The Spartans will then continue on the road to face Illinois on Sunday.
EAST LANSING, Mich. - No. 22/22 Michigan State women's basketball hits the road for a pair of road games this week. The Spartans start the week at Rutgers on Wednesday, Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. at Jersey Mike's Arena. MSU will end the week at Illinois on Sunday. The game will be streamed on B1G+ with Dom Savino and Dominique Patrick on the call.
• Michigan State improved to 13-3 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten after an 80-68 win over RV/RV Washington on Jan. 8. In the win four Spartans reached double figures in scoring.
• Rutgers is in the midst of a five-game losing streak, falling at home to Nebraska, 69-62, on Jan. 12. Overall, the Scarlet Knights hold an 8-9 overall record, but stand 0-6 in Big Ten action.
• The Spartans registered their 11th-consecutive Victory for MSU at home dating back to winning the last two home contests of last season and the first nine home games this season. MSU won 22 of its last 24 home games at the Breslin Center, after starting this season 9-0 at home following logging a 13-2 ledger last season at home. Overall, MSU has won 33 of its last 41 home games dating back to the 2022-23 season.
• Grace VanSlooten now has 13 double-double in her collegiate career after 10 double-doubles during her time at Oregon and three at MSU.
SCOUTING RUTGERS
Rutgers will play its second-straight game at home, coming off a 69-62 loss to Nebraska on Jan. 12. The Scarlet Knights are 8-9 overall and 0-6 in Big Ten contests. Rutgers is looking to snap a five-game losing streak.
Freshman sensation Kiyomi McMiller is second in the league in scoring, averaging 20.8 points per game. Destiny Adams is seventh in scoring with 17.8 ppg. McMiller is fifth in also fifth in the Big Ten in 3-point field goal percentage (.375). McMiller has nine 20-point games this season. As a team, Rutgers is 15th in the conference in scoring, averaging 69.3 ppg. They are also 16th in scoring defense, allowing 69.5 ppg. The Scarlet Knights are fourth in the league in blocks (4.8 bpg).
Rutgers head coach Coquese Washington is in her third season as the head coach of the Scarlet Knights with a 28-53 record. Overall, she is in her 15th season as a head coach, coaching 12 seasons at Penn State. Her overall record is 237-222.
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE RUTGERS
Overall, the Spartans lead the overall series with the Scarlet Knights, 10-6. MSU has won four-straight games and six of the last seven in the series. The Spartans hold a slight edge in the series 4-3 in Piscataway. In East Lansing, Michigan State holds a 6-3 advantage. The two teams have never met on neutral ground.
The two teams met twice last season with Michigan State winning both of them. The Spartans won on the road on Jan. 30, 82-64. On Feb. 24, MSU defeated Rutgers at the Breslin Center, 93-57, on Feb. 24.
LAST TIME VS. RUTGERS
Michigan State celebrated 4-H Day at the Breslin Center with a dominating, 93-57, win over Rutgers in front of 7,696 fans on Feb. 24, 2024.
The Spartans also broke the single-season school record for 3-pointers in a season against the Scarlet Knights. MSU came into the game needing 11 to break the record and hit 14 in the game. The Spartans have now recorded 255 3-pointers this season, breaking the record set during the 2016-17 season.
All nine Spartans that played in the game scored for MSU, as Michigan State distributed the ball well. Graduate guard Moira Joiner led the way with 22 points in only 23 minutes of action. Both sophomore guard Abbey Kimball and graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault added 17 points with Ayrault adding six rebounds. Junior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate added nine points and a team-high seven boards.
BALANCED ATTACK
Six different Spartans have led the team in scoring. Julia Ayrault has led the team in scoring seven times, while Grace VanSlooten is second with five. Theryn Hallock has been the leading scorer twice, while Jocelyn Tate, Jaddan Simmons and Juliann Woodard have led once.
