This is the second-straigh season that the Spartans have opened with the Grizzlies
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State women's basketball open's the 2024-25 season against Oakland on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 6:30 p.m. at the Breslin Center. This is the second-straight season that the Spartans and the Golden Grizzlies have met in MSU's season opener. Marin Klein and Charlie Schmidgall will be on the call for B1G+.
• MSU head coach Robyn Fralick enters her second season at the helm of the Spartans, leading MSU to a 22-9 record in her first year in East Lansing.
• Oakland ended the 2023-24 season with a 12-17 overall record and was 8-12 in Horizon League action. In their only exhibition, the Grizzlies defeated Rochester University, 91-66.
• The Spartans return two All-Big Ten selections in first-team All-Big Ten guard/forward Julia Ayrault and Sixth Player of the Year guard Theryn Hallock. Ayrault was first on the team in scoring last season, averaging 15.4 ppg, while Hallock was fourth with 11.2 ppg. MSU returns three starters in Ayrault, junior guard Abbey Kimball and senior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate.
• Michigan State opens the season with four-straight home games. Overall, the Spartans will play five home games in the Breslin Center in November. The Spartans have been strong at home, holding a 13-2 record at the Breslin Center last season.
SCOUTING OAKLAND
Oakland will be the Spartans' season opener for the second-straight season. The Golden Grizzlies ended last season with an 12-16 overall record and a 8-12 mark in the Horizon League. In their only exhibition, OU defeated Rochester University, 91-66 on Oct. 26.
There is a very familiar face on the Grizzlies bench in junior guard Maddy Skorupski, who played her freshman season at MSU. She scored 14 points against MSU in the season opener last year.
Head coach Jeff Tungate is in his 13th season at the helm of the Golden Grizzlies. He holds a career record of 142-182. Tungate returns to the sidelines this season after missing much of last season on medical leave.
SERIES HISTORY VS. GOLDEN GRIZZLIES
Michigan State leads the all-time series against Oakland 20-4. The Spartans have dominated the series of late, winning the last 16. Four of the last five wins have come in East Lansing. Overall, the Spartans hold and 13-2 advantage at home. The last win for the Golden Grizzlies came on Feb. 9, 1982 with Oakland coming away with a 76-57 victory.
Last season in East Lansing, junior guard DeeDee Hagemann helped open the Robyn Fralick era with a bang, leading the Michigan State to an 87-62 win over Oakland in the season opener at the Breslin Center on Nov. 8, 2023.
Fralick became the fourth Spartan women's basketball head coach to win their opening game as MSU head coach, joining Dominic Marino in 1975-76, who also won his opener over Oakland; Joanne P. McCallie in 2000-01 and Suzy Merchant in 2007.
DID YOU KNOW??
The Spartans have won 10-straight season openers.
LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State opened the 2024-25 season with a dominating 101-40 exhibition win over Wayne State on Oct. 28 at the Breslin Center.
The game was a reunion for the Ayrault family as graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault took on her sister sophomore guard Annabel Ayrault. The players' father, Andy, is an assistant coach for the Warriors.
The Spartans had six players in double figures, led by 16 points from both junior guard Theryn Hallock and junior forward Grace VanSlooten. In her first game since transferring from Oregon, VanSlooten added six rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks. Freshman center Inés Sotelo added 13 points in her Spartan debut. Senior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate, redshirt-freshman guard Kennedy Blair and graduate guard Jaddan Simmons all added 11 points. Ayrault scored eight points with a game-high eight assists and four blocks.
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.
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.
BRINGING THE EXPERIENCE
Michigan State adds four transfers with a wealth of experience. Graduate Nyla Hampton comes to MSU very familiar with Coach Fralick and the Spartan coaching staff. She was at Bowling Green for three seasons before playing last season at Ball State. Graduate guard Jaddan Simmons played four seasons at Arizona State. MSU also welcomes juniors Grace VanSlooten from Oregon and Emma Shumate from Ohio State.
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.
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.
