No. 23 Spartans Conclude Road Portion of Regular Season at No. 12 OSU Wednesday
EAST LANSING, Mich. - No. 23/22 Michigan State women's basketball will hit the road for its regular-season road finale against No. 12/12 Ohio State on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. at Value City Arena. The game will be streamed on B1G+ with Connor Canfield and Matt Kendig on the call.
• Michigan State got back on track with a 73-65 win over Indiana on Sunday, Feb. 23. With the win, the Spartans improved to 20-7 overall and 12 -6 in Big Ten play. MSU has two regular season games remaining.
• With a dominating win over Purdue on Feb. 23, Ohio State improved to 23-4 overall. The Buckeyes are also 12-4 in the Big Ten standings. OSU is a perfect 14-0 at home this season.
• MSU posted its first back-to-back seasons with 10+ conference wins since 2012-13 and 2013-14, that were the last two seasons of a 12-year streak of double-digit league wins. With the win against Indiana, the Spartans registered their first 20+ wins in consecutive seasons since the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, with 25 and 21 wins, respectively.
• The Spartan defense swiped 10 steals on Feb. 23 for their fourth-straight contest and ninth in the last 10 outings with double-digit steals. Overall Sunday was MSU's 21st game this season out of the 27 games played in registering 10+ steals.
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SCOUTING OHIO STATE
Last time out, Ohio State dominated Purdue at home 98-46, which was its biggest margin of victory in a conference win in school history. The Buckeyes are 23-4 overall and 12-4 in Big Ten play. OSU's only losses this season have come against Penn State UCLA, USC and Indiana. Ohio State is a perfect 14-0 at home.
The Buckeyes are third in the Big Ten in scoring margin (+18.37) and tied for third in scoring offense (80.0). Ohio State is first in the league in steals, averaging 12.96 spg, just ahead of Michigan State's 12.81 spg. Cotie McMahon is ninth in the B1G in scoring, averaging 16.9 ppg, while Jaloni Cambridge is 15th with 15.6 ppg. Taylor Thierry with 2.48 spg, while Jaloni Cambridge stands fourth with 2.26 spg.
Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff is in his 12th season at the helm of the Buckeyes with a record of 221-108 record. Overall, he has had stops at Washington and Xavier before OSU. In 23 years, he has an overall record of 476-207.
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State leads the overall series with Michigan State, 62-29. The Spartans are looking to snap a six-game losing streak against the Buckeyes. MSU's last win against OSU came in East Lansing on Jan. 17, 2020, 68-65.
In East Lansing, Ohio State leads the overall series, 23-14. In Columbus, the Buckeyes are on top, 27-11, while leading 12-4 on neutral ground. Last season, Ohio State won both meetings. It was a tight battle in East Lansing on Jan. 14 with OSU edging out the Spartans 70-65. On Feb. 11, 2024, No. 5 Ohio State defeated Michigan State in Columbus, 86-71.
LAST TIME VS. OHIO STATE
In the second meeting between the teams, Michigan State fell to No. 5/5 Ohio State 86-71 in its annual Pink Game for breast cancer awareness on Feb. 11, 2024 at the Breslin Center. OSU also won the first game in Columbus, 70-65 on Jan. 14.
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Junior guard DeeDee Hagemann became just the ninth player in MSU history to reach the 400 career assists with four helpers today. She and graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault both also added 10 points. Sophomore guard Theryn Hallock led the Spartans in scoring with 18 points off the bench.
OSU was led by 20 points from Celeste Taylor.
FAMILIAR FACES
Junior guard Emma Shumate will be seeing some familiar faces on the Buckeye sideline. In two seasons at OSU, Shumate played 58 games in the Scarlet and Gray. She is already have her most productive season in college with 131 points so far this season, averaging 4.9 ppg.
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 2-2 over the last four games, junior forward Grace VanSlooten has been exceptional the quartet 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 21.0 points per game. She is shooting 57.1 percent from the field (32-for-56) and 83.3 percent from the free throw line (20-for-24). She has averaged over 30.5 minutes in all four games.
HOW JADDAN GOT HER GROOVE BACK
Graduate guard Jaddan Simmons reached double figures for the first time in seven games, scoring 11 points against Indiana on Feb. 23. It was her first double-digit outing since scoring 11 at Michigan on Jan. 25. Overall, she has scored in double figures four times this season with her season high of 18 coming against DePaul on Dec. 8. Michigan State is 4-0 when Simmons reached double-figures in scoring.