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. 1, followed by No. 4 USC, No. 8 Maryland, No. 9 Ohio State, No. 22 Michigan State, and No. 24 Minnesota. Michigan, Indiana and Iowa are also receiving votes in this week's poll.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
The 19 points Sunday against Washington gives Julia Ayrault 1,162 points for her career, vaulting up from a tie for No. 24 to No. 22 on MSU's career scoring list, pulling away from a tie with Julie Polakowski (1982-86) for No. 24 with 1,143 points, as well as Becca Mills (2011-15) with 1,157 points and was in attendance Sunday for Alumni Day, along with Ayrault's former teammate Moira Joiner (2020-24) with 1,160 points for No. 22 spot. Ayrault needs just 19 more points to tie Rene Haynes (2003-07) at No. 21 and 20 more points to crack the Top 20, as Victoria Lucas Perry (2003-07) holds the No. 20 spot with 1,182 points.
Ayrault is also third in career blocks with 154. With nine rebounds against Washington on Jan. 12, she now has 647 for her career, moving not just into the Top 20 on MSU's career rebounding list, but up to No. 19, passing Lil Preston (1980-83) with 639 boards and Becky Cummings (1997-2001) with 645 rebounds. Ayrault is just one rebound away from the No. 18 spot, with Nanette Gibson (1978-81) with 648 rebounds.
NET RANKINGS
In the current women's basketball NET ranking, the Spartans stand No. 20. They are fifth among Big Ten schools behind No. 4 UCLA, No. 6 USC, No. 11 Ohio State and No. 19 Maryland. South Carolina stands No. 1. The Big Ten has five schools in the top 25 in NET rankings.
EVERYBODY PITCHES IN
Junior guard Emma Shumate posted her second-straight game with two or more 3-pointers, after not doing so in the previous four games, making two behind the arc on Sunday, after also making a pair of triples last time out at Nebraska. It was Shumate's second spurt of consecutive games with two or more treys of the season, joining three in a row (four vs. DePaul, 12/8/24; two vs. Iowa, 12/15/24; two vs. Montana (12/19/24). Overall, it was Shumate's seventh game this season with multiple triples.
BY THE NUMBERS VS. WASHINGTON
• Junior guard Theryn Hallock dished out a game-high tying five assists against Washington on Jan. 12, sharing top honors with teammate graduate guard Nyla Hampton. The five helpers was Hallock's first game with four or more helpers in the last five contests. Hallock registered her seventh game with four or more assists, and MSU is now 7-0 when she dishes out four or more helpers, compared to 6-3 when she distributes three or fewer.
• Freshman center Inés Sotelo scored 11 points for her second double-digit scoring outing in the last three games, in which she's started all three. She added four rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block. Sotelo is now averaging 11.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.7 steals, 1.3 assists and 0.7 blocks per game in her three starts. The 11 points was Sotelo's fourth double-figure scoring outing of the season.
LONG DISTANCE AYRAULT
Julia Ayrault has made at least one 3-pointer in her last 12 games played as part of the 13th time in her 15 games played this season, with the two games being held without a make from distance coming in the first three games, doing so in games one and three of the year.
With her one made 3-pointer on Sunday, Ayrault now has 107 career triples and takes over sole possession of the No. 18 spot on MSU's career 3-pointers list, pulling away from a tie with former teammate DeeDee Hagemann (2022-24) with 106 3-pointers.
YOUR STARTING FIVE
Michigan State started the New Year with a new line-up, with graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault, graduate guard Jaddan Simmons, senior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate and junior guard Theryn Hallock making their regular starts, while freshman center Inés Sotelo made her first career start. That same starting lineup was written in the scorebook against Nebraska (Jan. 8) and Washington (Jan. 12). It was the Spartans' sixth different starting five. Tate is the only MSU player to have started every game this season.
AROUND THE BIG TEN
Michigan State is third in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging 83.1 points per game, just ahead of Ohio State's 85.1 ppg and USC's 84.7 ppg. MSU is also second in the league in blocks (5.3). MSU is second in steals with 13.6 and second in assists with 18.7 apg. The Spartans are second in turnover margin (+8.8).
