This is the first meeting between the teams.
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State women's basketball concludes its four-game, season-opening homestand against Eastern Kentucky University on Thursday, Nov. 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the Breslin Center. Matt Merrifield and Joe DesVergnes will be on the call for B1G+.
• MSU has opened 3-0 for the second time in as many seasons under head coach Robyn Fralick. Michigan State also started 3-0 for the 10th-straight season since going 2-1 to open the 2014-15 season.
• Eastern Kentucky University is 1-2 this season this season after earning its first win of the season on the road against Southern Illinois, 70-49. The Colonels fell to then No. 7 LSU and Tennessee State to start the season. This is the first-ever meeting between MSU and EKU.
• The Spartan defense also forced 29+ turnovers for the third game in a row, forcing 29 EMU turnovers Monday night, after 31 last time out vs. Yale and forcing Oakland into 33 miscues in the season-opener
• Early on this season, Michigan State is fifth in the nation in assists, averaging 24.7 apg. The Spartans are also seventh in the nation in scoring margin (+55.7). Through three games, MSU is still averaging over 100 points per game.
SCOUTING EASTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY
Eastern Kentucky University earned its first win of the season with a 70-49 road victory over Southern Illinois.
The Colonels have one Michigander on the roster in Grand Rapids native Faith Walker. She attended Forest Hills Northern. Abbey Kimball and Theryn Hallock are both from Grand Rapids, attending West Catholic and Forest Hills Central, respectively.
Senior Raphaela Toussaint is approaching the 1,000 point mark. She currently has 997 points during her career. Alice Recanti leads the team in scoring, averaging 9.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Kaitlyn Costner is second with 9.0 ppg.
Head coach Greg Todd is in his fourth season with the Colonels, holding a 56-44 record. Overall, he is in his 19th season with an overall record of 318-214.
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE COLONELS
This is the first-ever meeting between MSU and EKU.
DID YOU KNOW??
MSU has opened 3-0 for the second time in as many seasons under head coach Robyn Fralick. Michigan State also started 3-0 for the 10th-straight season since going 2-1 to open the 2014-15 season.
CLOSING IN ON 1,000
Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault scored 13 points against Eastern Michigan on Nov. 11. It was her third double-digit scoring outing in as many games this season and her 41st career outing with 10+ points. She has scored in double-figures in 16-consecutive games and in 27 of her last 32 games played since the start of the 2023-24 season. With 13 points on Nov. 11, Ayrault now has netted 945 career points, leaving her just 55 away from becoming the 31st Spartan women's basketball player to score 1,000 points in her MSU career.
STINGY DEFENSE
The Spartan defense limited the opposition to single-digit scoring in a quarter for the seventh time in 12 quarters through three games this season after holding EMU to nine points in the third quarter on Monday. MSU held Yale to nine points in both the first and second quarters last time out and to Oakland in the second and fourth quarter.
INCREDIBLE INES
All six of the Spartan freshmen have seen action in all three games, but rookie Inés Sotelo had a standout performance against Eastern Michigan on Nov. 11. Sotelo reached double figures for the first time in her MSU career with 13 points against the Eagles, going 5-for-8 from the field. For the season, she is averaging 7.0 points with four steals.
PUTTING UP THE POINTS
Michigan State scored 95+ points for the third-straight game after 107 in last week's season-opener vs. Oakland on Nov. 5 and 100 points vs. Yale on Nov. 8. It marks the first time since the 2017-18 season that MSU has scored 95+ points in its first three games when the Spartans matched this year's scoring with 100 points in the season-opener (100-58 vs. Robert Morris on 11/11/17), 95 in game two (95-63 vs. Oakland on 11/13/17) and 107 in game three (107-43 vs. Charleston).
BLAIR BRINGS THE BOOM
Against Eastern Michigan on Nov. 11, redshirt-freshman guard Kennedy Blair scored in double-figures for the third-straight game with 11 points Monday, after 12 points last time out and 10 points in the season-opener, which was her Green & White debut 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.
WATCH OUT FOR THE SPARTANS
Michigan State continues to wrack up the steals early on this season. MSU is eighth in the nation, averaging 19.3 spg. Against EMU, MSU had 18 steals. Graduate guard Nyla Hampton and senior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate are tied for fourth in the Big Ten, averaging 3.0 spg.
The Spartans forced 33 Oakland turnovers, including swiping 22 steals, with 11 of the 14 Spartans posting at least one steal. by 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.
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 three games, the Spartans are fifth in the nation and first in the Big Ten in assists per game, averaging 24.7 apg. MSU is also eighth in bench points with 45.0 per game. Michigan State stands seventh and first in the Big Ten in scoring margin, winning games by 55.7 ppg.
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.
LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State women's basketball once again flexed its defensive muscles, forcing 29 turnovers en route to a 95-49 win against Eastern Michigan on Monday night at the Breslin Center. Monday was also the Spartans annual Hoops for Troops to honor Veterans Day.
MSU has opened 3-0 for the second time in as many seasons under head coach Robyn Fralick. Michigan State also started 3-0 for the 10th-straight season since going 2-1 to open the 2014-15 season. Eastern Michigan falls to 0-3 this season. The was the first time that the teams met since 2019.
Junior guard Theryn Hallock scored led the Spartans with 18 points in just over 18 minutes. She also added four assists and two steals. Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault and freshman center Inés Sotelo both scored 13 points. The 13 points were the first double-digit scoring game for the freshman. Redshirt-freshman guard Kennedy Blair reached double figures for the third-straight game with 11 points. Graduate guard Jaddan Simmons made her first Spartan start, adding eight points six assists and four steals.
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.
