Tuesday, December 22
East Lansing, Mich.
12 PM ET
Michigan State University
7-0,2-0Big Ten
94
vs
56
Oakland
2-4,2-1Horizon
1
2
3
4
F
Oakland
12
19
16
9
56
Michigan St.
16
26
31
21
94
Balanced Attack Helps No. 25 MSU Women Breeze Past Oakland, 94-56
12/22/2020 4:23:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Spartans complete the 2020 portion of the schedule 7-0.
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Using a season-high 12 different players, the No. 25 Michigan State women's basketball team cruised past Oakland, 94-56, in the non-conference finale Tuesday afternoon at the Breslin Center.
MSU jumps to 7-0 for the first time since the 2012-13 Spartan squad started the season 8-0. Michigan State concluded non-conference play with rough stretch of three games in five days. Oakland falls to 3-4 after playing three games in four days.
Prior to the game, head coach Suzy Merchant received word that transfers Alisia Smith and Jayla James both earned immediate eligibility after transferring from Penn State during the offseason. In their debuts, Smith and James scored nine and two points, respectively.
The Spartans improved to 6-0 when junior guard Nia Clouden leads the team in scoring, as she added 15 points in only 14 minutes of action. Sophomore guard Julia Ayrault was just shy of a double with 14 points and nine rebounds, while fellow sophomore guards Moira Joiner and Alyza Winston scored 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Michigan State snared 43 rebounds, their second-highest of the season and fourth game with 40 or more boards this season. With Tuesday's 43-25 rebounding advantage, MSU has out-rebounded the opposition in five of the seven games.
Kahlaijah Dean was Oakland's only player in double figures with 15 points.
The first quarter was a tight battle with both teams finding their footing. While the Spartans never trailed, the game was tied 2-2, before MSU opened up as big a lead as nine points in the opening 10 minutes. Junior guard Tory Ozment paced the Spartans early on with six first-quarter points.
In the second quarter, Michigan State began to establish control. A 7-0 run late in the period gave the Spartans their biggest lead of the half 42-28. Ayrault was close to a double-double by the end of the first half with nine points and seven rebounds, while Winston scored 10 of her 12 points in the second.
Oakland used a 6-0 third quarter run to trim the Spartan advantage to 43-37 with under eight minutes left in the period. Michigan State responded with six points in 24 seconds, leading to an Oakland timeout. The run expanded to 10-0 to push the MSU lead to 54-37. Michigan State out-scored OU 19-4 over four minutes to put the game out of reach, 63-41 with 3:02 left in the period.
MSU scored the first 17 points of the final quarter, making good use of its deep bench. The Spartans out-scored Oakland 21-9 in the final 10 minutes of play. Junior guard Janai Crooms was solid in the period with five points, three rebounds and two blocks.
After a break for the holiday, Michigan State returns to Big Ten action, traveling to Purdue on Jan. 3 at 2 p.m.
Post-Game Notes vs. Oakland
• Michigan State improved to 7-0 with Sunday's win, the Spartans' first 7-0 start to a season since the 2012-13 season when they opened 8-0.
• MSU increased its win streak vs. Oakland to 13-straight games, improving to 17-4 overall and 11-2 in East Lansing, winning the last eight in a row on the Spartans' home court ... Michigan State has topped 90 points in three of last four meetings, while limiting Oakland to under 60 in the last three in a row, including 56 points for the second-straight meeting ... the Spartans have won by an average of 34 points in the last four meetings, having beaten the Golden Grizzlies by an average of 92-58 in the last four match-ups, out-scoring them by a collective 367-233.
• MSU finished with a season-high 65.0 percent shooting from the field (39-of-60), cooling off from over 70 percent partway through the fourth quarter, which would have topped the school record of 67.2 percent vs. Bowling Green (12/23/86) ... Michigan State's 39 field goals was also a season-best.
• The Spartans' starting line-up of junior guard Nia Clouden, junior guard Tory Ozment, sophomore forward Julia Ayrault, sophomore forward Taiyier Parks and sophomore guard Alyza Winston was MSU's second-straight game with that starting five and second of the season.
