Ayrault Reaches 1,000-Point Mark, as Spartans Battle Back to Beat Cal in Acrisure Classic

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. - Trailing by as many as 16 points in the third period, Michigan State used a huge performance from graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault to capture a 78-72 win over California on Tuesday at the Acrisure Classic in Palm Springs, California.

Michigan State improved to 7-0 for the first time under head coach Robyn Fralick as part of the second time in the last three years, going 7-0 to open the 2022-23 and the third time in last five years, joining the 2020-21 season.

Cal lost its first game of the season, falling to 6-1.

MSU's 16-point deficit and rally for the win on Tuesday was the Spartans' largest comeback win since being down 19 points vs. Penn State on Feb. 22, 2017, rallying from down 46-27 with 7:55 left in the third quarter and rallying for a 73-64 Victory for MSU.

Ayrault became the 31st member of the Michigan State 1,000-point club with a free throw with eight seconds remaining. She ended the game with a season-high 22 points with nine rebounds and a season-high four blocks. Junior guard Theryn Hallock added 15 points, while junior forward Grace VanSlooten scored 13 points with seven boards. Off the bench, graduate guard Nyla Hampton added 10 points.

Cal had four in double figures led by Lulu Twidale, who scored 20 points with six rebounds.

Hallock scored five-straight points for the Spartans to take a 14-9 lead at the 4:48 mark of the first period. The Bears responded with a 6-0 run to re-take the lead 15-14 with under four minutes left in the period. A trey by Ayrault helped the Spartans end the quarter for the on a 6-0 run to lead at the end of the period 26-18. Hallock led the Spartans with nine points in the first 10 minutes.

In the second quarter, the Spartans went cold early on going nearly seven minutes without scoring. The Bears scored the first 13 points of the quarter to go up 31-26 midway through the period. Cal took its first 10-point lead after a three by Abigor. Hallock stopped the Cal run with a trey of her own. The Spartans' five points in the second quarter tied a record low set against Iowa State on Nov. 22, 2024. At the break, Michigan State trailed Cal 40-31. It was the first time that MSU had faced a deficit at half time this season.

Both teams had a slow start to the second half. California used a 9-0 run over 1:15 to stretch the lead to 58-42 with under three minutes remaining in the period, which was its biggest lead of the game. The Spartans kept battling and made it a 60-48 game at the end of the third period after a Jaddan Simmons layup.

In the fourth quarter, MSU scored the first nine points to cut it to a 60-57 game with 7:24 remaining in regulation.
A pair of VanSlooten free throws made it a one-point contest at the 4:19 mark. A much-needed 3-pointer from Hampton gave the Spartans the lead 67-66 with 3:59 left. The Spartans would not relinquish the lead from that point. Ayrault led all scorers in the fourth quarter with 13 points.

The Spartans will now play Vanderbilt in the Acrisure Classic championship game on Wednesday Nov. 27 in Palm Springs. MSU will start the tournament against Cal at 2 p.m. ET.

Michigan State Women's Basketball Post-Game Notes
• With her Victory for MSU-sealing free throws with 8.4 seconds left, graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault netted her 21st and 22nd points of the game, reaching the 1,000 career points milestone with the first free throw . . . Ayrault's 22 points gives her a palindromic 1,001 points for her career, becoming the 31st Spartan women's basketball player to score 1,000 points in her MSU career.

• Michigan State improved to 7-0 for the first time under head coach Robyn Fralick as part of the second time in the last three years, going 7-0 to open the 2022-23 and the third time in last five years, joining the 2020-21 season.

• Overall this is the fifth 7-0 start in program history, as along with joining the aforementioned 2022-23 and 2020-21 seasons, but also the 2012-13 and 1999-2000 seasons . . . the 2012-13 and 2020-21 Spartan squads had best start in school history opening 8-0.

• MSU has won the last two meetings with Cal to take the lead in the limited series history at 2-1.

• Michigan State trailed by as much as 16 points at the 2:12 mark of the third quarter, which was MSU's largest deficit this season, quadrupling the previous largest deficit of four points in the Eastern Kentucky game (11/14/24)

• MSU's 16-point deficit and rally for win on Tuesday was the Spartans' largest comeback win since being down 19 points vs. Penn State on Feb. 22, 2017, rallying from down 46-27 with 7:55 left in the third quarter and rallying for a 73-64 Victory for MSU.

