No. 17/19 MSU Opens Big Ten Play Hosting No. 21/25 Iowa Sunday

EAST LANSING, Mich. - With final exams complete, Michigan State women's basketball will now turn its attention to Big Ten play. The No. 17/19 Spartans will host No. 21/25 Iowa at the Breslin Center on Sunday, Dec. 15 at 12 p.m. Kylen Mills and Christy Winters Scott will be on the call for the Big Ten Network.

• Michigan State is 9-0 not only for the first time under head coach Robyn Fralick, but also the best start to a season in program history, bettering the previous best starts of 8-0 in the 2012-13 and 2020-21 seasons, before losing their ninth game those two seasons.

• No. 21/25 Iowa improved to 9-1 this season after a 75-69 win over No. 18/17 Iowa State in Iowa City on Wednesday night. Today is the conference opener for both teams.

• Over her last five games, graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault is averaging a double-double with 19.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, with 97 total points and 51 total rebounds over that span. She has recorded three double-doubles in the last four games.

• The Spartans swatted a school-record 14 blocks on Dec. 8 against DePaul, topping the previous school record of 13 set on Dec. 28, 2006 vs. Indiana in a 74-49 win at home. Junior Grace VanSlooten led the Spartans, tying her career high with four blocks.

SCOUTING IOWA
Iowa is off to a fast start this season with a 9-1 record. The Hawkeyes only loss came against Tennessee on Dec. 7, 78-68. This is the Big Ten opener for both teams. This will be the Hawkeyes second true road game. Their other road game was a 86-73 win at Drake on Nov. 17.

The Hawkeyes have three players in double figures, led by Lucy Olsen, who is averaging 19.0 points and 3.9 assists per game. Olsen is tied for sixth in scoring. Addison O'Grady is first in the league in field goal percentage (.677), while Olsen is fourth in assists, averaging 5.25 apg.

Jan Jensen is in her first season at the helm of the Hawkeyes. She took over for longtime coaching legend Lisa Bluder. Jensen has won nine of her 10 first games as Iowa's head coach.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE HAWKEYES
Iowa leads the overall series with Michigan State, 43-30. The last two games have both been decided by three points or less. Last season, the Hawkeyes came out on top, 76-73, due to a Caitlin Clark buzzer beater in Iowa City. The last time the teams met in East Lansing, Iowa needed overtime to defeat MSU, 84-81 in 2023. Michigan State is looking for its first win against Iowa since a 2020, when the Spartans came out on top 86-82.

LAST TIME AGAINST IOWA
Michigan State women's basketball dropped a heartbreaker to No. 4/3 Iowa, 76-73 on Jan. 2 at a sold-out, Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa All-American Caitlin Clark hit a three at the buzzer for the game winner.

Michigan State had four players in double figures led by graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault who had 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Junior guard DeeDee Hagemann added 14 points and four assists. Graduate guard Moira Joiner and graduate guard/forward Tory Ozment both added 10 points. Joiner has reached double figures in scoring in all 14 games this season.

BIG TEN OPENERS
Michigan State is 20-22 in Big Ten openers, having won seven of their 13. Last season, the Spartans fell to Nebraska at home 80-74 on Dec. 9. During the 2022-23 season, the Spartans fell to Purdue at home 76-71 in overtime. MSU lost to Iowa, 88-61, in the 2021-22 opener, which was the last time the Spartans and the Hawkeyes met in the league opener. During the 2020-21 season, the Spartans won their opener in Minneapolis, 81-68 over the Gophers.

RANKED BIG TEN TEAMS
Nine different Big Ten teams are ranked or receiving votes in the AP top 25 poll. UCLA leads the way at No. 1, followed by No. 5 USC, No. 7 Maryland, No. 11 Ohio State, No. 17 Michigan State, No. 20 Michigan, No. 21 Iowa and No. 24 Nebraska. Illinois was also receiving votes in this week's poll.

