No. 22/21 MSU Hosts Indiana for Annual Pink Game Sunday
Fans emcouraged to wear pink to the game.
- Pink Game - Fans are encouraged to wear pink in support of breast cancer awareness. Donate water bottles, lemon hard candy, fuzzy socks, lip balm, ginger tea, or unscented lotion to receive complimentary admission on game day.
EAST LANSING, Mich. - No. 22/21 Michigan State women's basketball returns home to take on Indiana on Sunday, Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. It is the Spartans' annual Breast Cancer Awareness game. The contest will be televised on BTN with Chris Vosters and Shimmy Miller on the call.
• Michigan State looks to snap a two-game losing streak after a pair of road losses to No. 1 UCLA and No. 4 USC. It was the first time since the 2021-22 season that MSU had faced back-to-back top 10 teams. The Spartans currently hold a 19-7 overall record and stand 9-6 in Big Ten action.
• Indiana earned a huge win at home against No. 8 Ohio State, 71-61, on Feb. 20. The Hoosiers stand 17-9 overall and are tied with Michigan State with match 9-6 Big Ten records.
• Against No. 4 USC on Feb. 19, junior Grace VanSlooten netted 29 points, which is not only a season-high but ties her collegiate career-best, matching 29 points vs. Ohio State (12/21/22) during her freshman season at Oregon. VanSlooten's 29 points was her fifth 20-point outing this season.
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• Senior Jocelyn Tate tallied the 1,000th point of her collegiate career against USC on Wednesday. Tate now has 414 points in her two seasons at MSU after transferring following two seasons at Bowling Green, where she scored 586 points.
SCOUTING INDIANA
Indiana comes to East Lansing winning two-straight games. On Feb. 20, the Hoosiers defeated No. 8 Ohio State in Bloomington, 71-61. Indiana is 17-9 overall and 9-6 in Big Ten action. The Hoosiers are 5-2 in their last seven games.
Indiana is fourth in the Big Ten in free throw percentage, shooting .774 from the charity stripe. The Hoosiers are also seventh in field goal percentage (.453), just ahead of Michigan State (.451). IU is second in 3-point field goal percentage, shooting .367 from long range. Yarden Garzon leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.0 points per game, while Sydney Parrish is second with 12.0 ppg. Garzon is third in the league in 3-point field goal percentage (.402).
Indiana head coach Teri Moren is in her 11th season as the leader of the Hoosiers with a record of 243-108 record. Overall, she coached seven seasons at UIndy and four at Indiana State. Her career record stands 442-238.
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE HOOSIERS
Michigan State leads the overall series with Indiana, 50-33, but the Hoosiers have won two in a row and five of the last seven contests.
In East Lansing, the Spartans lead the series 24-11. In Bloomington, the matchup is much tighter with Michigan State on top, 21-19. On neutral ground, MSU leads, 5-3. MSU captured the last game in East Lansing, 83-78 in 2022. In that game, MSU took down No. 4/3 Indiana, 83-78. The Spartans were led by a 24-point performance from Kamaria McDaniel. In the last two meeting, the Hoosiers have scored over 90 points.
LAST TIME VS. INDIANA
In a battle of two potent offenses, the Michigan State women's basketball team's upset bid came up short, falling to No. 14/13 Indiana, 94-91, at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Feb. 9, 2024.
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It was the most points scored by the Spartans in the series with the Hoosiers since the thrilling 111-109 overtime quadruple overtime loss in the Big Ten Tournament in 2018.
Overall, five Spartans reached double figures in the loss, led by graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault, who scored 25 points, her most in a Big Ten game this season and tied for her second-most overall this year, adding four rebounds.
PLAYING THE TOP DOG
After playing at No. 1/1 UCLA on Sunday and No. 4/4 USC Wednesday, it marked the first time that the Spartans faced back-to-back top-10 teams since 2021-22 season when MSU upset No. 4/4 Michigan at home on Feb. 10, and lost at No. 7/7 Indiana on Feb. 12.