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DOWN THE HOME STRETCH
The Spartans have only two game remaining in the regular season. Much is at stake in these final two games in terms of seating for the Big Ten Tournament, as the Spartans could still reach as high as the No. 4 seed in the tournament. This season, only 15 of the 18 teams will advance to the B1G Tournament in Indianapolis, which will be held March 5-9.
QUITE THE TRIO
With 1,299 points, 726 rebounds and 176 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 1,016 points, joining Grace VanSlooten (1,289), graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault (1,299 points), graduate guard Jaddan Simmons (1,306 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.
NET RANKINGS
In the current women's basketball NET ranking, the Spartans stand No. 21. 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 four schools in the top 25 in NET rankings with Michigan standing just outside at No. 26.
RANKED BIG TEN TEAMS
Five different Big Ten teams are ranked or receiving votes in the AP top 25 poll. UCLA leads the way at No. 2, followed by No. 4 USC, No. 12 Ohio State, No. 19 Maryland and No. 23 Michigan State. This week, Illinois re-entered the poll this week at No. 25. Illinois and Iowa are both receiving votes in this week's poll.
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AYRAULT ASCENDS THE CHARTS
Julia Ayrault now has 1,299 career points, needing one more point 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 eight boards against Indiana, Ayrault's career total to 726 rebounds, remaining in the No. 12 spot on MSU's career rebounding list. She is now 39 boards from tying Tori Jankoska (2013-17) for the No. 10 spot,
Sunday was Ayrault's 134th career game, and is now tied for the No. 7 spot with Victoria Lucas-Perry (2003-07). In her next game played, Ayrault will tie for the No. 4 spot held by Cetera Washington, Lauren Aitch and Rene Haynes at 135 games played.
BY THE NUMBERS VS. INDIANA
• The Spartan defense swiped 10 steals Sunday for their fourth-straight contest and ninth in the last 10 outings with double-digit steals. Overall Sunday was MSU's 21st game this season out of the 27 games played in registering 10+ steals. Michigan State is now 17-4 when snagging double-digit steals.
• Michigan State snapped a two-game losing streak against Indiana. The Spartans last win against the Hoosiers was 83-78 win against No. 4/3 Indiana in East Lansing on Dec. 29, 2022. Overall, Michigan State improves to 51-33 against Indiana, including 25-11 in East Lansing.
BALANCED ATTACK
Seven different Spartans have led the team in scoring. Grace VanSlooten has led the team in scoring 12 times. Julia Ayrault has led the team in scoring nine times and 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 sixth 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. Sunday was the eighth game overall this season with that starting five and MSU is now 4-4 with that starting five for the opening tip.
AROUND THE BIG TEN
Michigan State is second in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging 80.5 points per game. The Spartans are also fourth in scoring margin (+17.6). MSU is tied for second in the league in blocks (5.4 bpg). MSU is second in steals with 12.8 spg and second in assists with 18.7 apg. The Spartans are second in turnover margin (+7.6).
Individually, junior forward Grace VanSlooten is fourth in the league in field goal percentage (.536) and 18th in scoring, averaging 15.5 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 1.54 bpg. Senior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate is third in the league in steals (2.37 spg). Graduate guard Nyla Hampton is sixth in steals (2.04 spg).
AROUND THE NATION
After 27 games, the Spartans are 20th in the nation scoring margin, winning games by 17.6 points. Michigan State is ninth in the NCAA and second in the Big Ten in steals per game with 12.8 spg. MSU is 10th in the nation in assists with 18.7 apg and 11th in turnover margin (+7.6).
LAST TIME OUT
Behind four players in double figures, the No. 22/21 MSU women's basketball team defeated Indiana, 73-65, on Sunday afternoon at the Breslin Center, as the Spartans celebrated their annual Pink Game.
Despite not having their best shooting night, the Spartans improved to 20-7 overall and 10-6 in Big Ten games. This is the second-straight season that MSU has reached the 20-win mark. Indiana has its two-game winning streak halted, falling to 17-10 overall and 9-7 in B1G play. The win snapped a two-game losing streak against Indiana. MSU's last win was a 83-78 victory in East Lansing over No. 4/3 IU on Dec. 29, 2022.
For the 10th time this season, junior forward Grace VanSlooten led the Spartans in scoring with 17 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists. Junior guard Theryn Hallock and senior guard/forward both scored 16 points with Tate adding a team leading four steals. Graduate guard Jaddan Simmons also added 11 points to go along with six boards.
MSU's defense was impressive forcing 18 turnovers and adding 10 steals.
Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.
