Spartan Women Close Out Homestand against Evansville Sunday

Story Links EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State women's basketball concludes its season opening four-game homestand on Sunday, Nov. 19, as the Spartans host Evansville at 1 p.m. at the Breslin Center. It is the first half of a doubleheader with the MSU men's team, who will take on Alcorn State at 6 p.m. The Spartans improved to 3-0 after a dominating 105-44 win over Detroit Mercy on Nov. 16.  Jack Stager and Bryan Rector will be on the call for BTN+.

• Shooting 70.9 percent from the field (39-for-55), the Spartans broke the school record for field goal percentage in a game against UDM. In that game MSU shot 67.2 percent (45-67) against Bowling Green on Dec. 23, 1986. They also tied the school record with 34 assists. The last time they achieved that feat was an epic 114-106 game against Minnesota on Feb. 21, 2016 at the Breslin Center.

• Michigan State's 61-point margin of victory was the most since a 65-point win against Florida A&M on Nov. 17, 2022. The school record for margin of victory is 66 against Niagara in a 116-50 win on  Nov. 14, 2008.

• Three Spartans are averaging in double figures led by junior guard DeeDee Hagemann, who is averaging 21.3 ppg. Graduate guard Moira Joiner (14.0 ppg) and sophomore Abbey Kimball (10.0 ppg) are both averaging in double figures.

• Michigan State is first in the Big Ten in scoring, averaging 97.0 ppg, while also standing first in assists with 27.3 apg. 

SCOUTING EVANSVILLE Evansville is looking for its first win of the season after an 0-3 start. The Purple Aces started the season with losses to Lipscomb on the road and SIUE in Edwardsville. 

Last time out, the Aces suffered a home loss to Eastern Kentucky on Nov. 15. Despite the Purple Aces 25 points in the fourth quarter, they couldn't overcome a slow start to the half in their 77-75 loss to EKU. Nevaeh Thomas led the team with 24 points, while Maggie Hartwig posted her first collegiate double-double with 11 rebounds and 10 points. Kynidi Mason Striverson leads the team in scoring, averaging 17.0 points per game.  Thomas is second with 13.0 ppg.

Robyn Scherr-Wells, who is a graduate of Michigan, is in her third season at Evansville. She has a record of 19-44 at the helm of the Aces. Overall she is in her 10th season of coaching with a record of 163-127.

SERIES HISTORY VS. EVANSVILLE Michigan State and Evansville have a very brief history. The Spartans won the only other meeting in 2007, 73-53.

LIGHTS OUT SHOOTING Shooting 70.9 percent from the field (39-for-55) against Detroit Mercy on Nov. 16, the Spartans broke the school record for field goal percentage in a game set in 1986 against Bowling Green. In that game MSU shot 67.2  percent(45-67) against Bowling Green on Dec. 23, 1986. The last time they achieved that feat was an epic 114-106 game against Minnesota on Feb. 21, 2016 at the Breslin Center.

AMONG THE BEST IN THE LAND Michigan State is second in the NCAA and first in the Big Ten in assists, averaging 27.3 apg. The Spartans are also first in the nation in field goal percentage, shooting 57.4 percent from the field. MSU is also sixth in scoring margin, winning games by a margin of 43.3 points. 

LENDING A HELPING HAND In tying the school record for assists with 34 against Detroit Mercy on Nov. 16, 11 of the 12 Spartans that played had at least one helper. Hagemann led the way with seven, which was just shy of her season high of eight. Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault tied her career high with five assists. She previously had five assists against Northern Illinois on Dec. 20, 2020.

WELCOME HOME, COACH Michigan State officially tipped off the head coach Robyn Fralick era with a Nov. 8 Victory for MSU over Oakland. Fralick, a native of Okemos, Michigan, was hired as the sixth head women's basketball head coach at Michigan State on March 31, 2023. Fralick becomes the fourth Spartan women's basketball head coach to win their opening game as MSU head coach, joining Dominic Marino in 1975-76, who also won his opener over Oakland; Joanne P. McCallie in 2000-01 and Suzy Merchant in 2007. Mikki Baile lost her opener, the first game in program history in MSU's inaugural game on Jan. 30, 1973, and Karen Langeland lost her opening game as the Spartans' head coach in to open the 1976-77 season.

SEASON OPENERS All-time, the Spartans are 36-15 in season openers, but 29-2 when the opener is in East Lansing. The Spartans have now won 10-straight season openers after MSU's win against Oakland on Nov. 8. First-year head coach Robyn Fralick captured her first win at the helm of the Spartans with the 87-62 win over the Golden Grizzlies.

BY THE NUMBERS VS. DETROIT MERCY • For the second-straight game, all 12 Spartans that played scored at least one point. Freshman center Mary Meng scored a season-high nine points, while junior guard Lauren Ross added seven. Graduate guard Moira Joiner (17) and graduate guard/forward Tory Ozment (11) both reached double figures.

• Michigan State's 61-point margin of victory was the most since a 65-point win against Florida A&M on Nov. 17, 2022. The school record for margin of victory is 66 against Niagara in a 116-50 win on  Nov. 14, 2008.

• This was the Spartans' first 100-point performance since the 109-44 win over Florida A&M last season on Nov. 17, 2022. 

BLOCK PARTY Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault set a new career high with five against Oakland on Nov. 8 in the season opener. Ayrault was the first Spartan with five blocks since Branndais Agee have five against Minnesota on Feb. 21, 2016.

AROUND THE BIG TEN Early on this season, Michigan State is fourth in the Big Ten in scoring margin (+43.3) and first in assists (27.3 apg). The Spartans are also first in the league in 3-point field goals made, averaging 11.7 per game.

