This is the first meeting since 2019.
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State women's basketball continues its four-game, season-opening homestand against Eastern Michigan on Monday, Nov. 11 at 6:30 p.m. Monday is the annual Hoops For Troops - Active Military and Veterans receive complimentary admission with presentation of a valid ID. Derrick Mitchell and Serena Schroeder will be on the call for B1G+.
• MSU opened up the season with a dominating 107-42 win over Oakland on Nov. 5. The Spartans followed that up with a 100-44 win against Yale on Nov. 8. Through two games, Michigan State has a scoring margin of +60.5, which is sixth in the nation.
• Eastern Michigan is looking for its first win of the season after a pair of home losses. In their season opener, the Eagles fell to Texas State, 75-71 on Nov. 4. On Nov. 9, EMU lost to Alabama A&M, 66-57.
• Theryn Hallock has scored 10 or more points in 19 of her last 27 contests since Nov. 30, 2023, her first double-figure outing last season after scoring in single-digits the first six games of the season.
• In MSU's first two games, all 14 active Spartan players saw the court Tuesday with 13 of the 14 scoring points. The Spartans have five players averaging in double figures, led by junior Grace VanSlooten, who is scoring 17.0 ppg.
SCOUTING EASTERN MICHIGAN
Eastern Michigan lost in its season opener at home to Texas State, 75-71, on Nov. 4. The Eagles fell to 0-2 after losing to Alabama A&M on Nov. 9, 66-57.
The Eagles are led by Elko Sisi who is first on the team in scoring, averaging 22.5 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. Olivia Westphal is second, scoring 14.5 ppg. As a team, EMU is averaging 64.0 ppg this young season, while allowing 70.5 ppg.
Head coach Sahar Nusseibeh is in her first season at the helm of the Eagles. She holds an overall career record of 32-62.
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE EAGLES
Michigan State leads the overall series with Eastern Michigan 19-3. The Spartans have won the last five meeting between the teams. In East Lansing, MSU holds a record of 13-1. In Ypsilanti, the Spartans are on top 5-1. On neutral territory, the series is tied, 1-1.
The last time the two teams met was in East Lansing in 2019 when MSU came out on top 85-50 on Nov. 5. In the season opener, Michigan State had four players in double figures led by a game-high 23 points from Nia Clouden, who was just four points shy of her then-career high of 27 against Iowa. In her Spartan debut, Alyza Winston added 14 points, while Tory Ozment and Taryn McCutcheon both added 10 points.
DID YOU KNOW??
The Spartans have opened the season 2-0 for the second time in as many seasons under head coach Robyn Fralick. Michigan State also opened 2-0 for the 10th-straight season since going 1-1 to open the 2014-15 season.
CLOSING IN ON 1,000
Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault chipped in with 10 points to round out the four Spartans in double-figures and also register her 40th career game in double-figures. Ayrault posted 10+ points in her 15th-straight game and in 26 of her last 31 games played since the start of the 2023-24 season. With 10 points Friday, Ayrault has now recorded 932 points, just 68 shy of becoming the 31st Spartan women's basketball player to score 1,000 points in her MSU career.
STINGY DEFENSE
The Spartan defense held Yale to single-digit scoring in a quarter in three-straight quarters after holding Oakland to nine points in the fourth quarter on Tuesday and limiting Yale to nine points in the first and second stanzas Friday night. Overall, it's the fourth time that MSU has limited its opponents to single-digit scoring in a quarter along with the second quarter Tuesday night. The Spartans have also held the opposition to 10 points or less in six of the eight quarters this season.
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 Yale on Nov. 8. Redshirt-freshman guard Kennedy Blair scored in double figures for the second-straight game with 12 points and seven rebounds. Center Mary Meng scored eight points, while forward Juliann Woodard added six points. Inés Sotelo added six points and three steals.
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.
AROUND THE NATION
After just two games, the Spartans are second in the nation in assists per game, averaging 25.0 apg. MSU is also 10th in bench points with 46.5 per game. Michigan State stands fifth in scoring margin, winning games by 60.5 ppg.
BLAIR BRINGS THE BOOM
Redshirt-freshman guard Kennedy Blair netted 12 points against Yale on Nov. 8 to register double-figures for the second outing in as many games as a Spartan after 10 points in her Green & White debut against Oakland on Nov. 5 after missing the entire 2023-24 season with an injury. Blair also pulled down seven rebounds, swiped three steals and dished out one assists, new top marks for rebounds and steals.
LAST TIME OUT
For the second-straight game, the Michigan State women's basketball team reached the 100-point mark, defeating Yale, 100-44, Friday night at the Breslin Center.
The Spartans have opened 2-0 for the second time in as many seasons under head coach Robyn Fralick. Michigan State also opened 2-0 for the 10th-straight season since going 1-1 to open the 2014-15 season. Yale falls to 1-1 with the loss.
Once again, MSU was led junior forward Grace VanSlooten, who led all scorers with 19 points with five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Junior guard Theryn Hallock scored 13 points, while redshirt-freshman guard Kennedy Blair was once again stellar off the bench with 12 points and seven rebounds.
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.