• Ozment and Clouden are the lone Spartans to start in all seven games this season ... Ayrault and Winston started for the fourth time of their career, all in the last four games ... meanwhile, Clouden made her 70th career start in playing in her 70th career game ... Ozment started for the 19th time of her career in playing her 55th game ... Parks started for the fifth time this season in the seven games as part of her eighth career start, while playing in her 37th career game.
• Forwards Alisia Smith and Jayla James both made their Spartan debuts Tuesday, as the pair of Penn State transfers recently were cleared and eligible prior to Tuesday's game.
• Four Spartans scored in double-figures, marking the fourth time this season that four or more players were in double-digits, after doing so in the first three games of the season vs. Saint Francis, Detroit Mercy and Minnesota.
• Despite only playing a season-low 14 minutes, Clouden netted 15 points to lead the Spartans in scoring for the sixth time in the seven games this season and the 28th time in her career ... MSU is now 7-0 this season and 18-10 in her career when she leads the team in scoring ... Clouden's 15 points Tuesday was her 18th-straight career game in double-digits dating back to last year, having posted double-figures in 34 of her last 37 games played, doing so in every game but three last season ... for her career, Clouden now has double-digits in 57 of her 70 overall games played.
• Clouden's 15 points Tuesday gives her 963 career points, just 37 points away from the 1,000 career points milestone.
• Ayrault added 14 points and was one rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards ... the 14 points was Ayrault's fourth double-figure game this season and second-highest outing of the season behind 19 points vs. Iowa (Dec. 12) ... she now has nine career double-figure games ... the nine boards ties Ayrault's second-highest of the season, matching nine boards vs. Iowa and behind season-best 12 vs. Central Michigan (Dec. 18).
• Winston tallied 12 points for her fifth double-digit scoring outing in six games played, and sixth double-figure scoring game of her career ... with two 3-pointers Tuesday, Winston now has made multiple treys in four games.
• Sophomore guard Moira Joiner tallied season-highs of 13 points and five rebounds ... it was her second double-digit scoring outing of the season and eighth of her career ... Joiner also dished out five assists for her second-highest of the season behind six helpers vs. Detroit Mercy (Dec. 2) and fourth game with three or more assists.
• Junior transfer guard Janai Crooms logged MSU career-highs of 10 rebounds, five points, six assists and two blocks on Tuesday ... the 10 points was just shy of her overall career-best from Ohio State, tallying 11 points at Kent State (11/21/19).
• MSU had an 17-0 run over the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, after Oakland pulled within 73-47 at the end of the third quarter, the Spartans scored the first 17 points of the frame to open a 90-47 lead until the Grizzlies scored with 4:37 to go ... the Spartans also had runs of 10-0 and 15-0, both in the third quarter, out-scoring Oakland 31-16 in the frame.
• The Spartans snared 43 rebounds, their second-highest of the season and fourth game with 40 or more boards this season ... with Tuesday's 43-25 rebounding advantage, MSU has out-rebounded the opposition in five of the seven games.
• MSU dished out 24 assists Tuesday, the third-most of the season and fifth game this season with 20 or more helpers, joining 25 vs. Northern Illinois (Dec. 20), 24 vs. Central Michigan (Dec. 18), season-high 26 vs. Detroit Mercy (Dec. 2) and 25 in the season-opener vs. Saint Francis (Nov. 27).
• The Spartans have now led at halftime in all seven games, and Tuesday's 42-31 intermission lead was Michigan State's sixth double-digit lead at intermission, joining leads of 42-22 vs. Saint Francis, 36-24 vs. Detroit Mercy, 48-38 at Minnesota, 44-28 vs. Iowa and 46-33 vs. Northern Illinois.
• MSU's 94 points was a season-high and the Spartans have scored 80 or more points in five of the seven games and topped the 70-point mark in all seven games this season ... the Green & White have won 153 of their last 172 games (.890) when scoring at least 70 points, and the Spartans are 171-28 (.859) under head coach Suzy Merchant when hanging at least 70 points on the scoreboard ... Michigan State is now 7-0 this season when reaching the 70-point mark.
