This is the second meeting of the season between the two teams.
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State women's basketball will hit the road to take on Michigan for the second time, taking on the Wolverines on Sunday, Feb. 18 at 12 p.m. This is the second meeting between the teams this season with MSU winning at home 82-71 on Jan. 27. Jason Ross Jr. and Shimmy Gray-Miller will be on the call for the Big Ten Network.• The Spartans are looking to get back on track after losing two-straight games for the first time this season. MSU stands 17-7 overall and 7-6 in Big Ten games after losing to No. 5/5 Ohio State on Feb. 11.
• Michigan is 16-10 overall this season and 7-7 in league contests. The Wolverines are looking to avoid the series sweep for the first time since 2019. U-M continues to be led by Laila Phelia who is eighth in the B1G in scoring, averaging 15.9 ppg.
• DeeDee Hagemann dished out a team-high four assists against Ohio State, which put her over the 400-career assists mark, now with 403, becoming the ninth player in MSU program history to reach the 400-career assists plateau, and vaulting to tie for No. 7 on the Spartans' career assists list with Tamika Matlock (1995-97) with 403 helpers, passing Brittney Thomas (2007-11) with 401 assists.
• With the 363 points, Julia Ayrault needs just 71 more points to equal the combined sum of her previous three seasons in a Spartan uniform, as she had a combined 434 points in the 2019-23 seasons.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN
This is the 100th meeting between the Spartans and the Wolverines. Michigan holds a 16-10 overall record and a 7-7 mark in Big Ten action, heading into the game with Michigan State. Last time out, fell to No. 4/4 Iowa 106-89 in Iowa City on Thursday. The Wolverines had six players in double figures, led by 16 fro, Jordan Hobbs. U-M has lost four of its last six games with wins against Rutgers and Penn State.
The Wolverines are second in the Big Ten in scoring defense, allowing only 63.0 ppg. They are 10th in scoring offense, scoring 70.7 ppg. Michigan is third in the conference in rebound margin (+5.23) and sixth in turnover margin (+2.54).
Laila Phelia is eighth in the Big Ten in scoring, averaging 15.9 ppg. She is also 12th in the league in free throw percentage (.792).
Kim Barnes Arico is in his 12th season at the helm of the Wolverines with a 257-129 record. Overall, she is in his 28th season as a head coach with a record of 527-335.
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE WOLVERINES
Michigan State leads the overall series with Michigan 74-25. The Spartans are on top at home 37-9, while the series is closer in Ann Arbor with MSU leading, 28-16. Michigan State leads on neutral territory, 9-0. The Wolverines have had the edge of late, winning six of the last eight meetings. U-M won both games last year, including a 77-67 win in Ann Arbor on Feb. 18. Michigan State got back on track earlier this season with a dominating 82-61 win in the Breslin Center on Jan. 27.
LAST TIME VS MICHIGAN
With over 9,000 fans packing the Breslin Center, the Michigan State women's basketball team celebrated Spartans past and present with an 82-61 win over Michigan on Jan. 27.
First-year Michigan State head coach Robyn Fralick is the first Spartan head coach to post a Victory for MSU over Michigan in their first meeting since Karen Langland's first season of 1976-77 in a 63-62 triumph on Jan. 24, 1977. Overall, Fralick is the third MSU head coach to do so, joining inaugural head coach Mikki Baile in the first-ever meeting between the Spartans and Wolverines on Feb. 3, 1973.
In the first quarter, Michigan State honored members of the 2014 Big Ten Championship team, while all Spartan women's basketball alumni were honored at halftime. All-American and WNBA first- round draft pick Aerial Powers was on hand to celebrate the 2014 squad.
Overall, four Spartans reached double figures in the victory. Junior guard DeeDee Hagemann scored a team-high 20 points, along with four rebounds. Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault was just one rebound shy of a double-double with a 19 points and nine rebounds, while junior guard Jocelyn Tate scored 14 points with four boards.
OH WHAT A NIGHT
Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault had the hot hand against Indiana on Feb. 8. Ayrault netted a B1G season-high 25 points topping her previous B1G season-high of 20 points vs. Maryland (1/9/24). She netted a career-high five 3-pointers, bettering her previous top mark of four triples vs. Coastal Carolina (12/21/23). The five triples was her third game in the last four with multiple triples as part of the eighth game this season with more than one 3-pointer. Ayrault ended the game 9-for-11 from the field.
INCHING TOWARDS THE RECORD BOOKS
With five regular seasons-season games remaining, Michigan State is getting close to the school record for 3-pointers in a season. Through 24 games, the Spartans have made 225 treys this season. The school record is 252 set during the 2016-17 season. Graduate guard Moira Joiner leads the team with 59 3-pointers. The single-season record for individual treys was 122 by All-American Tori Jankoska during the 2016-17 season.
NET RANKING
Through Feb. 14, Michigan State holds a NET ranking of No. 23, which is fourth-best in the Big Ten. Iowa is first at No. 5, followed by Ohio State at No. 8 and Indiana at No. 12.
BY THE NUMBERS VS. OHIO STATE
• Sophomore guard Theryn Hallock's team-high 18 points was her fourth-straight game in double-figures as part of the 12th time this season and 13th of her career. The 18 points is also her third-most of the season behind a career-high 24 points vs. Purdue (1/4/24) and 21 points at Penn State (12/30/23).
• Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault's 10 points was her sixth-straight game with double-digits in the scoring column, tying her season and career-long for consecutive games in double-figures, matching six in a row from Dec. 17, 2023 - Jan. 9, 2024.
• Michigan State suffered defeat in back-to-back games for the first time this season after winning its previous four in a row. The Spartans have still won five of their last eight and 10 of their last 15 as part of 12 of the last 17, now 17-7 overall and 7-6 in B1G action.
DID YOU KNOW?
With only five games remaining in the regular season, the Big Ten standings are very tight. With the Spartans holding a 7-6 record, they stand fifth in the standings just behind Nebraska. Ohio State stands first with a 13-1 mark, while Iowa and Indiana are tied for second with 12-2 records. Just behind MSU, Michigan and Penn State are tied at 7-7.
DID YOU ALSO KNOW?
Moira Joiner's two treys against Ohio State on Feb. 11 gives her 59 3-pointers for the season, needing just nine more 3-pointers to crack the top 10 of MSU's single-season 3-pointers list, as Tori Jankoska (2014-15) and Lindsay Bowen (2005-06) co-hold the No. 9 spot with 68 3-pointers.
Joiner now has 186 career 3-pointers, now just 14 away from becoming the fifth player in Spartan women's basketball history with 200 career triples.
LOOK AT ME NOW
With the 363 points, graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault needs just 71 more points to equal the combined sum of her previous three seasons in a Spartan uniform, as she had a combined 434 points in the 2019-23 seasons.
LAST TIME OUT
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 Sunday afternoon at the Breslin Center.
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.
Ohio State was led by 20 points from Celeste Taylor.
Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.