Junior guard DeeDee Hagemann leads the Spartans in scoring, averaging 21.3 points per game, which is second in the Big Ten. She is also fifth in the league in assists, averaging 6.7 apg. She is also first in 3-point field goal percentage (.800). Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault is first in the conference in blocks, averaging 2.7 bpg.

MEET THE NEWBIES MSU introduces five newcomers to the team this season, including three freshmen and two transfers. The three freshmen are guard Bree Robinson (Mississauga, Ontario/Webb School), guard Kennedy Blair (Dearborn, Mich. /Divine Child) and center Mary Meng (Grafton, Ohio/Midview.)

The Spartans also added two transfers to this season's squad. Junior guard Jocelyn Tate comes to MSU from Bowling Green State University, where she averaged 10.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game for the Falcons. Junior guard Lauren Ross has played in the Breslin Center before, transferring from Western Michigan. She was averaging 21.8 ppg for the Broncos before tearing her ACL on Jan. 11, 2023.

KIMBALL SHINES IN SEASON DEBUT Sophomore guard Abbey Kimball tied a career-high with her 13 points against Oakland, logging her second career double-figure outing in matching her previous career-best of 13 points vs. Rutgers last season on Jan. 22, 2023. The game against Oakland was also her first career start. Kimball also netted a career-high three 3-pointers on Nov. 8, topping her previous top mark of two triples last season in same game vs. Rutgers.

PLAY THE BEST TO BE THE BEST Michigan State will play seven teams that are ranked in the preseason top 25 polls, led by No. 3/3 Iowa (Jan. 2). At the Cancun Challenge, the Spartans will take on No. 22/23 Creighton. Big Ten teams Indiana, Ohio State, Maryland, Illinois and Michigan are all ranked in at least one of the preseason polls.

HALL OF FAMER Spartan All-American Tori Jankoska was inducted into the Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame on Nov. 5. Jankoska was a four-time all-state player for Freeland High School from 2010-13 where she scored a Saginaw County record 2,333 career points, also good for No. 9 all-time in the state of Michigan. During her four years at MSU, Jankoska (2013-17) became the program record holder in career points (2,212), field goals made (707), 3-pointers made (320), and finished second in assists (489). She is currently an assistant coach at Virginia.

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN! Michigan State head coach Robyn Fralick has announced guard/forward Julia Ayrault and guard Moira Joiner as team captains, as voted on by the players on the 2023-24 women's basketball team. The duo are the first captains that Michigan State has had since the 2019-20 season, when Victoria Gaines and Taryn McCutcheon were tabbed team leaders. Ayrault is a guard/forward graduate student from Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan. She is in her fifth season with the Spartans after red-shirting the 2021-22 season with a foot injury. Ayrault has played in 77 games at Michigan State, starting 15. Last season, she played in all 30 games, averaging 3.6 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.

Joiner is a guard, who is a graduate student from Saginaw, Michigan. She is also in her fifth season with MSU after missing much of the 2021-22 season with concussion symptoms. She has played in 95 games at Michigan State, starting 54. Joiner had a breakout campaign last season averaging 10.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

LAST TIME OUT  A record setting night from the field helped the Michigan State women's basketball team dominate Detroit Mercy 105-44 Thursday night at the Breslin Center.

Shooting 70.9 percent from the field (39-for-55), the Spartans broke the school record for field goal percentage in a game set in 1986 against Bowling Green. In that game MSU shot 67.2  percent (45-for-67) against Bowling Green on Dec. 23, 1986. The Spartans also tied school record for assists with 34. 

With the win, the Spartans improve 3-0 this season, while Detroit Mercy falls to 2-2. This is the eighth-straight year that Michigan State has started the season 3-0.

For the third-straight game junior guard DeeDee Hagemann led MSU in scoring with 24 points, passing her previous career high of 23 against Oakland on Nov. 8. She also added a season-high seven helpers. Graduate guard Moira Joiner added a season-high 17 points and four assists. Graduate guard/forward Tory Ozment was stellar in the second half scoring 10 points, including going 2-for-2 from long range. She also had a game-high eight rebounds.

GUESS WHO'S BACK Despite losing its top two leading scorers in Kamaria McDaniel (graduation) and Matilda Ekh (transfer), Michigan State welcomes back graduate guard Moira Joiner, who averaged 10.1 ppg last season. Junior guard DeeDee Hagemann was fifth on the team in scoring, averaging 9.3 ppg and was sixth in the Big Ten in assists, 4.9 apg averaging apg.

LOOKING AT THE SCHEDULE For the third-straight season, the conference will play an 18-game Big Ten schedule. MSU also played an 18-game schedule in both 2018-19 and 2019-20. The conference additionally had 18-game schedules in both 2015-16 and 2014-15. 

Nine of the Spartans' 2023-24 regular-season opponents competed in the NCAA Tournament last season, including both of Michigan State's opponents in the Cancun Challenge, James Madison and Creighton. From the Big Ten portion of the schedule, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Purdue and Ohio State reached the NCAA Tournament, including the Hawkeyes advancing to the National Championship game.

HEADING SOUTH The Spartans will play in two tournaments this season. Over Thanksgiving, Michigan State will head to the Cancun Challenge in Mexico to take on James Madison (Nov. 24) and Creighton (Nov. 25). Before breaking for the Holiday break, the Spartans will play in the Cherokee Invitational in Cherokee, North Carolina, facing Richmond (Dec. 20) and either Coastal Carolina or UT-Chattanooga (Dec. 21).