Spartan Women Use Stalwart Defense to Thwart Miami, 89-44, Sunday

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State women's basketball held Miami (Ohio) to single digits in three of the four quarters en route to an 89-44 win over the RedHawks Sunday at the Breslin Center.

The Spartans improve to 7-1, including winning all five games at the Breslin Center so far this season, while Miami falls to 1-4 this year.

MSU's defense was solid forcing a season-high 29 turnovers, while adding 16 steals. The Spartans scored 30 points off of turnovers in the game.

Michigan State had four players in double figures led by a career high off the bench from sophomore guard Theryn Hallock. She had previously set a career high with 14 against DePaul on Nov. 30. Graduate guard Moira Joiner scored 15 points, now scoring in double figures in every game this season. Graduate guard forward Julia Ayrault was near a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds, while junior guard DeeDee Hagemann added 12 points and two steals.

Nuria Jurjo led the RedHawks with nine points and seven rebounds.

Miami jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead before Hagemann completed a four-point play to make it 6-4 with seven minutes left in the quarter. The Spartans forced three turnovers in two minutes to keep them close as the offense started cold. MSU went on an 8-0 run to pull ahead 12-7. Miami went over seven minutes without a field goal, as Michigan State led 18-9 at the end of the period.

In the second quarter, the Spartans scored the first 14 points to open up a 32-9 advantage. Despite being held off the scoreboard the final 4:58, Michigan State still led at the half 35-16.

Both offenses came to life in the third period, as the RedHawks continued to stay hot from long range. Miami ended the game 7-for-13 from beyond the arc. MSU out-scored Miami 29-22 in the period behind 13 points from Joiner. She was 4-for-5 from the field and a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe.

Michigan State used a 6-0 run to take its first 30-point advantage early in the fourth period. The offensive explosion wasn't over as MSU went on a 15-2 run over 4:59 to escalate it to a 40-point game after a pair of free throws from freshman guard Bree Robinson. Seven different Spartans scored in the fourth quarter, as MSU went to the bench. Junior guard Lauren Ross scored five points, while Robinson scored four. Every Spartan that got in the game scored at least two points, as MSU out-scored Miami 25-6 in the final 10 minutes.

The Spartans now turn their attention to Big Ten play, taking on Nebraska on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 2 p.m. at the Breslin Center. This is the second game of MSU's three-game homestand.

Michigan State Women's Basketball Post-Game Notes

• Michigan State improved to 5-0 at home this season and the Spartans ran their overall home win streak to six in a row and have won seven of the last eight home contests dating back to last season.

• The Spartan defense held Miami to 44 points, matching their fewest points allowed by an opponent, matching the 44 in the 105-44 Victory for MSU vs. Detroit Mercy (11/16/23).

• MSU entered the game out-scoring the opposition, 188-87 in the second period, an average of 26.9-12.4, and maintained that average by out-scoring Miami, 17-7 in the second stanza, to now have a 205-94 advantage, an average of 25.6-11.8.

• The Spartans held the RedHawks to single-digit scoring in three of the four quarters on Sunday with nine points in the first, seven points in the second and six in the fourth.

• With the three single-digit quarters, the MSU defense has now held the opponent under 10 points in a quarter a total of eight stanzas, but Sunday's three quarters was the first game in which the Spartans limited the opposition to a single-digit quarter more than once in a game.

• Miami's six points in the fourth was the third-fewest allowed in a quarter both overall and the lowest in the fourth quarter, as MSU limited Evansville (11/19/23) to just four points in the first quarter and stymied Wright State (11/12/23) to five points in the second quarter ... the nine points in the first quarter is the second time the Spartan defense allowed single-digits, the seven-point second quarter was the second time in the second stanza and the six-point fourth quarter is the first time in the fourth frame.