CLIMBING UP THE CHARTS
This week, the Spartans are ranked No. 17 in the AP poll and No. 19 in the Coaches Poll. This is the best ranking since MSU started the 2019-20 season ranked No. 17 in the AP poll and No. 21 in the coaches poll. The last time MSU was ranked was Jan. 4, 2021, when it was ranked No. 23 in the AP poll and No. 24 in the Coaches Poll. The last time the Spartans met a top-25 team when they were ranked, No. 23/24 MSU fell to No. 12/12 Maryland, 93-87 on Jan. 7, 2021 in East Lansing.

WHO'S LEFT
There are nine undefeated teams remaining in NCAA Division I. Four of those teams are Big Ten teams, including Michigan State (9-0), Ohio State (9-0), UCLA (9-0) and Maryland (10-0). Tennessee, Portland, Buffalo, Georgia Tech and LSU are the remaining undefeated squads.

NET RANKINGS
In the current women's basketball NET ranking, the Spartans stand No. 6. They are second among Big Ten schools behind No. 5 UCLA. South Carolina stands No. 1.

BY THE NUMBERS VS. DEPAUL
• Michigan State netted a season-high 13 3-pointers on Dec. 8, topping the previous top mark of the season of 11 treys in the season-opener vs. Oakland (11/5/24). The 13 triples was the third time in double-digit 3-pointers, along with 10 vs. Eastern Kentucky (11/14/24).Additionally, the 13 3-pointers was MSU's most since making 14 last season vs. Rutgers on Feb. 24, 2024.

• Sunday's Spartan starting line-up of graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault, graduate guard Nyla Hampton, graduate guard Jaddan Simmons, junior forward Grace VanSlooten and senior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate was MSU's first game with that starting five. It was Michigan State's fifth different starting line-up of the season.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
When graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault and junior forward Grace VanSlooten both recorded double-doubles against Western Michigan on Nov. 17, it was the first time since Dec. 17, 2023 against CMU. In that game, Ayrault had 13 points and 10 assists, while Theryn Hallock had 17 points and 12 assists. Ayrault and VanSlooten were at it again when they both had double-doubles in MSU's 78-70 win over Vanderbilt in the Championship game of the Acrisure Classic on Nov. 27. VanSlooten had 25 points with 10 rebounds, while Ayrault and 24 points and 12 rebounds en route to earning MVP honors.

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.

COMEBACK KIDS
MSU's 16-point deficit and rally for win on the Nov. 26 win against Cal was the Spartans' largest comeback win since being down 19 points vs. Penn State on Feb. 22, 2017, rallying from down 46-27 with 7:55 left in the third quarter and rallying for a 73-64 Victory for MSU. In that game, All-American Tori Jankoska was held scoreless in the first half, she rallied with 21 second-half points, for a palindromic double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds.

1k AND COUNTING
With a pair of free throws with 8.4 seconds left against Cal on Nov. 26, graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault netted her 21st and 22nd points of the game, reaching the 1,000 career points milestone with the first free throw. Ayrault is now No. 29 on the Spartan scoring list with 1,042 points.

Junior forward Grace VanSlooten followed just one game later, reaching 1,000 career points in a win against Vanderbilt on Nov. 27. She scored a game-high 25 points to reach the landmark 1,000-point mark. She has 1,011 career points between her two years at Oregon and her time at Michigan State.

Ayrault is also tied for third in career blocks with 147. She is now tied with Lykendra Johnson (2008-12).

LOCKED IN DEFENSE
Graduate guard Nyla Hampton is third in the Big Ten in steals, averaging 2.4 spg. Graduate guard Jaddan Simmons is tied for fourth in the Big Ten in steals with 2.3 steals per game with Purdue's Destini Lombard. Senior forward Jocleyn Tate is sixth in the B1G with 2.2 spg. The MSU defense has been tough all season. Twice this year the Spartans have tallied 22 steals in a game: against Detroit Mercy on Nov. 20 and against Oakland on Nov. 5. The only team in the Big Ten with more steals in a game is USC with 28 against CSUN on Nov. 12. The Spartans are first in the B1G in steals, averaging 15.2 spg.

BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE
Michigan State won its second-straight tournament title after winning the Cherokee Invitational in North Carolina last season with wins over Richmond and Coastal Carolina. Prior to that, MSU last tournament crown came at the New Orleans Shootout in 2017.

SIMMONS FINDING HER WAY
Graduate guard Jaddan Simmons netted a season-high and game-best 18 points against DePaul on Dec. 8. It was her second double-digit scoring outing of the season, both coming in the last four games after her previous season-best of 15 points vs. Detroit Mercy (12/20/24). Simmons drained a season-high three 3-pointers, for her second game with not just a 3-pointer, but multiple triples, as she only had two 3-pointers on the season coming into Sunday, both coming in the Detroit Mercy game. She has started the last two games for MSU.

AROUND THE BIG TEN
Michigan State is first in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging 91.4 points per game, just ahead of Ohio State's 87.4 ppg. MSU is also first in the league in scoring margin (+38.3). MSU is first in steals with 15.2 and assists with 21.2 apg. The Spartans are second in turnover margin (+10.2).

Individually, graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault is 11th in the league in scoring (16.4 ppg), while junior forward Grace VanSlooten is 15th (15.5 ppg). Ayrault is also 10th in the league in rebounds, averaging 8.5 rpg.

AROUND THE NATION
After nine games, the Spartans are first in the nation scoring margin, winning games by 38.3 points. Michigan State is third in the NCAA and first in the Big Ten in assists per game with 21.2 apg. MSU is also fourth in steals per game (20.8) and fifth in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 91.4 ppg.

SEASON OPENERS
Michigan State won its 11th-straight season-opener and second in a row under head coach Robyn Fralick. MSU's last season-opening loss was on Nov. 11, 2013 at #6/7 Notre Dame. The Spartans have won 15-consecutive home openers, as their last loss in the first home game of the season was on Nov. 19, 2009 vs. #5/6 Notre Dame.

LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State women's basketball had a record-setting day en route to defeating DePaul, 89-61, Sunday afternoon at the Breslin Center. With the win, the Spartans improved to 9-0, which is their best start in program history.

For the first time this season, graduate guard Jaddan Simmons led the Spartans in scoring with 18 points to go along with five assists and three steals. Ayrault had her second-straight double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds to go along with a season-high five assists. Sophomore guard Emma Shumate had a breakout performance with 12 points, going 4-for-8 from the beyond the arc. She also tied her career high with three blocks.

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.

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.

WELCOME TO SPARTAN NATION
Michigan State women's basketball head coach Robyn Fralick announced the signing of three signees on Wednesday, including Jordan Ode (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove High School), Anna Terrian (Pewaukee, Wis./Pewaukee High School) and Amy Terrian (Pewaukee, Wis./Pewaukee High School).

Ode is a 6-0 guard, who is a native of Maple Grove, Minn. She attends Maple Grove High School and is coached by Mark Cook. Ode is currently ranked No. 33 in the ESPNW HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings.

Anna Terrian is a 5-8 guard, who is a native of Pewaukee, Wis., and plays for head coach Jim Reuter at Pewaukee High School. As a junior, she averaged 9.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.

Amy Terrian is a 5-8 guard, who is a native of Pewaukee, Wis., plays for head coach Jim Reuter at Pewaukee High School. Terrian is currently ranked No. 89 in the ESPNW HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings. As a junior, she averaged 18.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.

No. 17/19 MSU Opens Big Ten Play Hosting No. 21/25 Iowa Sunday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Julia Ayrault

DeeDee Hagemann

Theryn Hallock

Nyla Hampton

Moira Joiner

Tory Ozment

Emma Shumate

Jaddan Simmons

Jocelyn Tate

Grace VanSlooten