Fralick Earns 200th Career Win with Victory over Central Michigan, 91-67

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State head women's basketball coach Robyn Fralick earned her 200th career win, as the high-flying Spartan offense handled Central Michigan, 91-67, at a festive Breslin Center on Sunday afternoon.

Michigan State welcomed back former Spartan All-American and assistant coach Kristin Haynie, who is in her first season at the helm of the Chippewas. Former Spartan center Jenna Allen is also a member of Haynie's staff.

The Spartans improved to 8-2 this season, while the Chippewas fall to 1-7 on the year.

Playing with only seven available players, Michigan State was able to take jump on the Chips early. The Spartans were led by a career high 27 points from graduate guard Moira Joiner, who topped her career high of 26 points against DePaul on Nov. 30. Sophomore guard Theryn Hallock earned her first career start and made the most of it with her first career double-double. She tied her career high with 17 points and set a new career high 12 assists. Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault also had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Central Michigan was led by 13 points off the bench from Karrington Gordon.

The Spartans scored the first six points of the game all from Hallock who eventually scored the first eight points for Michigan State. MSU used a 13-2 run over four minutes to extend its lead to 21-6 with 3:24 left in the period. Joiner and Hallock accounted for 16 of MSU's 26 points as the Spartans' led 26-10 at the end of the period.

In the second period, Joiner continued to run the show for the Spartans. The guard went 5-for-9 from long range in the first half and ended with 19 points. Michigan State shot 47 percent from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes, shooting 9-for-19.

The Chippewas came out hot in the second half, out-scoring MSU 15-9 through the midway point of the quarter. Central Michigan used a 6-0 run to make the game even tighter, 62-47 with under two minutes left in the period. A pair of Taylor Anderson free throws made it a 14-point game, heading into the final two period. The Chips out-scored the Spartans 27-18 in the third period, which historically has been one of MSU's best quarters.

In the fourth quarter, MSU went over three minutes without a field goal before a Jocelyn Tate layup stopped the dry spell. From that point, the Spartans went on a 9-0 run in just over a minute to make it a 89-65 game to put the game out of reach. Sophomore guard Abbey Kimball scored all nine of her points in the final 10 minutes, going 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Tate also added six points.

The Spartans will now prepare for four-straight game away from East Lansing. Michigan State will head to the Cherokee Invitational in North Carolina Dec. 20-21. MSU will open against Richmond on Wednesday, Dec. 20 at 9:30 p.m.

Michigan State Women's Basketball Post-Game Notes

• Michigan State netted 90+ points for the sixth time this season and first in the last three games, last topping the 90-point mark with 102 points at DePaul (11/30).

• MSU netted double-digit 3-pointers for the fifth game this season with 12 treys in Sunday's game, after making a combined 12 triples in the previous two games (eight vs. Miami (Ohio) on 12/3 and a season-low four vs. Nebraska on 12/9).

• By draining 12-of-31 from 3-point range, the Spartans' 46.6 percent from behind the arc was their second-highest when making 10+ 3-pointers, behind the season-high 73.7 percentage (14-of-19) vs. Detroit Mercy (11/16) ... the 46.6 percent was also the Spartans' best 3-point shooting percentage since 47.1 percentage (8-of-17) vs. Evansville (11/19).

• The Spartans dished out 29 assists on Sunday, their most since 29 vs. Evansville (11/19), their most in the last six games ... the 29 assists was their sixth game this season with 20+ helpers.

• MSU had two double-doubles with sophomore guard Theryn Hallock tallying 17 points and a game-high and career-best 12 assists, while graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault has 13 points and a game-high tying 10 rebounds ... it was the first time that MSU had two players with double-doubles in the same game since Jan. 18, 2023 vs. Iowa when Moira Joiner had 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Isaline Alexander had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

• Graduate guard Moira Joiner netted a career-high 27 points, marking the second time in her last four games of netting a career-best 26 points, which came at DePaul (11/30) ... Joiner's 27 points was her second 20+ point outing of the season and fourth 20-point game of her career ... Joiner has scored in double-figures in all 10 contests this season as part of 12-straight games back to 2022-23 season, and in 13 of her last 14 games ... overall, Joiner has posted double-figures in 39 career games.

• Joiner drained a career-high seven 3-pointers, including five treys in the first half and topping her season-high of four triples (done twice, last at DePaul, 11/30) and matching her previous career-high of five treys (done four previous times, last vs. Maryland, 1/7/23).

• Joiner also matched her career-high tying and season-high of nine 3-point attempts from the game at DePaul (11/30) with nine in the first half, finishing the night with a career-high 15 3-pointers attempted for her first career game with 10+ attempts behind the arc.

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Team Stats

Moira Joiner

Theryn Hallock

Jocelyn Tate

Julia Ayrault

Players Mentioned

Isaline Alexander

Julia Ayrault

Theryn Hallock

Moira Joiner

Abbey Kimball

Jocelyn Tate