No. 15/17 Spartans Open West Palm Beach Classic with Montana Thursday

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State women's basketball will head to the West Palm Beach Classic prior to the holiday break. The No. 15/17 Spartans take on Montana on Thursday, Dec. 19 at 12 p.m. MSU will end the tournament against No. 24 Alabama Friday, Dec. 20 at 4:30 p.m. Alex Inbornone will be on the call for BallerTV.

• The MSU women's 10-0 start is just the fourth 10-0 start for all Michigan State basketball teams, joining three Spartan men's teams from the 1991-92, 2000-01 and 2015-16 seasons that all started 10-0.

• Montana arrives in the Sunshine State with a 4-5 overall record. The Lady Griz have lost two-straight after falling on the road to North Dakota State and at home to South Dakota State.

• With graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault's 19 points and four rebounds against Iowa on Dec. 15, she is averaging just shy of a double-double with 19.3 points and 9.2 rebounds per game over her last six games, with 116 points and 55 rebounds over that span. She has earned a spot on the Big Ten Honor Roll for three-straight weeks.

• Nyla Hampton's 13 points against Iowa were a season-high and only the second game this season in double-figures, joining 10 points vs. Cal (11/26/24). She scored all 13 points in the fourth quarter.

SCOUTING MONTANA
Montana comes to the West Palm Beach Classic with a 4-5 record. The Lady Griz have already played two Big Ten teams with a win over Washington team at home on Nov. 17 and a loss on the road to Minnesota on Nov. 24.

Mack Konig is the only player who is averaging in double figures with 12.1 points per game. Izabella Zingaro is second in scoring with 8.8 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. The Lady Griz are averaging 71.7 points per game, while allowing 70.6 ppg. Montana is solid from long range, averaging 8.1 3-pointers per game.

Brian Holsinger is in his fourth season at the helm of the Lady Griz with a record of 60-42. Overall, he has record of 82-78

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE LADY GRIZ
This is the first-ever meeting between the Spartans

SCOUTING ALABAMA
The Crimson's Tide first game of the tournament will be against the Spartans on Friday at 4:30 p.m. Alabama will also take on Richmond on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 1:15 p.m. Tennessee and Tulsa are also playing in the West Palm Beach Classic.

Alabama has four players averaging in double figures led by Sarah Ashlee Barker, who is scoring 16.3 ppg. Zaay Green is second with 16.2 ppg. Michigan State fans will see a familiar face on the Alabama lineup in Aaliyah Nye. The East Lansing native played two seasons at Illinois from 2020-22.

Kristy Curry is in her 12th season as the head coach of Alabama with a 207-154 record. Overall, she is in her 26th season as a head coach with stops at Purdue and Texas Tech. Her overall record is 516-303.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE CRIMSON TIDE
The Spartans and the Crimson Tide have a limited history. The two teams have not played since 2002 when MSU came out on top 79-61 in East Lansing. In the only meeting in Tuscalossa, Alabama won, 54-53.

Alabama
11/20/99 East Lansing, W, 73-72
12/10/00 Tuscaloosa , L, 53-54
3/19/02 East Lansing, W, 79-61
MSU leads 2-1 (H: 2-0, A: 0-1)

STACKING UP THE WINS
The Spartans have won their last 15 regular-season games dating back to last year, finishing with five-straight wins in 2023-24 and opening this season 10-0. The 15-game regular-season win streak overlapping last year and this season betters MSU's longest winning streak of 14 regular-season games in a row during the 2010-11 season, and is the longest win streak of any kind since a 17-game win streak in 2004-05 en route to winning a share of the Big Ten regular-season crown and the Big Ten Tournament title.

SNOW BIRDS
This is the Spartans first trip to Florida since the 2021-22 season. Michigan State played in the West Palm Beach Invitational during the 2021-22 season. In the first game, Spartan great Nia Clouden set the Michigan State record with 50 points in a double-overtime loss to Florida Gulf Coast, 85-84. The Spartans fell in the second game to West Virginia, 74-54. Julia Ayrault and Isaline Alexander are the only two current Spartans that were on the 2021-22 team.

RANKED BIG TEN TEAMS
Nine different Big Ten teams are ranked or receiving votes in the AP top 25 poll. UCLA leads the way at No. 1, followed by No. 7 USC, No. 8 Maryland, No. 11 Ohio State, No. 15 Michigan State, No. 20 Michigan, No. 22 Iowa and No. 23 Nebraska. Illinois was also receiving votes in this week's poll.