• Michigan State had a 90-47 lead with 5:00 to go on Tuesday, and the Spartans have now won 216 of their last 229 games (.943) when leading with five minutes left, including 166 of their last 181 ... In Coach Merchant's tenure, Michigan State is 251-19 (.930) when holding a lead with five minutes left ... MSU improved to 7-0 this season when leading with five minutes remaining.
MSU jumps to 7-0 for the first time since the 2012-13 Spartan squad started the season 8-0. Michigan State concluded non-conference play with rough stretch of three games in five days. Oakland falls to 3-4 after playing three games in four days.
Prior to the game, head coach Suzy Merchant received word that transfers Alisia Smith and Jayla James both earned immediate eligibility after transferring from Penn State during the offseason. In their debuts, Smith and James scored nine and two points, respectively.
The Spartans improved to 6-0 when junior guard Nia Clouden leads the team in scoring, as she added 15 points in only 14 minutes of action. Sophomore guard Julia Ayrault was just shy of a double with 14 points and nine rebounds, while fellow sophomore guards Moira Joiner and Alyza Winston scored 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Michigan State snared 43 rebounds, their second-highest of the season and fourth game with 40 or more boards this season. With Tuesday's 43-25 rebounding advantage, MSU has out-rebounded the opposition in five of the seven games.
Kahlaijah Dean was Oakland's only player in double figures with 15 points.
The first quarter was a tight battle with both teams finding their footing. While the Spartans never trailed, the game was tied 2-2, before MSU opened up as big a lead as nine points in the opening 10 minutes. Junior guard Tory Ozment paced the Spartans early on with six first-quarter points.
In the second quarter, Michigan State began to establish control. A 7-0 run late in the period gave the Spartans their biggest lead of the half 42-28. Ayrault was close to a double-double by the end of the first half with nine points and seven rebounds, while Winston scored 10 of her 12 points in the second.
Oakland used a 6-0 third quarter run to trim the Spartan advantage to 43-37 with under eight minutes left in the period. Michigan State responded with six points in 24 seconds, leading to an Oakland timeout. The run expanded to 10-0 to push the MSU lead to 54-37. Michigan State out-scored OU 19-4 over four minutes to put the game out of reach, 63-41 with 3:02 left in the period.
MSU scored the first 17 points of the final quarter, making good use of its deep bench. The Spartans out-scored Oakland 21-9 in the final 10 minutes of play. Junior guard Janai Crooms was solid in the period with five points, three rebounds and two blocks.
After a break for the holiday, Michigan State returns to Big Ten action, traveling to Purdue on Jan. 3 at 2 p.m.
Post-Game Notes vs. Oakland
• Michigan State improved to 7-0 with Sunday's win, the Spartans' first 7-0 start to a season since the 2012-13 season when they opened 8-0.
• MSU increased its win streak vs. Oakland to 13-straight games, improving to 17-4 overall and 11-2 in East Lansing, winning the last eight in a row on the Spartans' home court ... Michigan State has topped 90 points in three of last four meetings, while limiting Oakland to under 60 in the last three in a row, including 56 points for the second-straight meeting ... the Spartans have won by an average of 34 points in the last four meetings, having beaten the Golden Grizzlies by an average of 92-58 in the last four match-ups, out-scoring them by a collective 367-233.
• MSU finished with a season-high 65.0 percent shooting from the field (39-of-60), cooling off from over 70 percent partway through the fourth quarter, which would have topped the school record of 67.2 percent vs. Bowling Green (12/23/86) ... Michigan State's 39 field goals was also a season-best.
• The Spartans' starting line-up of junior guard Nia Clouden, junior guard Tory Ozment, sophomore forward Julia Ayrault, sophomore forward Taiyier Parks and sophomore guard Alyza Winston was MSU's second-straight game with that starting five and second of the season.
• Ozment and Clouden are the lone Spartans to start in all seven games this season ... Ayrault and Winston started for the fourth time of their career, all in the last four games ... meanwhile, Clouden made her 70th career start in playing in her 70th career game ... Ozment started for the 19th time of her career in playing her 55th game ... Parks started for the fifth time this season in the seven games as part of her eighth career start, while playing in her 37th career game.
• Forwards Alisia Smith and Jayla James both made their Spartan debuts Tuesday, as the pair of Penn State transfers recently were cleared and eligible prior to Tuesday's game.
