Thursday, November 23
Cancun, Mexico
6:30 PM
Michigan State University
5-0,0-0Big Ten
95
vs
69
James Madison
4-2,0-0Sun Belt
1
2
3
4
F
Michigan St.
19
29
23
24
95
James Madison
13
19
16
21
69
Team Stats
MSU
JMU
FG%
.411
.409
3FG%
.385
.250
FT%
.667
.625
RB
50
38
TO
9
15
STL
9
3
Game Leaders
Pts
25
FGM
8
3FGM
3
FTM
6
Pts
21
FGM
6
3FGM
5
FTM
4
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's BasketballPhoto by: Matthew Mitchell Photography
Spartan Down Dukes Behind Ayrault’s Career Night
11/23/2023 10:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault’s double-double guides Michigan State.
CANCUN - Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault scored a career-high 25 points and added a career-best 15 rebounds, as the Spartan women's basketball team stopped James Madison, 95-69, in their first game at the Cancun Challenge.
Michigan State improves to 5-0 for the third time in the last four seasons, while the Dukes fall to 4-2 this season. MSU has scored at least 85 points in all five games this year.
Ayrault earned her third double-double of her career and the first by a Spartan this season. She was 8-for-17 from the field and added a pair of blocks. Sophomore guard Abbey Kimball also had an amazing night with a career-high 21 points, shooting 5-for-10 from 3-point range. Graduate guard/forward Tory Ozment was essential coming off the bench with 16 points, while graduate guard Moira Joiner added 11.
James Madison was led by 19 points off the bench Jamia Hazell.
Michigan State jumped out to an early 7-4 lead after a Kimball trey. Ayrault was huge early on with four rebounds. Behind solid rebounding, Michigan State led after 16-13 with less than two minutes remaining in the period. An Ayrault trey at the buzzer gave MSU a 19-13 lead at the end of the stanza.
In the second quarter, the Spartans made four-straight free throws to take a 10-point lead 23-13. After Kimball hit back-to-back treys to give MSU a 32-15 advantage, JMU immediately called timeout with 7:26 left in the half. The Spartans took as big a lead as 24 in the first half, but the Dukes ended the half on a 10-2 run to make it a 48-32 lead at the half. Ayrault had a double-double by half time with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Junior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate picked up her fourth foul early in the third quarter, as the James Madison offense began to heat up. A layup by Amira Williams made it a 51-40 game at the 5:43 mark of the third quarter. After the timeout, Joiner and Ozment hit back-to-back treys and MSU responded with an 11-0 run to go back up 62-40.
Michigan State was able to rest some players in the fourth quarter, while maintaining at least a 20-point advantage. Freshman guard Bree Robinson had three points and two rebounds in valuable minutes. Fellow freshman Mary Meng was also big with two points, two rebounds a steal and a block in five minutes of action, as MSU was able to rest some starters with the quick turnaround.
The Spartans will conclude play at the Cancun Challenge against Creighton on Friday, Nov. 24 at 4 p.m.
Michigan State Women's Basketball Post-Game Notes
• Graduate guard Julia Ayrault had a career night with 25 points and 15 rebounds both career highs. Her previous career high in scoring was 19 points against Iowa on Dec. 20, 2020. On the boards her career high was 12 against Central Michigan on Dec. 18, 2020.
• With two blocks, Ayrault now 88 career blocks, which stands ninth all-time in the MSU record books.She just passed former Spartan strength and conditioning coach Annalise Pickrel, who had 82.
• Prior to the game against the Spartans, James Madison was fifth in the nation in rebounding margin, Against the Spartans, Michigan State held the rebound margin 50-38.
• Michigan State went with the starting lineup of guard DeeDee Hagemann, forward Jocelyn Tate, guard Moira Joiner, guard Abbey Kimball and guard/forward Julia Ayrault. This lineup is 3-0 this season.
Michigan State improves to 5-0 for the third time in the last four seasons, while the Dukes fall to 4-2 this season. MSU has scored at least 85 points in all five games this year.
Ayrault earned her third double-double of her career and the first by a Spartan this season. She was 8-for-17 from the field and added a pair of blocks. Sophomore guard Abbey Kimball also had an amazing night with a career-high 21 points, shooting 5-for-10 from 3-point range. Graduate guard/forward Tory Ozment was essential coming off the bench with 16 points, while graduate guard Moira Joiner added 11.
James Madison was led by 19 points off the bench Jamia Hazell.
Michigan State jumped out to an early 7-4 lead after a Kimball trey. Ayrault was huge early on with four rebounds. Behind solid rebounding, Michigan State led after 16-13 with less than two minutes remaining in the period. An Ayrault trey at the buzzer gave MSU a 19-13 lead at the end of the stanza.
In the second quarter, the Spartans made four-straight free throws to take a 10-point lead 23-13. After Kimball hit back-to-back treys to give MSU a 32-15 advantage, JMU immediately called timeout with 7:26 left in the half. The Spartans took as big a lead as 24 in the first half, but the Dukes ended the half on a 10-2 run to make it a 48-32 lead at the half. Ayrault had a double-double by half time with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Junior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate picked up her fourth foul early in the third quarter, as the James Madison offense began to heat up. A layup by Amira Williams made it a 51-40 game at the 5:43 mark of the third quarter. After the timeout, Joiner and Ozment hit back-to-back treys and MSU responded with an 11-0 run to go back up 62-40.
Michigan State was able to rest some players in the fourth quarter, while maintaining at least a 20-point advantage. Freshman guard Bree Robinson had three points and two rebounds in valuable minutes. Fellow freshman Mary Meng was also big with two points, two rebounds a steal and a block in five minutes of action, as MSU was able to rest some starters with the quick turnaround.
The Spartans will conclude play at the Cancun Challenge against Creighton on Friday, Nov. 24 at 4 p.m.
Michigan State Women's Basketball Post-Game Notes
• Graduate guard Julia Ayrault had a career night with 25 points and 15 rebounds both career highs. Her previous career high in scoring was 19 points against Iowa on Dec. 20, 2020. On the boards her career high was 12 against Central Michigan on Dec. 18, 2020.
• With two blocks, Ayrault now 88 career blocks, which stands ninth all-time in the MSU record books.She just passed former Spartan strength and conditioning coach Annalise Pickrel, who had 82.
• Prior to the game against the Spartans, James Madison was fifth in the nation in rebounding margin, Against the Spartans, Michigan State held the rebound margin 50-38.
• Michigan State went with the starting lineup of guard DeeDee Hagemann, forward Jocelyn Tate, guard Moira Joiner, guard Abbey Kimball and guard/forward Julia Ayrault. This lineup is 3-0 this season.
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