Spartan Women's Basketball Hosts Oakland Wednesday - Michigan State University Athletics

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State women's basketball returns home to take on Oakland on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at the Breslin Center. Wednesday is also the Spartans' Hoops For Troops game, presented by Rocket. Brooks Horwath and Colin Gardner will be on the call for B1G+.

• MSU moved to 2-0 with a 72-64 road victory over Toledo on Nov. 7. The Spartans were led by a game-high 28 points from junior guard Kennedy Blair. She also recorded the team's first double-double of the season by adding 11 rebounds.

• Oakland is off to a fast start this season with a 2-1 record. Last time out, the Golden Grizzlies defeated Rochester Christian at home, 97-48. MSU is the second Big Ten opponent for Oakland after losing at Wisconsin 89-56 on Nov. 5.

• With 13 steals against Toledo, Michigan State now has 33 takeaways in the first two games. Against Valparaiso, the Spartan swiped 20 steals, just shy of the school record of 24 set three times, most recently last season against Mercyhurst. MSU also forced 30 turnovers.

• Kennedy Blair was tabbed to the 2027 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and WBCA Preseason Watch List for the Nancy Lieberman Award. Blair was a Second-Team All-Big Ten honoree last year after finishing fourth in the B1G in assists last season, dishing out 5.2 assists per game.

SCOUTING OAKLAND
Oakland enters the contest 2-1 following a 97-48 win over Rochester Christian University on Sunday. The Golden Grizzlies forced 22 turnovers to create 26 points, adding a season-high 10 3-pointers and finished with four players in double-digits.

Makenzie Luehring leads the Golden Grizzlies, averaging 19.3 points per game. She was named Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year as well as Preseason All-League first team. The sophomore guard has posted back-to-back 20-point performances so far. Luehring collected numerous accolades in her freshman season, including Horizon League Freshman of the Year, All-League first team and the conference championship tournament record with 39 points against Cleveland State. She posted 10 20-point performances and three 30-point performances in her freshman season.

Oakland returns seven players, including four starters. The Golden Grizzlies also added seven newcomers in the offseason, including four freshmen and three transfers.

The Grizzlies were ranked fourth in the Horizon League Preseason Poll. The preseason ranking was a huge jump as the program was ranked 11th in last year's preseason poll.

Oakland is led by second-year head coach Keisha Newell. She holds a 12-22 record leading the Grizzlies and is 61-64 all-time as a head coach.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE GRIZZLIES
This is the 27th meeting between the Spartans and the Grizzlies, dating back to 1975. Michigan State leads the overall series 22-4, including 15-2 in East Lansing. In Rochester, MSU is on top in the series 7-2. The Spartans have won 18-straight games in the series. The last time that the Grizzlies defeated the Spartans was in 1982, OU came out on top 76-57. Last season in East Lansing, MSU dominated Oakland 102-41 on Nov. 23, 2025. Kennedy Blair led all scorers with 25 points.

DID YOU KNOW?
Freshmen Kathy-Emma Otto and Monique have started the first two games of the season. It is the first time since the 2021-22 season that MSU has started a pair of freshman. That season guard DeeDee Hagemann and forward Matilda Ekh both became regular starters that season.

WATCH OUT FOR THIEVES
With 13 steals against Toledo on Nov. 7, Michigan State now has 33 takeaways in the first two games. Against Valparaiso, the Spartan swiped 20 steals, just shy of the school record of 24 set three times, most recently last season against Mercyhurst. MSU also forced 30 turnovers.

LOOKING TO JOIN THE CLUB
Graduate guard Theryn Hallock is looking to join an exclusive Michigan State club. She is looking to become the 32nd member of the Spartan 1,000-point club. She has currently scored 958 points in her five seasons with MSU. She is just 42 points shy of reaching 1,000 points.

THE VETS LEAD THE WAY
Against Toledo, junior guard Kennedy Blair recorded the first double-double of the season for Michigan State with 28 points and 11 rebounds. She now has seven career double-doubles and has scored in double figures 31 times during her career. Senior guard Theryn Hallock also reached double figures for the 47th time of her career. Blair and Hallock are the only two Spartans to reach double figures in the first two games of the season.

STARTING THE HALF HOT
The 36 points scored by the Spartans against Valpo on Nov. 3 was a school record for points scored in the third period. The previous highs was 35 against Cincinnati in 2015. Overall, the most points MSU has scored in a quarter was 37 in the first quarter against Minnesota in 2016.

