moira Joiner (14.7 ppg) to graduation and third-leading scorer DeeDee Hagemann (12.3 ppg) to transfer.
VANSLOOTEN NAMED TO WATCH LIST
Michigan State Women's Basketball junior forward Grace VanSlooten was named to the Cheryl Miller Award preseason watch list, as announced by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).
She is one of five Big Ten players on the list along with Indiana's Yarden Garzon, Maryland's Saylor Poffenbarger, Ohio State's Cotie McMahon and UCLA's Angela Dugalić. The award honors the nation's top small forwards.
VanSlooten is in her first season at Michigan State after transferring from Oregon. She averaged 14.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game in two season with the Ducks. In the Spartans 101-40 exhibition win over Wayne State on Oct. 28, Van Slooten tied a team high with 16 points in just 18 minutes.
LOOKING AT THE SCHEDULE
For the fourth-straight season, the Big Ten Conference will play an 18-game schedule. MSU also played an 18-game schedule in both 2018-19 and 2019-20. The conference additionally had 18-game schedules in both 2015-16 and 2014-15. This season, the B1G adds four additional teams in Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington.
Nine of the Spartans' 2024-25 regular-season opponents competed in the NCAA Tournament last season, as MSU will take on either Arizona or Vanderbilt in the Acrisure Classic. From the Big Ten portion of the schedule, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State, UCLA and USC reached the NCAA Tournament.
COASTAL ADVENTURES
The Spartans will play in two tournaments this season. Over Thanksgiving, Michigan State will head to Palm Springs, California for the Acrisure Classic. The Spartans will take on California in their first game on Nov. 26 before facing either Arizona or Vanderbilt in their second game on Nov. 27. Before the Holiday break, MSU will play West Palm Beach Classic. MSU will take on Montana on Dec. 19 and Alabama on Dec. 20.
Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.