• MSU has won its last 12 regular-season games dating back to last year, finishing with five-straight wins in 2023-24 and opening this season 7-0 . . . the 12-game regular-season win streak is the longest since a 12-game spurt spanning the last four games of the 2011-12 season and the first eight games of the 2012-13 season.

• Tuesday's 78 points was a season-low for the Spartans, one lower than the previous low of 79 points in a 79-42 win at Western Michigan (11/17/24), as MSU entered the game leading the Big Ten in scoring at 96.3 points per game . . . the six-point margin of victory was also the closest game this season for the Spartans, as they also entered Tuesday leading the nation in scoring margin at +50.5.

• After holding the opposition to single digits in at least one quarter of each of the first six games as part of in 10 quarters out of the 24 total quarters played entering Tuesday's game, MSU did not hold Cal under 10 points in a quarter . . . on the flip side, MSU was held to single-digits in the second quarter with just five points, marking Michigan State's first quarter in single digits this season and the Spartans' fewest points in a quarter since five vs. Iowa State in 2022.

• MSU was 8-of-20 from 3-point range Tuesday, the Spartans' fourth-straight game with seven or more made treys.

• The Spartan starting five of senior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate, junior forward Grace VanSlooten, junior guard Theryn Hallock, junior guard Emma Shumate and graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault was MSU's sixth game with that starting five, along with the third different line-up, but the only one with more than one game started that way . . . MSU is now 5-0 with that starting five.

• Ayrault's game-high and season-best 22 points that helped her top the 1,000 career points plateau was also her first 20+ point game this season, as well as the Spartans' first 20-point outing . . . it was Ayrault's sixth career 20-point game and MSU is now 4-2 when she nets 20+ points . . . Ayrault tallied 13 points in the fourth quarter alone, after going scoreless in the third quarter . . . she has now posted double-figures in all six games this season, as MSU is 6-0 when she nets 10+ points . . . Ayrault now has posted double-digits in the scoring column in the last 19 games in a row as part of in 30 of her last 35 games played since the start of the 2023-24 season . . . overall, Ayrault logged her 46th career game in double-figures.

• MSU improved to 35-11 when Ayrault scores 10+ points.

• VanSlooten is on pace to become the next Spartan player to reach 1,000 career points, as her 13 points Tuesday gives her 983 career points between her two years at Oregon and her first season at Michigan State . . . with the 13 points, VanSlooten has registered double-figures in all six games played, missing the Eastern Michigan game due to illness.

• Hallock's 15 points was second-highest scoring outing of the season behind her top game of 18 points vs. Eastern Michigan (11/11/24), and was her second-straight game in double-figures as part of the sixth time in the seven games this season . . . the junior now has scored 10+ points in nine of her last 11 games played and 15 of the last 18 games dating back to last season . . . the guard has posted 10+ points in 23 of her last 32 games since Nov. 30, 2023, her first double-figure outing last season after scoring in single-digits the first six games of the season, and only scoring in single-digits in back-to-back games once during that span.

• Hampton netted double-digits for the first time this season, her first as a Spartan . . . the graduate guard drained two 3-pointers Tuesday, her second game with multiple triples, joined the season-opener vs. Oakland (11/5/24).

• Ayrault added a team-high nine rebounds, giving her eight or more boards in the last three games, as part of her fifth game with five or more rebounds in her six games played, missing the Oakland game with an injury . . . it was the first time this season that Ayrault led MSU on the boards and the 31st of her career, improving to 19-12.

• The Spartan guard/forward also logged a season-high with four blocks, doubling her season total entering Tuesday's game and her second multiple rejection outing of the season.

• Ayrault also netted two 3-pointers for her first multiple treys game this season, but her fourth game out of the six games played with at least one triple.

• By going 6-for-8 at the free throw line, Ayrault not only posted her season-high makes as the line, but doubled her previous most free throws made of three, doing so in each of the first two games.

• Van Slooten pulled down seven rebounds as she has snared five or more boards in all six games played, as part of seven or more in five of the six games played.

• Hallock made two 3-pointers for her second game with multiple treys as part of making at least one from behind the arc in five of the seven games played . . . the junior guard also swiped two steals for her third-straight game with at least two steals and her fourth game in the last five outings with multiple steals.

Players Mentioned

Julia Ayrault

Theryn Hallock

Nyla Hampton

Emma Shumate

Jaddan Simmons

Jocelyn Tate

Grace VanSlooten