VANSLOOTEN'S VERY GOOD STRETCH
Despite going 1-2 over the last three games, junior forward Grace VanSlooten has been exceptional the three contests. She has surpassed 20 points twice in that span. Against No. 4/4 USC, she tied her career-high with 29 points, including going 11-for-12 from the charity stripe. Against Wisconsin, she played 22 points. In the three-game stretch against Wisconsin, No. 1/1 UCLA and No. 4/4 USC, VanSlooten has averaged 22.3 points per game. She is shooting 58.1 percent from the field (25-for-43) and 89.5 percent from the free throw line (17-for-19). She has played over 30 minutes in all three games.
QUITE THE TRIO
With 1,295 points, 718 rebounds and 175 blocks, graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault joins a very small club. She is one of only three Spartans with over 1,250 points, 700 rebounds and 150 blocks. All-American Allyssa DeHaan ended her Spartan career with 1,649 points, 919 rebounds and 504 blocks. Kristen Rasmussen finished with 1,493 points, 964 rebounds and 194 blocks.
TATE JOINS THE 1K CLUB
With six points against No. 4/4 USC on Feb. 19, senior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate joined the 1,000-point club. She is now the fifth current Spartan with 1,000 points, joining VanSlooten, graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault (1,295 points), graduate guard Jaddan Simmons (1,295 points) and graduate guard Nyla Hampton (1,295 points). Tate is the third of that quintet to reach 1,000 career points this season, joining Ayrault and VanSlooten, and all three netted their 1,000th career point in California, as Ayrault and VanSlooten reached the 1,000-point plateau in successive days when MSU played at the Acrisure Classic in Palm Springs, California, with Ayrault scoring hers against Cal on Nov. 26, and VanSlooten followed the next day against Vanderbilt.
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NET RANKINGS
In the current women's basketball NET ranking, the Spartans stand No. 20. They are fourth among Big Ten schools behind No. 5 UCLA, No. 6 USC and No. 19 Ohio State. UConn stands No. 1. The Big Ten has five schools in the top 25 in NET rankings with Michigan standing No. 25.
RANKED BIG TEN TEAMS
Six different Big Ten teams are ranked or receiving votes in the AP top 25 poll. UCLA leads the way at No. 3, followed by No. 4 USC, No. 8 Ohio State, No. 21 Maryland and No. 22 Michigan State. This week, Illinois re-entered the poll this week at No. 25. Michigan is also receiving votes in this week's poll.
AYRAULT ASCENDS THE CHARTS
With 16 points against No. 4/4 USC, Julia Ayrault now has 1,295 career points, needing five more points to become the 14th MSU women's basketball player in program history to reach 1,300 career points. Ayrault is holding solid at No. 14 on MSU's career scoring list. Next up at the No. 13 spot is Kelli Roehrig (2013-18) with 1,370 points.
With 10 boards against USC, Ayrault's career total to 718 rebounds, passing Branndais Agee (2013-18) with 715 boards for the No. 12 spot on MSU's career rebounding list.
Wednesday was Ayrault's 133rd career game, and is now tied for the No. 8 spot with Aisha Jefferson (2005-10) at 133 games. In her next game played, Ayrault will tie for the No. 7 spot held by Victoria Lucas-Perry at 134 games played. Her two rejections against USC brings Ayrault's career total to 175 blocks, holding steady at her spot at No. 3 on the Spartans' career blocks list.
BY THE NUMBERS VS. USC
• With six rebounds against No. 4/4 USC on Wednesday, Grace VanSlooten posted her fifth game in a row with five or more rebounds, as part of the seventh time in the last eight games played. Overall, the junior forward has snared 5+ boards in 21 of her 25 games played this season.
