Shumate's Career-High Highlights MSU's Dominating Win Over Indiana State

CHEROKEE, N.C. - Senior guard Emma Shumate's career-high 22 point performance led the No. 24 Spartan women's basketball team to a 115-66 win over Indiana State in the opening game of the Cherokee Invitational at Harrah's Cherokee Resort on Sunday.

The Spartans will now take on the winner of the game between No. 14 Ole Miss and Old Dominion on Monday at 7:30 p.m. Michigan State won the 2023 Cherokee Invitational with wins over Richmond and Coastal Carolina. With a career-high seven made 3-pointers, Shumate broke former Spartan Moira Joiner's Cherokee Invitational record of five treys set in 2023. The seven made 3-pointers is also tied for fifth all-time in MSU history.

With the victory, MSU improves to 10-1 this season. Indiana State falls to 4-6 with the loss. The Spartans played their fourth-straight game without senior guard Theryn Hallock, who is out with an injury.

Sophomore center Inés Sotelo and junior guard Sara Sambolić made their first starts of the season. It was also Sambolić's first career MSU start, while Sotelo started eight games last season.

For the first time this season, seven Spartans had seven players reach double figures led by Shumate's 22 points off the bench. She went 7-for-12 from beyond the arc. Sambolić scored 14 points, going 9-for-10 from the charity stripe, while senior forward Isaline Alexander added 15 off the bench. Senior guard Jalyn Brown poured in 13 off the bench. Redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair had her third double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds, adding seven assists. Junior Rashunda Jones (10 points) and senior forward Grace VanSlooten rounded out the scoring (12 points).

Indiana State was led by 13 points off the bench by Jayci Allen.

Michigan State took its first double digit lead of the game 19-8 after a pair of Jones free throws with 3:35 left in the first period. The Spartans used defense to spark the offense with both Brown and VanSlooten turning steals into buckets, as MSU took a 29-15 advantage. Michigan State ended the quarter on a dominate 9-0 run to end the period 34-15. VanSlooten scored all 12 of her points in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, both teams went cold going over two minutes without scoring. A long pass from Blair to Brown broke the dry spell and give MSU the 40-19 lead. The Sycamores would not go down without a fight and out-scored the Spartans in the second quarter 28-25. Michigan State was led by nine points from Shumate and six from Brown in the second period. Using 30 bench points, the Spartans led at the break 59-43.

In the third quarter, Michigan State scored the first five points leading to an early Indiana State timeout. MSU went on to score the first 11 of the period. An Amy Terrian trey gave the Spartans their first 30-point lead of the game 77-47. Seven different Spartans scored in the third quarter, stretching the advantage to 87-54.

A 12-2 run by the Green and White made it a 99-59 MSU advantage with six minutes on the clock. The Sycamores went the final 7:51 without a field goal, while the Spartans continued to hit from long range. Michigan State ended the game with 15 made 3-pointers by six different players. As the bench continued to shine, Sambolić and Shumate combined for 20 of MSU's 28 fourth-quarter points.

Michigan State Women's Basketball Post-Game Notes

• Senior guard Emma Shumate set a new Cherokee Invitational record for most 3-pointers made in a game with seven triples, passing former Spartan Moira Joiner's record with five treys vs. Richmond in the 2023 tournament (12/20/23).

• Shumate's seven 3-pointers is tied for the fifth-most in school history, and most since 2023, when Moira Joiner had seven vs. Central Michigan on Dec. 17, 2023 . . . Shumate becomes the fourth Spartan with seven 3-pointers in a game, joining Joiner's performance in 2023, as well as Aerial Powers vs. Nebraska on Jan. 8, 2015 and Maxann Reese vs. Wisconsin on Jan. 30, 1998.

• Shumate finished with 22 points, which was her Spartan career-best, and tied her collegiate career-high, matching 22 points vs. Ohio (12/5/23) during her tenure at Ohio State . . . Shumate's seven 3-pointers also was a new career-high, topping her previous top mark of six in the same game vs. Ohio, and her seven field goals made ties her career-best seven also vs. Ohio . . . Shumate netted 13 points in the fourth quarter alone with four treys and one free throw.