Individually, graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault is eighth in the league in scoring (16.7 ppg). Junior forward Grace VanSlooten is ninth in the league in field goal percentage (.490). Graduate guard Jaddan Simmons is sixth in the league in steals (2.1 spg).
WELCOME HOME
Against Washington, MSU celebrated Alumni Day, with the Spartans honoring their women's basketball alums, including the 2005 Final Four team. The 2005 Spartans in attendance were recognized at the end of the first quarter, while all the alumni were honored at halftime, with approximately 50 former players in attendance, ranging from as recent as the class of 2022, to as far back as the class of 1965. All-Americans Kristin Haynie, Liz Shimek and Lindsay Bowen were among the alumni in attendance to celebrate the 2005 team.
NO CHARITY
Michigan State's defense made school history, as MSU did not allow Montana to shoot a free throw, as the Lady Griz were 0-for-0 at the free throw line on Dec. 19 with Michigan State only committing 11 fouls, its second-fewest of the season, behind only 10 fouls at Western Michigan (11/17/24).
AROUND THE NATION
After 16 games, the Spartans are 18th in the nation scoring margin, winning games by 23.9 points. Michigan State is seventh in the NCAA and second in the Big Ten in steals per game with 13.6 apg. MSU is second in the nation in free throws made with 18.1 and ninth in turnover margin (+8.8).
JOINING THE 1K CLUB
Michigan State currently has four players who have scored at least 1,000 points in their collegiate careers. Most recently junior forward Grace VanSlooten joined the club against Vanderbilt on Nov. 27. She currently has 1,074 career points between Oregon and MSU. Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault reached the 1,000-point club against Cal on Nov. 26. During her five years at MSU, she has scored 1,162 points. Graduate guard Nyla Hampton has scored 1,231 points during her time at Bowling Green, Ball State and Michigan State. Fellow graduate guard Jaddan Simmons also has 1,242 points during four seasons at Arizona State her time at MSU. Senior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate is looking to be the next member with 933 points between her two seasons at Bowling Green and two at MSU.
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.
COMEBACK KIDS
MSU's 16-point deficit and rally for win on the Nov. 26 win against Cal was the Spartans' largest comeback win since being down 19 points vs. Penn State on Feb. 22, 2017, rallying from down 46-27 with 7:55 left in the third quarter and rallying for a 73-64 Victory for MSU. In that game, All-American Tori Jankoska was held scoreless in the first half, she rallied with 21 second-half points, for a palindromic double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds.
LOCKED IN DEFENSE
Graduate guard Jaddan Simmons is sixth in the Big Ten in steals with 2.06 spg. Graduate guard Nyla Hampton and senior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate are tied for seventh in the Big Ten in steals, averaging 2.00 spg. The MSU defense has been tough all season. Twice this year the Spartans have tallied 22 steals in a game: against Detroit Mercy on Nov. 20 and against Oakland on Nov. 5. The only team in the Big Ten with more steals in a game is USC with 28 against CSUN on Nov. 12. The Spartans are second in the B1G in steals, averaging 13.6 spg.
BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE
Michigan State won its second-straight tournament title after winning the Cherokee Invitational in North Carolina last season with wins over Richmond and Coastal Carolina. Prior to that, MSU last tournament crown came at the New Orleans Shootout in 2017.
LAST TIME OUT
No. 20/21 Michigan State women's basketball used balanced scoring and solid defense to defeat RV/RV Washington, 80-68, on Alumni Day Sunday afternoon at the Breslin Center.
The Spartans had four reach double figures led by graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault and junior forward Grace VanSlooten, who both scored 19 points. VanSlooten added 12 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Freshman center Inés Sotelo and junior guard Theryn Hallock both added 11 points. Hallock and graduate guard Nyla Hampton tied for the team lead in assists with five.
The Huskies were led by a game-high 21 points from Sayvia Sellers.
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.
Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.