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• The 23 USC turnovers that the Spartan defense forced was the 19th time this season that MSU forced 20+ opposition turnovers, including the ninth time in a B1G game. It was first time forcing 20+ turnovers in the last seven games, last doing so with 20 vs. Oregon (1/30/25).
BALANCED ATTACK
Seven different Spartans have led the team in scoring. Julia Ayrault has led the team in scoring nine times and Grace VanSlooten have both led the team in scoring nine times. Theryn Hallock has been the leading scorer six times, while Jocelyn Tate, Jaddan Simmons, Emma Shumate and Juliann Woodard have led once.
YOUR STARTING FIVE
Michigan State used the same starting line for the fifth game in a row, with graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault, graduate guard Jaddan Simmons, senior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate, junior guard Theryn Hallock and junior forward Grace VanSlooten. Wednesday was the sixth game overall this season with that starting five and MSU is now 3-4 with that starting five for the opening tip.
GETTING IT DONE ON THE CHARITY STRIPE
Against No. 1 UCLA, the Spartans were a perfect from the charity stripe. They 12-of-12 was also the fourth-highest overall of the 12 times, trailing 19-of-19 vs. Michigan (2/3/16); 14-of-14 vs. Penn State (2/9/03); 13-of-13 vs. Evansville (11/19/23).
19-19 vs. Michigan 85-64 at East Lansing 2/3/16
14-14 vs. Penn State 60-64 at East Lansing 2/9/03
13-13 vs. Evansville 105-49 at East Lansing 11/19/23
12-12 vs. UCLA 69-75 at Los Angeles, 2/16/25
11-11 vs. CMU 91-67 at East Lansing, 12/17/23
11-11 vs. CMU 88-87 at South Bend3/23/19
11-11 at Nebraska 71-82 at Lincoln 2/17/19
11-11 vs. Ohio State 65-64 at East Lansing 2/13/03
11-11 vs. Ohio State 65-59 at Columbus 2/6/82
10-10 vs. Valparaiso 76-62 at East Lansing, 11/16/21
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10-10 vs. Wisconsin 81-57 at Madison, 1/15/17
10-10 vs. California 93-62 at Berkeley 12/21/96
AROUND THE BIG TEN
Michigan State is second in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging 80.8 points per game. The Spartans are also fourth in scoring margin (+18.0). MSU is second in the league in blocks (5.5 bpg). MSU is second in steals with 12.9 spg and second in assists with 18.7 apg. The Spartans are second in turnover margin (+7.6).
Individually, junior forward Grace VanSlooten is third in the league in field goal percentage (.536) and 16th in scoring, averaging 15.4 ppg. Graduate guard Jaddan Simmons is fifth in the Big Ten assist/turnover ratio (2.10). Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault is sixth in the league in blocks, averaging 1.56 bpg. Senior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate is third in the league in steals (2.31 spg). Graduate guard Nyla Hampton is sixth in steals (2.04 spg).
AROUND THE NATION
After 26 games, the Spartans are 20th in the nation scoring margin, winning games by 18.0 points. Michigan State is eighth in the NCAA and second in the Big Ten in steals per game with 12.9 spg. MSU is 10th in the nation in assists with 18.7 apg and 11th in turnover margin (+7.6).
LAST TIME OUT
Despite a heroic effort from junior forward Grace VanSlooten, the No. 22/21 Michigan State women's basketball team fell short at No. 4/4 USC in a tough 83-75 battle Wednesday night at the Galen Center.
VanSlooten tied her career high with 29 points, including netting a collegiate career-best 11-for-12 from the charity stripe. She previously scored 29 points against Ohio State on Dec. 21, 2024, while playing at Oregon. Ayrault was also in double figures, scoring 16 points with 10 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season. Junior guard Theryn Hallock was the third Spartan in double figures with 12 points.
The Trojans were led by 28 points from JuJu Watkins, who also added eight rebounds and three blocks, while Kiki Iriafen posted a double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds.
Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.