CLIMBING UP THE CHARTS
This week, the Spartans are ranked No. 15 in the AP poll and No. 17 in the Coaches Poll. This is the best ranking since MSU started the 2019-20 season ranked No. 17 in the AP poll and No. 21 in the coaches poll. The last time MSU was ranked was Jan. 4, 2021, when it was ranked No. 23 in the AP poll and No. 24 in the Coaches Poll. The last time MSU reached No. 15 in the AP poll was No. 18, 2019, when they were also ranked No. 16 in the Coaches Poll.

WHO'S LEFT
There are nine undefeated teams remaining in NCAA Division I. Four of those teams are Big Ten teams, including Michigan State (10-0), Ohio State (11-0), UCLA (11-0) and Maryland (10-0). Tennessee, Portland, Buffalo, Georgia Tech and LSU are the remaining undefeated squads.

NET RANKINGS
In the current women's basketball NET ranking, the Spartans stand No. 12. They are second among Big Ten schools behind No. 5 UCLA. South Carolina stands No. 1.

BIG TEN OPENERS
MSU won its Big Ten Conference opener, against Iowa and is now 21-22 all-time in B1G openers, having won eight of their last 14. The win against Iowa was the first time that the Spartans opened league play with the Hawkeyes since 2021-22 season, and the win avenged that 88-61 loss. Last season, the Spartans fell to Nebraska at home 80-74 on Dec. 9. During the 2022-23 season, the Spartans fell to Purdue at home 76-71 in overtime. During the 2020-21 season, the Spartans won their opener in Minneapolis, 81-68 over the Gophers.

BY THE NUMBERS VS. IOWA
• Julia Ayrault has netted 10+ points in all nine games played this season, missing the Detroit Mercy game (12/20/24) with an injury. The graduate guard/forward has tallied double-digits in the last 22-straight games played as part of doing so in 33 of her last 38 games played since the start of the 2023-24 season. Overall, she logged her 49th career game in double-figures and the Spartans improved to 38-11 when Ayrault nets 10+ points.

• Sunday was MSU's first win over Iowa since Dec. 12, 2020, and graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault is the lone current Spartan on the roster from that season, snapping a four-game losing skid to the Hawkeyes. Sunday's win cut Iowa's overall lead to 43-31 in the all-time series. The Spartans lead 18-16 in games played in East Lansing, winning three of the last four.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
When graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault and junior forward Grace VanSlooten both recorded double-doubles against Western Michigan on Nov. 17, it was the first time since Dec. 17, 2023 against CMU. In that game, Ayrault had 13 points and 10 assists, while Theryn Hallock had 17 points and 12 assists. Ayrault and VanSlooten were at it again when they both had double-doubles in MSU's 78-70 win over Vanderbilt in the Championship game of the Acrisure Classic on Nov. 27. VanSlooten had 25 points with 10 rebounds, while Ayrault and 24 points and 12 rebounds en route to earning MVP honors.

BRINGING THE BOOM
For the 2024-25 season, Michigan State women's introduced its new student section - the Breslin Boom. First introduced by Coach Fralick at Michigan State Madness, Spartan students will be encouraged to yell "BOOM" on any big MSU plays.

COMEBACK KIDS
MSU's 16-point deficit and rally for win on the Nov. 26 win against Cal 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. In that game, All-American Tori Jankoska was held scoreless in the first half, she rallied with 21 second-half points, for a palindromic double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds.
1k AND COUNTING
With a pair of free throws with 8.4 seconds left against Cal on Nov. 26, 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 is now No. 29 on the Spartan scoring list with 1,061 points.

Junior forward Grace VanSlooten followed just one game later, reaching 1,000 career points in a win against Vanderbilt on Nov. 27. She scored a game-high 25 points to reach the landmark 1,000-point mark. She has 1,025 career points between her two years at Oregon and her time at Michigan State.

Ayrault is also third in career blocks with 150. She is now tied with Lykendra Johnson (2008-12).

LOCKED IN DEFENSE
Graduate guard Nyla Hampton is fourth in the Big Ten in steals, averaging 2.4 spg. Graduate guard Jaddan Simmons is tied for seventh in the Big Ten in steals with 2.1 spg. Senior guard/forward Jocleyn Tate is tied for 10th in the B1G with 2.0 spg. The MSU defense has been tough all season. Twice this year the Spartans have tallied 22 steals in a game: against Detroit Mercy on Nov. 20 and against Oakland on Nov. 5. The only team in the Big Ten with more steals in a game is USC with 28 against CSUN on Nov. 12. The Spartans are second in the B1G in steals, averaging 14.6 spg.

BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE
Michigan State won its second-straight tournament title after winning the Cherokee Invitational in North Carolina last season with wins over Richmond and Coastal Carolina. Prior to that, MSU last tournament crown came at the New Orleans Shootout in 2017.