• The MSU defense also forced 29 turnovers, which is a season-high, bettering the previous season-high of 25, done in back-to-back games vs. Detroit Mercy (11/16/23) and Evansville (11/19/23) ... the 29 turnovers was the sixth game this season with 18 or more turnovers and the fourth with 20+ turnovers forced, joining the aforementioned 25 in two games, along with 21 vs. Oakland in the season-opener (11/8/23).

• Michigan State swiped 16 steals Sunday, tying a season-high, matching the season-best 16 swipes vs. Evansville (11/19/23) ... Sunday's 16 steals were the fifth double-figure steals outing in the eight games.

• The Spartans' defense also posted five blocks, their third game with five or more rejections.

• Sophomore guard Theryn Hallock netted a career-high 17 points Sunday, not only tallying double-figures but also career-high for the second-straight game after 14 points last time out vs. DePaul (11/30/23) ... it was Hallock's third double-digit outing of her career, as her previous career-high of 13 points vs. Purdue Fort Wayne (11/10/22).

• Hallock netted two 3-pointers Sunday after making a career-high four 3-pointers last game vs. DePaul (11/30/23) ... she now has six treys in her last two games, going 6-for-11 behind the arc, after going just 2-for-8 in the previous six games this season and was 6-for-20 from 3-point range all of last season.

• Hallock also made a career-high 7-of-8 at the free throw line, tallying career-bests for both free throws made and attempted, bettering her previous top marks of 4-of-6, done twice before in her career, first doing so last year vs. Prairie View A&M (12/20/22) and again this season vs. Wright State (11/12/23).

• Additionally, Hallock swiped a season-high and career-best tying four steals on Sunday, topping her previous top mark of the season of one steal in two games, while matching her career-high of four from last year vs. Rutgers (1/22/23) ... the four steals not only led MSU on Sunday, but was also a game-high.

• Graduate guard Moira Joiner has scored in double-figures in all eight games of this season, as part of 10-consecutive games going back to the 2022-23 season, and in 11 of her last 12 games, now doing so in 37 career games.

• Joiner was also 5-of-5 at the free throw line, her second perfect game at the charity stripe this season, joining 2-of-2 vs. Wright State (11/12/23) for her only other free throws this season, as she is now 7-of-7 for the season ... Sunday was her 16th career game with a perfect 100 percent at the line with more than one attempt.

• Joiner dished out three assists, her second-highest of the season, as she has multiple helpers in six of the eight games, as Sunday's three helpers was one shy of her season-best of four vs. Detroit Mercy (12/16/23).

• Fellow captain, graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault tallied double-figures for the fifth-straight game with 13 points on Sunday, netting double-digits for the sixth overall time this season and 19th outing of her career.

• Ayrault swatted four blocks, her third game with four or more rejections ... she has at least one block in all eight contests this season as part of registering multiple blocks in six of the eight games on the year ... Ayrault also netted a 3-pointer for the fourth game this season.

• Ayrault also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds, marking the third time this season that she has led the team in rebounding, taking over sole possession of the MSU lead for doing so, pulling away from a tie with Joiner ... the Spartans improve to 3-0 when Ayrault leads the team on the glass.

• Junior guard DeeDee Hagemann completed the four Spartans in double-figures, tallying 12 points Sunday, netting double-digits for the second game in a row and sixth double-figure contest of the season and 28th of her career.

• Graduate guard/forward Tory Ozment dished out a season-high six assists, marking the first time this season and 10th time of her career that she has topped the team in helpers, improving to 1-0 this season and 7-3 in her career when doing so ... Ozment's six helpers topped her previous season-best of three, done twice before, most recently vs. JMU (11/23/23), and just one shy of her career-high of seven assists, also done three times previously, most recently vs. Penn State (3/10/21).

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Team Stats

Theryn Hallock

Moira Joiner

Julia Ayrault

DeeDee Hagemann

Players Mentioned

Julia Ayrault

DeeDee Hagemann

Theryn Hallock

Moira Joiner

Tory Ozment

Bree Robinson

Lauren Ross