This is oniy the second meeting between the Spartans and the Spiders.
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State women's basketball now begins an arduous stretch of four games away from East Lansing, beginning with the Cherokee Invitational at Harrah's Casino in Cherokee, North Carolina. MSU opens the invitational against Richmond on Wednesday, Dec. 20 at 9:30 p.m. The Spartans will then take on either Coastal Carolina or Chattanooga on Thursday, Dec. 22.
• With a 91-67 win over Central Michigan, the Spartans improved to 8-2 this season. Richmond is also off to a fast start, standing 9-2 this season after a win over Liberty on Dec. 16.
• This week, MSU stands 15th in the current NET rankings, which is third-highest in the Big Ten behind Iowa (7) and Ohio State (14).
• Michigan State head coach Robyn Fralick reached a career milestone with a win against CMU. She captured her 200th career win, now holding a 200-78 career record in eight seasons as a head coach at Ashland, Bowling Green and Michigan State.
• Against CMU, Moira Joiner netted a career-high 27 points, marking the second time in her last four games of netting a career-best 26 points, which came at DePaul (11/30). Joiner's 27 points was her second 20+ point outing of the season and fourth 20-point game of her career. She has scored in double-figures in all 10 contests this season as part of 12-straight games back to 2022-23 season, and in 13 of her last 14 games.
SCOUTING RICHMOND
The Spiders stand 9-2 coming into the Cherokee Invitational. Richmond has a 53 NET ranking heading into the week. Last time out, Richmond scored 35 points in the second quarter, leading to a, 99-73, win against Liberty on Dec. 16. The Spiders also remains perfect at home with a 5-0 mark.
Maggie Doogan leads Spiders in scoring, averaging 18.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. The 18.5 ppg is second-best in the Atlantic 10 this season. Addie Budnik is second on the squad in scoring, averaging 11.1 ppg. Grace Townsend is second in the league in assists with 4.9 apg.
Richmond leads the A-10 in scoring, averaging 77.5 ppg. The Spiders are also first in field goal percentage, shooting 47.8 percent from the field.
Aaron Roussell is in his fifth season at the helm of Richmond, holding a 74-53 record. Overall, he is in his 20th season as a head coach with a 386-175 record.
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE SPIDERS
Michigan State leads the very brief series with Richmond, 1-0. The only other meeting took place at the UCF Thanksgiving Classic on Nov. 27, 2010 with MSU coming out on top 76-52.
LAST TIME VS RICHMOND
Spartan All-American Kalisha Keane scored 26 points and Michigan State (No. 25 AP) used some suffocating second-half defense to beat Richmond 76-52 on Nov. 27, 2010 in the UCF Thanksgiving Classic.
Brittney Thomas added nine points and Courtney Schiffauer had eight for the Spartans, who improved to 4-1 after out-scoring the Spiders 37-21 in the second half.
Brittani Shells led Richmond (4-3) with 16 points. The Spiders played even with the Spartans for the first 16 minutes of the game, but couldn't maintain the pace.
CHEROKEE INVITATIONAL
Following the game against Richmond, Michigan State will take on either Coastal Carolina or Chattanooga. The winners will face each other at 9:30 p.m., while the losers of the first game will meet at 7 p.m.
This would be the first-ever meeting between the Spartans and either UTC or Coastal Carolina.
UTC is 11-1 so far this season, the second-best start to a season in program history. The Mocs have now won its last nine.
Coastal Carolina is 5-6 so far this. The Chants are averaging 66.4 points per game while shooting 38.6 percent from the field and 27.8 percent from three-point range
FRALICK HITS MILESTONE
Michigan State head coach Robyn Fralick reached a career milestone with a win against CMU. She captured her 200th career win, now holding a 200-78 career record in eight seasons as a head coach at Ashland, Bowling Green and Michigan State.
LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State head women's basketball coach Robyn Fralick earned her 200th career win, as the high-flying Spartan offense handled Central Michigan, 91-67, at a festive Breslin Center on Sunday afternoon.
Michigan State welcomed back former Spartan All-American and assistant coach Kristin Haynie, who is in her first season at the helm of the Chippewas. Former Spartan center Jenna Allen is also a member of Haynie's staff.
Playing with only seven available players, Michigan State was able to take jump on the Chips early. The Spartans were led by a career high 27 points from graduate guard Moira Joiner, who topped her career high of 26 points against DePaul on Nov. 30. Sophomore guard Theryn Hallock earned her first career start and made the most of it with her first career double-double. She tied her career high with 17 points and set a new career high 12 assists. Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault also had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
BY THE NUMBERS VS. CENTRAL MICHIGAN
• By draining 12-of-31 from 3-point range, the Spartans' 46.6 percent from behind the arc was their second-highest when making 10+ 3-pointers, behind the season-high 73.7 percentage (14-of-19) vs. Detroit Mercy (11/16) ... the 46.6 percent was also the Spartans' best 3-point shooting percentage since 47.1 percentage (8-of-17) vs. Evansville (11/19).
• The Spartans dished out 29 assists on Sunday, their most since 29 vs. Evansville (11/19), their most in the last six games ... the 29 assists was their sixth game this season with 20+ helpers.
• Graduate guard Moira Joiner drained a career-high seven 3-pointers, including five treys in the first half and topping her season-high of four triples (done twice, last at DePaul, 11/30) and matching her previous career-high of five treys (done four previous times, last vs. Maryland, 1/7/23).
JUST CAN'T BEAT JOINER
Against CMU, graduate guard Moira Joiner netted a career-high 27 points, marking the second time in her last four games of netting a career-best 26 points, which came at DePaul (11/30). With her strong performance, she earned a spot on the Big Ten Honor Roll. Joiner's 27 points was her second 20+ point outing of the season and fourth 20-point game of her career. She has scored in double-figures in all 10 contests this season as part of 12-straight games back to 2022-23 season, and in 13 of her last 14 games.
Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.