• Shumate's seven 3-pointers were nearly half of Michigan State's season-high 15 3-pointers in the game, as the Spartans registered their sixth game this season with double-digit triples, but first time doing to in the last four games, as MSU has had single-digit treys in the last three games, after a streak of three-straight games in double-figures for 3-pointers.

• Michigan State improved to 10-1 with Sunday's success over the Sycamores, good for MSU's second-best record through 11 games in the three seasons under head coach Robyn Fralick, just behind last season's 11-0 start . . . MSU has won at least nine games through the first 11 games in all three seasons under Coach Fralick after starting 9-2 in 2023-24, the first season of the Coach Fralick era.

• The Spartans' 115 points was MSU's second-most of the season, behind the season-high 125 points in the season-opener vs. Mercyhurst (11/4/25) . . . it was Michigan State's fourth 100-point game, moving to 4-0.

• Sunday was the second-straight game in which MSU has scored 90 or more points and the eighth time this season netting 90+ points, after doing so in each of the first six games, before scoring under 90 in the next three games, and then netting 90 or more in the last two contests . . . the Spartans are now 8-0 when hanging 90 or more on the scoreboard.

• The Spartans' 115 points scored was most points scored by either team, topping MSU's 85 points in an 85-66 Victory for MSU on Nov. 24, 2006 in East Lansing . . . the 49-point margin of victory was also the highest in the series, topping a 25-point Spartan win in an 83-58 game on Dec. 8, 2007 in Terre Haute . . . the Sycamores' 66 points tied their highest point total, matching the 66 in the aforementioned 85-66 Victory for MSU on Nov. 24, 2006.

• MSU played its fifth-straight game away from home on Sunday, as the Spartans are now 6-0 at home, 3-0 in neutral games and 1-1 in road games . . . Monday's Cherokee Invitational will be the final game of a season-long six-straight games away from home for MSU.

• All 13 Spartans that suited up played on Sunday for the second-straight game, tying the season-high for most players in action.

• Of the 13 players to see the court, 11 of them scored, with seven of them scoring 10+ points, while all 11 scored four or more points.

• One game after making their season debuts, sophomore center Inés Sotelo and junior guard Sara Sambolić both started for the first time this season . . . Sotelo and Sambolić appeared for the first time this season last game vs. DePaul and then started Sunday vs. Indiana State . . . it was Sotelo's ninth career start after making eight starts last season . . . it was the first career start for Sambolić, as she's in her first year as a Spartan.

• Sotelo and Sambolić were part of MSU's third different starting line-up this season.

• The Spartans netted 34 points in the first quarter for their eighth 30-point quarter this season and just two points shy of their season high 36 points from the season-opener vs. Mercyhurst (11/4/25) . . . it was the first 30-point quarter in the last five games, as MSU last scored 30-plus points in a quarter in the third stanza vs. Oakland (11/23/25), a stretch of 17 quarters, the longest drought of the season without a 30-point quarter.

• The Spartans' largest lead of the first half was 22 at 37-15 at 9:52 of the second quarter, and MSU has now had at least a 20-point lead in nine of the 11 games, doing so in the first seven games and then last time out vs. DePaul.

• Michigan State also entered the game leading both the B1G and the NCAA in turnover margin at 14.6 per game, and the Spartans were nearly at that mark on Sunday at 12.0 as MSU forced 25 ISU turnovers and only had 13 miscues of their own.

• Additionally, the Spartans came into the weekend leading the league and ranking third in the nation in assists/game at 22.9 apg, and MSU was right at that average with 22 helpers.

• Sunday's 59 points in the first half was MSU's third 50-point first half and second-most, joining 66 vs. Mercyhurst (11/4/25) and 53 vs. Oakland (11/23/25).

• Michigan State had 44 rebounds Sunday, posting their second-straight game with 40+ rebounds after pulling down a season-high 49 rebounds last time out at DePaul . . . overall, it was the Spartans' third game this season with 40+ rebounds, joining 43 vs. Eastern Illinois (11/20/25) . . . MSU had a 44-30 (+14) rebounding advantage, as the Spartans have out-rebounded their opposition in seven games, improving to 7-0 when doing so.

• MSU finished with a season-high tying seven players in double-figures, including three in the first half, as senior forward Grace VanSlooten had 12 points, redshirt-senior forward Isaline Alexander tallied 11 and senior guard Jalyn Brown added 10 points, while senior guard Emma Shumate was just off with nine points, on three 3-pointers, in the first half.

• Redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair became the fourth Spartan with 10+ points with a fast-break layup midway through the third quarter and junior guard Rashunda Jones joined the double-digit club as the fifth player in double-figures with her 10th point of the game coming later in the third quarter . . . junior guard Sara Sambolić became the sixth Spartan in double-figures with a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter for her 12th point of the night . . . Shumate made her fourth 3-pointer of the night midway through the fourth quarter to become the seventh MSU player, tying the season-high mark.

• In tying her collegiate career-high with 22 points, senior guard Emma Shumate netted the first 20-point outing of her MSU career, topping her previous Spartan high of 14 points, doing so twice before, with both coming in the first three games of the season, with 14 against Mercyhurst in the season-opener (11/4/25) and in game three of the season with 14 points vs. Youngstown State (11/12/25).

• Shumate not only tied her collegiate-career high of 22 points vs. Ohio (12/5/23) during her Ohio State career, but also posted only her second career 20-point outing.

• Shumate's 22 points Sunday was her third double-figure scoring outing this season, joining her two season-high tying marks of 14 points . . . it was her sixth game as a Spartan with 10+ points and her eighth overall of her career, with two outings while she played at OSU.

• Redshirt-senior forward Isaline Alexander finished with 15 points for her third-straight double-figure scoring outing as part of fourth of the season and 10th of her career . . . Alexander has scored 12+ points in all four outings in double-digits.

• Junior guard Sara Sambolić not only netted her first points as a Spartan, coming on a pair of free throws with 1:15 left in the second quarter, but Sambolić netted her first field goal at and her first 3-pointer at 8:44 in the fourth quarter, tallying seven points in the quarter alone, to finish with a season-high 14 points.

• Senior guard Jalyn Brown notched her second-straight game in double-figures with 13 points on a perfect 5-of-5 field goals and 3-of-3 at the free throw line . . . Brown netted 10+ points for the sixth time this season, and the five field goals tied her season-high for the fourth time this season.

• Brown also tied her season-high of two blocks for the second game in a row, also with two swats last time out at DePaul . . . Brown now has at least one block in four games, with four of her six total blocks this season coming in the last two games.

• Senior forward Grace VanSlooten reached double-figures with 10 points in the first four minutes of the first quarter alone, finishing the opening quarter with 12 points and did not play in the second half . . . VanSlooten has posted double-figures in back-to-back games and in 10 of the 11 games this season . . . VanSlooten has scored 10 or more points in 29 of the last 30 games, including posting 10+ points in 39 of her 42 games played as a Spartan, being held to single digits twice last season and missing one game due to illness.

• Additionally, VanSlooten has now tallied double-figures scoring 90 times out of 105 career games, registering 10+ points in 55 games during her time at Oregon.

• Redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair registered her third double-double of both the season and her career with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds . . . it was her second double-double on points and rebounds, joining 22 point and 12 rebounds vs. Clemson (11/30/25), while she had 14 points and 12 assists in the season-opener vs. Mercyhurst (11/4/25).

• With the 11 points Sunday, Blair logged her fourth game in a row in double-figure scoring and the seventh time this season and 10th of her career.

• The 10 rebounds was Blair's third double-figure rebounding outing, behind her career-high 15 boards vs. Eastern Illinois (11/20/25) and 12 rebounds vs. Clemson (11/30/25).

• Blair also dished out a game-high seven assists, for her fifth-consecutive game with five or more helpers as part of the ninth time this season in the 11 games . . . it's also her fourth game with seven or more helpers.

• Junior guard Rashunda Jones was the seventh Spartan in double-figure scoring with 10 points Sunday, posting her second-straight game with 10 or more in the scoring column, as well as the seventh time this season with double-digit points.

Shumate's Career-High Highlights MSU's Dominating Win Over Indiana State

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Team Stats

Emma Shumate

Isaline Alexander

Sara Sambolić

Jalyn Brown

Players Mentioned

Isaline Alexander

Kennedy Blair

Jalyn Brown

Theryn Hallock

Rashunda Jones

Emma Shumate

Amy Terrian

Grace VanSlooten