No. 24 MSU Set to Face No.14 Ole Miss in Cherokee Invitational Championship Game

CHEROKEE, N.C. - No. 24/23 Michigan State women's basketball will play for the Cherokee Invitational Championship against No. 14/14 Ole Miss on Monday, Dec. 22 at 7:30 p.m. MSU started the invitational with a dominating 115-66 win over Indiana State. Jennifer George and Shawn Crowe will be on the call for the Women's Sports Network.

• In the win against Indiana State, 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).

• Ole Miss reached the championship game with convincing 86-57 win over Old Dominion in the second game of the Cherokee Invitational. Former Ohio State Buckeye Cotie McMahon was one of three Rebels in double figures with 19 points.

• 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.

• MSU unfolded a new starting lineup against ISU with Sara Sambolić, Rashunda Jones, Kennedy Blair, Inés Sotelo and Grace VanSlooten being their third starting lineup.

SCOUTING OLE MISS
No. 14 Ole Miss improved to 12-1 with an impressive 86-57 win over Old Dominion in the its first game of the Cherokee Invitational. With the win this is the second time that Coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin's has started with a 12-1 record. She joins former Rebel head coach Van Chancellor as the only head coaches in program history to have one or fewer than losses through the first 13 games of any season.

Ole Miss is led by a very familiar face for the Spartans. Former Ohio State standout Cotie McMahon leads the Rebels in scoring with 18.8 ppg. Christeen Iwuala is second in scoring with 16.4 ppg.

The Rebels only loss this season came against Kansas State on Dec. 7, 61-60. Ole Miss also has wins against Notre Dame and Wisconsin this season. The Badgers handed Michigan State its only loss this season.

Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin is in her eighth season at the helm of the Rebels. In eight seasons in Oxford, she holds a record of 137-96. Overall in 13 seasons as a head coach, she holds a record of 231-159.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE REBELS
This is the first ever meeting between the Spartans and the Rebels.

FACING THE BEST
Ole Miss will be the first ranked team that the Spartans have faced this season. The Robyn Fralick Spartans are looking for their third ranked win in her three seasons. Overall, during her tenure, Michigan State is 2-10 with a road win against Michigan last season and a win against Iowa during the 2023-24 season.

FAMILIAR TERRITORY
In two games at the Cherokee Invitational in 2023, Michigan State went 2-0 to earn the title. The Spartans out-scored its opponents 94.0-71.0. Julia Ayrault averaged 22.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in the pair of victories with Moira Joiner adding 18.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Joiner went 9-for-14 from beyond the arc, shooting 64.3 percent from long range. Ayrault shot 48.5 percent from the field.

DID YOU KNOW?
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).Kennedy Blair also tied the record with seven assists.

BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE
In winning the 2025 Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship of the Junkanoo Division in Nassau, Bahamas, Michigan State won its third tournament title in as many seasons under head coach Robyn Fralick, as the Spartans won the 2023 Cherokee Invitational in Cherokee, N.C., in Coach Fralick's first season, then won the 2024 Acrisure Classic crown last year in Palm Springs, Calif.

BY THE NUMBERS vs. INDIANA STATE

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.
For the first time this season, seven Spartans had seven players reach double figures led by Emma 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).

GETTING IN THE STARTING LINEUP
After using the same starting lineup for seven games, Michigan State used a different starting lineup against Clemson on Nov. 30. After an injury to Theryn Hallock, MSU went with the lineup for senior forward Grace VanSlooten, senior forward Marah Dykstra, senior guard Emma Shumate, junior guard Rashunda Jones and redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair. MSU is 2-1 with that lineup. MSU rolled out its third lineup against Indiana State with Blair, Jones, Van Slooten, Inés Sotelo and Sara Sambolić, which is now 1-0.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES (As of 12/14)
Redshirt-sophomore Kennedy Blair is ranked fifth in the Big Ten in scoring improvement from 2024-25 to 2025-26. Last season, she averaged 3.4 ppg, while scored 13.3 so far this season for a 10.0 ppg improvement. Northwestern's Grace Sullivan has the best improvement in the league after scoring 10.1 ppg last year and 24.0 ppg this year. Indiana's Shay Ciezki is second, while Oregon's Katie Fiso is third and Iowa's Ava Heiden is fourth.