SIMMONS GETTING IT DONE
Graduate guard Jaddan Simmons netted a season-high and game-best 18 points against DePaul on Dec. 8. It was her second double-digit scoring outing of the season. Against Iowa on Dec. 15, Simmons pulled down seven rebounds, including a game-high five offensive rebounds, helping MSU to a 17-6 second-chance points scoring advantage. Simmons' five boards is her fourth-straight game with five or more rebounds.

AROUND THE BIG TEN
Michigan State is first in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging 89.1 points per game, just ahead of Ohio State's 86.9 ppg. MSU is also second in the league in scoring margin (+34.7). MSU is second in steals with 14.6 and assists with 20.3 apg. The Spartans are second in turnover margin (+10.0).

Individually, graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault is 11th in the league in scoring (16.4 ppg), while junior forward Grace VanSlooten is 15th (15.5 ppg). Ayrault is also 10th in the league in rebounds, averaging 8.5 rpg.

AROUND THE NATION
After 10 games, the Spartans are seventh in the nation scoring margin, winning games by 34.7 points. Michigan State is seventh in the NCAA and second in the Big Ten in assists per game with 20.3 apg. MSU is also fifth in steals per game (14.6) and fifth in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 89.1 ppg.

SEASON OPENERS
Michigan State won its 11th-straight season-opener and second in a row under head coach Robyn Fralick. MSU's last season-opening loss was on Nov. 11, 2013 at #6/7 Notre Dame. The Spartans have won 15-consecutive home openers, as their last loss in the first home game of the season was on Nov. 19, 2009 vs. #5/6 Notre Dame.

LAST TIME OUT
Despite trailing by as many as nine points in the fourth quarter, the No. 17/19 Spartan women's basketball team defeated No. 21/25 Iowa, 68-66 on Sunday afternoon at the Breslin Center in the Big Ten opener for both squads.

The victory snapped a four-game losing streak against the Hawkeyes, last winning on Dec. 12, 2020 in East Lansing.

Michigan State was led by 19 points and four rebounds from graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault. Graduate guard Nyla Hampton was clutch for MSU with 14 points, including 13 coming in the fourth quarter alone. She also had four rebounds just in the final stanza. Junior forward Grace VanSlooten added 14 points and seven rebounds, adding three steals.

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
Michigan State head coach Robyn Fralick has announced guard/forward Julia Ayrault and guard Nyla Hampton as team captains, as voted on by the players on the 2024-25 women's basketball team.

This is Ayrault's second season as a captain for the Spartans. She is the first Spartan to be a captain in back-to-back seasons since Jenna Allen during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons. Hampton is in her first season with the Spartans, but is familiar with head coach Robyn Fralick. She played three seasons with Bowling Green before transferring to Ball State last season.

VANSLOOTEN NAMED TO WATCH LIST
Michigan State Women's Basketball junior forward Grace VanSlooten was named to the Cheryl Miller Award preseason watch list, as announced by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).

She is one of five Big Ten players on the list along with Indiana's Yarden Garzon, Maryland's Saylor Poffenbarger, Ohio State's Cotie McMahon and UCLA's Angela Dugalić. The award honors the nation's top small forwards.

WELCOME TO SPARTAN NATION
Michigan State women's basketball head coach Robyn Fralick announced the signing of three signees on Wednesday, including Jordan Ode (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove High School), Anna Terrian (Pewaukee, Wis./Pewaukee High School) and Amy Terrian (Pewaukee, Wis./Pewaukee High School).

Ode is a 6-0 guard, who is a native of Maple Grove, Minn. She attends Maple Grove High School and is coached by Mark Cook. Ode is currently ranked No. 33 in the ESPNW HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings.

Anna Terrian is a 5-8 guard, who is a native of Pewaukee, Wis., and plays for head coach Jim Reuter at Pewaukee High School. As a junior, she averaged 9.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.

Amy Terrian is a 5-8 guard, who is a native of Pewaukee, Wis., plays for head coach Jim Reuter at Pewaukee High School. Terrian is currently ranked No. 89 in the ESPNW HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings. As a junior, she averaged 18.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.

No. 15/17 Spartans Open West Palm Beach Classic with Montana Thursday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Isaline Alexander

Julia Ayrault

Theryn Hallock

Nyla Hampton

Jaddan Simmons

Grace VanSlooten

No. 15/17 Spartans Open West Palm Beach Classic with Montana Thursday

Related News

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Isaline Alexander

Julia Ayrault

Theryn Hallock

Nyla Hampton

Jaddan Simmons

Grace VanSlooten

Related Videos