AROUND THE CORNER
After taking on Oakland on Wednesday, the Spartans will go back on the road against Harvard on Nov. 15. The Spartans last played the Crimson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament during the 2024-25 season.

AROUND THE BIG TEN
The Spartans are tied for first in the Big Ten in steals, averaging 16.5 spg, which is tied with Nebraska. MSU is also tied for fourth in turnover margin with Michigan (+10.5).

Individually, junior guard Kennedy Blair is 11th in the league in scoring, averaging 20.0 ppg. She is also fourth in the league in assists with 6.5 apg. Graduate guard Theryn Hallock is tied for second in steals peg game with 4.0 spg, while freshman forward Kathy-Emma Otto is tied for fourth with 4.0 spg.

STARTING STRONG
For the second-straight season sophomore guard Amy Terrian has started the season with a double-digit scoring performance. In her MSU debut last season against Mercyhurst she scored 15 points. She duplicated that against Valparaiso on Nov. 3 with 15 points going 5-for-6 from the beyond the arc.

COMING OUT OF THE GATES
Michigan State has won its 13th-straight season-openers and four 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 17-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.

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
MSU head Robyn Fralick coach announced captains for the 2026-27 season. The Spartans picked their captains for the season in senior guard Theryn Hallock, junior guard Kennedy Blair and junior forward Tabitha Betson.

LAST TIME OUT
Junior guard Kennedy Blair recorded her first double-double of the season to lead Michigan State women's basketball to a hard-fought 72-64 win over Toledo at Savage Arena on Nov. 7.

This evens out the series between the Spartans and the Rockets at 4-4. The teams had not met since MSU defeated Toledo in the WNIT in 2018.

Blair ended the game with 28 points and 11 rebounds in 35 minutes of action. She also went 10-for-14 from the charity with four assists. Graduate guard Theryn Hallock added 14 points and six rebounds to lead MSU. Despite foul trouble freshmen guard Emma Broliron and Monique Bobongie both added eight points.

LOOKING AT THE CALENDAR
This is the earliest season opener for Michigan State opening the year on Nov. 3. Last season, the Spartans first game of the season was Nov. 4, while the season opener in 2024-25 was Nov. 5.

BRINGING HOME THE GOLD
Last summer, MSU head coach Robyn Fralick won a gold medal as an assistant coach for the USA Women's U18 National Team at the 2026 FIBA U18 Women's AmeriCup in Irapuato, Mexico.

BLAIR NAMED TO WATCH LIST
Kennedy Blair was tabbed to the 2027 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and WBCA Preseason Watch List for the Nancy Lieberman Award.

Blair was a Second-Team All-Big Ten honoree last year after finishing fourth in the B1G in assists last season, dishing out 5.2 assists per game. Blair ranks second in the conference among returning point guards back in 2026-27, behind Katie Fiso of Oregon, who was second in the B1G with 6.2 apg.

Additionally, Blair ranked third in the league in steals with 2.4 spg. She led MSU and ranked in the top 20 in the conference in scoring at 14.5 ppg. Blair was also one of two Spartans to start all 32 games. Off the court, Blair earned CSC Academic All-District and Academic All-Big Ten accolades.
The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame also announced the 2027 Bob Cousy Award for the men's basketball top point guard, and MSU men's basketball redshirt junior guard Jeremy Fears Jr. was one of 20 players selected to the watch list. Michigan State is one of seven teams in the country with a men and women's player on each list, and only one of two Big Ten teams, joined by Michigan, while UConn, Louisville, LSU, Miami and Virginia also had one player on both lists.

INTERNATIONAL SQUAD
The 2026-27 Spartan team has a true international flavor. This season, MSU welcomes Australians junior Tabitha Betson and freshman Monique Bobongie. Betson comes to Michigan State after two years at Colorado. MSU also adds a pair from France in freshmen Kathy-Emma Otto and Emma Broliron. The Spartans also welcome back senior Sara Sambolić from Slovenia and graduate student Isaline Alexander.

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Players Mentioned

Isaline Alexander

Tabitha Betson

Kennedy Blair

Monique Bobongie

Emma Broliron

Theryn Hallock

Kathy-Emma Otto

Amy Terrian

Michigan State University Athletics