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
MSU played its fifth-straight game away from home on Dec. 21 against Indiana State as the Spartans are now 6-0 at home, 3-0 in neutral games and 1-1 in road games. Monday's Cherokee Invitational Championship will be the final game of a season-long six-straight games away from home for MSU.

GRACE GETS ON THE SCORESHEET
Senior forward Grace VanSlooten has now tallied double-figures scoring 90 times out of 105 career games, registering 10+ points in 56 games during her time at Oregon.

WIPING UP THE GLASS
Michigan State had 44 rebounds against Indiana State on Dec. 21, 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.

LOOKING AT THE NET
In the current women's basketball NET ranking, the Spartans stand No. 10. They are fourth among Big Ten schools behind No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Maryland and No. 9 Maryland. UConn stands No. 1.

RANKED TEAMS IN BIG TEN
This Big Ten continues to be one of the toughest conferences in the country with three teams in the top 10 in the rankings. In the AP poll, UCLA is No. 4, while Michigan and Maryland stand No. 6 and No. 7, respectively. Iowa continues to hold the No. 11 spot followed by No. 19 USC. Michigan State (No. 24), Ohio State (No. 21)Washington (No. 20) and No. 23 Nebraska round out the group. The Big Ten matched a record with nine teams ranked this week. Last season, the B1G also had nine teams ranked on Dec. 2.

SPARTANS VS. THE NCAA
After the first 11 games, Michigan State stands first in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (2.24). The Spartans are second in the NCAA and first in the Big Ten in turnover margin (+14.4). Michigan State is also second in the nation and first in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging 94.5 ppg. MSU has also been strong on the defensive end of the ball, standing 11th in the country and second in the B1G in steals per game (14.5 spg). Junior guard Rashunda Jones is eighth in the NCAA in assist/turnover ratio (3.57).

STRONG BENCH
Against Oakland on Nov. 23, Michigan State's bench out-scored the Grizzlies 37-9. The Spartans' 59 points scored by their bench was more than Eastern Illinois' entire team scoring of 53 points on Nov. 20. Against DePaul on Dec. 14, the Spartan bench scored 44 of 90 points. MSU kept that trend up against Indiana with 64 bench points. This season, the MSU bench has out-scored opponents 450-215.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Senior forward Grace VanSlooten's 11 points and 10 rebounds against Temple on Nov. 28 was MSU's second double-double this season, joining redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair's 14 point-12 assist outing in the season-opener vs. Mercyhurst (11/4/25). In the championship game against Clemson on Nov. 30, Blair added her second double-double of the season with 22 points and 12 boards in the win. Blair added her team-leading third double-double against Indiana State with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

While VanSlooten logged her first double-double of the season, it was the eighth of her career.

BIG TEN OPENERS
After losing its Big Ten Conference opener against Wisconsin, Michigan State is now 21-23 all-time in Big Ten openers. Last season, MSU defeated Iowa, having won eight of their last 15. The win against Iowa was the first time that the Spartans opened league play with the Hawkeyes since 2021-22 season, and the win avenged that 88-61 loss. During the 2023-24 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. During the 2020-21 season, the Spartans won their opener in Minneapolis, 81-68 over the Gophers.

FINDING THE MAGIC NUMBER
Michigan State's 102 points against Oakland on Nov. 23 marked the Spartans' sixth time out of six games scoring 90+ points. MSU's 90 points against DePaul on Dec. 14 was the first time reaching 90 in the last four games, after the Spartans had scored 90 or more points in each of the first six games of the season. MSU is now 7-0 when scoring 90+ points.