• Four Spartans scored in double-figures, marking the fourth time this season that four or more players were in double-digits, after doing so in the first three games of the season vs. Saint Francis, Detroit Mercy and Minnesota.
• Despite only playing a season-low 14 minutes, Clouden netted 15 points to lead the Spartans in scoring for the sixth time in the seven games this season and the 28th time in her career ... MSU is now 7-0 this season and 18-10 in her career when she leads the team in scoring ... Clouden's 15 points Tuesday was her 18th-straight career game in double-digits dating back to last year, having posted double-figures in 34 of her last 37 games played, doing so in every game but three last season ... for her career, Clouden now has double-digits in 57 of her 70 overall games played.
• Clouden's 15 points Tuesday gives her 963 career points, just 37 points away from the 1,000 career points milestone.
• Ayrault added 14 points and was one rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards ... the 14 points was Ayrault's fourth double-figure game this season and second-highest outing of the season behind 19 points vs. Iowa (Dec. 12) ... she now has nine career double-figure games ... the nine boards ties Ayrault's second-highest of the season, matching nine boards vs. Iowa and behind season-best 12 vs. Central Michigan (Dec. 18).
• Winston tallied 12 points for her fifth double-digit scoring outing in six games played, and sixth double-figure scoring game of her career ... with two 3-pointers Tuesday, Winston now has made multiple treys in four games.
• Sophomore guard Moira Joiner tallied season-highs of 13 points and five rebounds ... it was her second double-digit scoring outing of the season and eighth of her career ... Joiner also dished out five assists for her second-highest of the season behind six helpers vs. Detroit Mercy (Dec. 2) and fourth game with three or more assists.
• Junior transfer guard Janai Crooms logged MSU career-highs of 10 rebounds, five points, six assists and two blocks on Tuesday ... the 10 points was just shy of her overall career-best from Ohio State, tallying 11 points at Kent State (11/21/19).
• MSU had an 17-0 run over the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, after Oakland pulled within 73-47 at the end of the third quarter, the Spartans scored the first 17 points of the frame to open a 90-47 lead until the Grizzlies scored with 4:37 to go ... the Spartans also had runs of 10-0 and 15-0, both in the third quarter, out-scoring Oakland 31-16 in the frame.
• The Spartans snared 43 rebounds, their second-highest of the season and fourth game with 40 or more boards this season ... with Tuesday's 43-25 rebounding advantage, MSU has out-rebounded the opposition in five of the seven games.
• MSU dished out 24 assists Tuesday, the third-most of the season and fifth game this season with 20 or more helpers, joining 25 vs. Northern Illinois (Dec. 20), 24 vs. Central Michigan (Dec. 18), season-high 26 vs. Detroit Mercy (Dec. 2) and 25 in the season-opener vs. Saint Francis (Nov. 27).
• The Spartans have now led at halftime in all seven games, and Tuesday's 42-31 intermission lead was Michigan State's sixth double-digit lead at intermission, joining leads of 42-22 vs. Saint Francis, 36-24 vs. Detroit Mercy, 48-38 at Minnesota, 44-28 vs. Iowa and 46-33 vs. Northern Illinois.
• MSU's 94 points was a season-high and the Spartans have scored 80 or more points in five of the seven games and topped the 70-point mark in all seven games this season ... the Green & White have won 153 of their last 172 games (.890) when scoring at least 70 points, and the Spartans are 171-28 (.859) under head coach Suzy Merchant when hanging at least 70 points on the scoreboard ... Michigan State is now 7-0 this season when reaching the 70-point mark.
• Michigan State had a 90-47 lead with 5:00 to go on Tuesday, and the Spartans have now won 216 of their last 229 games (.943) when leading with five minutes left, including 166 of their last 181 ... In Coach Merchant's tenure, Michigan State is 251-19 (.930) when holding a lead with five minutes left ... MSU improved to 7-0 this season when leading with five minutes remaining.
Team Stats
Oak
MSU
FG%
.344
.650
3FG%
.100
.364
FT%
.714
.600
RB
25
43
TO
20
20
STL
6
9
Game Leaders
Pts
15
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
13
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
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