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.

WELCOME BACK
After tearing her ACL on Jan. 22, 2025 against Penn State, Juliann Woodard returned to the lineup against Eastern Michigan. Woodard entered the game at the 3:46 mark of the fourth quarter. At the 3:39 point, she drained her first shot, which was a 3-pointer. Her trey gave the Spartans a 32-point advantage.

ADDING UP THE ACCOLADES
Senior forward Grace VanSlooten was named to the 2025-26 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Women's College Player of the Year Watch List Presented by AXIA Time. She was one of 50 players named to the watch list that honors the best players in the nation.

VanSlooten is one of 13 Big Ten players named to the watch list, including her team USA teammate Hannah Stuelke from Iowa. VanSlooten was also named to the Preseason All-Big Ten team as well the Cheryl Miller Award Watch List.

ALEXANDER THE GREAT
After missing all of the 2024-25 season and much of the 2023-24 season, senior forward Isaline Alexander returned to action on Nov. 4 against Mercyhurst. Alexander scored a career-high 20 points against Western Michigan. She topped her previous career-high of 17 points from Nov. 19, 2022 vs. Central Michigan for her first career 20-point outing and just her seventh career double-figure scoring outing .

She netted her career-best 20 points on a perfect 9-of-9 shooting from the floor, also a career-high, bettering her previous career-high field goal outing of seven field goals, vs. Oregon (11/27/22).

VANSLOOTEN EARNS PRESEASON HONOR
Michigan State women's basketball senior forward Grace VanSlooten was named 2025-26 Preseason All-Big Ten by both the coaches and media. In her first season with the Spartans, VanSlooten earned second-team All-Big Ten honors. She was first on the team in scoring, averaging 15.5 points per game. She scored a career-high 480 points her junior season. She was tied for 15th in the Big Ten in rebounding, averaging 7.3 rebounds per game. In a win against, Vanderbilt at the Acrisure Classic on Nov. 27, she scored her 1,000th career point.

BRINGING HOME THE GOLD
Three players earned gold medals for their home countries this summer. Grace VanSlooten won the FIBA Women's Americup for Team USA. Marah Dykstra won gold for Canada in the FIBA 3x3 Junior Pan American Games. Inés Sotelo and Spain won a gold medal in the 2025 FIBA Eurobasket.

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
Michigan State head coach Robyn Fralick has announced senior forward Grace VanSlooten and senior guard Abbey Kimball as team captains, as voted on by the players on the 2025-26 women's basketball team. This is the first time that either has been named a captain for Michigan State. VanSlooten is in her second season with MSU after transferring from Oregon. Kimball is in her fourth season as a Spartan.

NEW DIGS
The Spartans welcome four transfers to the 2025-26 season. Rashunda Jones is a junior guard, who comes to Michigan State after two years at Purdue. Marah Dykstra is a senior forward who spent three season at Montana State in the Big Sky Conference. Jalyn Brown is the second-straight player to come to MSU from Arizona State. The guard played two seasons at ASU. Last season, senior Jaddan Simmons spent one season with MSU. Finally, Sara Sambolić is a junior guard from Slovenia who transferred from the University of Ljubljana.

ROBYN FRALICK RADIO SHOW
Michigan State women's basketball head coach Robyn Fralick started her weekly radio call-in show, the Robyn Fralick Radio Show, on Nov. 18 at One North Kitchen and Bar. Coach Fralick joins host Dalton Shetler, the Spartans' play-by-play voice, from 12-1 p.m., for an in-depth look into the MSU women's basketball program. The show is held at One North Kitchen and Bar on 1310 Abbott in East Lansing.

Radio Show Dates
Tuesday, Jan. 6
Tuesday, Jan. 13
Tuesday, Jan. 20
Tuesday, Jan. 27
Tuesday, Feb. 3
Tuesday Feb. 10
Tuesday, Feb. 17
Tuesday, Feb. 24