No. 22 Spartans Close Out Homestand against Oakland Sunday

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State women's basketball concludes its six-game homestand on Sunday, Nov. 23 at 2 p.m. against Oakland. The Spartans have started the season 5-0 after a 101-53 win over Eastern Illinois on Thursday. Jack Vohwinkle and Derrick Mitchell will be on the call for B1G+.

• Under first-year head coach Keisha Newell, Oakland has started the season 2-3. The Golden Grizzlies are looking to snap a two-game losing streak.

• The Spartans' 59 points scored by their bench was more than Eastern Illinois' entire team scoring of 53 points. Thursday marked the second time that MSU's bench out-scored the opposition's total points, as the Spartan reserves also out-scored Mercyhurst, 55-39 in the season-opener in the 125-39 Victory for MSU.

• Along with being the first Spartan with 15+ rebounds since 2023, guard Kennedy Blair's 15 boards against EIU were a new career-high, registering a career-best for the second-straight game after eight boards last time out vs. Western Michigan (11/16/25).

• MSU improved to 5-0 for the third time in as many seasons under head coach Robyn Fralick and the seventh-straight season overall, as the Spartans were 3-1 through the first four games of 2018-19.

SCOUTING OAKLAND
OU is 2-3 to start the season, but has lost its last two games. At the Raising the BAR Invitational, the Golden Grizzlies lost to Harvard, 93-55, on Nov. 15. Oakland also lost to Charlotte on Nov. 16, 66-41. OU is averaging 66.8 ppg, while allowing 69.0 ppg.

Oakland has a rather new roster compared to last season. The Grizzlies are led by Cali Denson, who is first in scoring, averaging 12.0 ppg. Angie Smith is the second in scoring with 10.4 ppg.

The Grizzlies are under the direction of first year head coach Keisha Newell. She has over 10 years of coaching experience. She comes to Oakland from Lewis University.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE GRIZZLIES
Michigan State leads the all-time series against Oakland 21-4. The Spartans have dominated the series of late, winning the last 17. Five of the last six wins have come in East Lansing. Overall, the Spartans hold and 14-2 advantage at home. The last win for the Golden Grizzlies came on Feb. 9, 1982 with Oakland coming away with a 76-57 victory.

Last season, MSU defeated Oakland in the season opener 107-42, the Spartans had six players in double figures.

The Spartans were led by 15 points from Grace VanSlooten in her Spartan debut. In her first game since transferring from Oregon, VanSlooten added nine rebounds and two steals. Theryn Hallock scored 14 points, while Jocelyn Tate added 13 points and four steals. Julia Ayrault scored 11 points with seven boards, three assists and two blocks. Abbey Kimball and Kennedy Blair both added 10 points.

BY THE NUMBERS vs. EASTERN ILLINOIS

After having at least four players score in double-figures in the first four games, the Spartans had only three players in double-figures for the first time this season. Senior forward Grace VanSlooten and sophomore forward Juliann Woodard both netted 17 points apiece, while senior forward Jalyn Brown tallied 14 points.
Michigan State also pulled down a season-high 43 rebounds, bettering the prior top mark of 39 boards, also from the Mercyhurst game. The Spartans had a +16 rebounding advantage at 43-27.

GETTING IN THE STARTING LINEUP
Michigan State used the same starting lineup for the fifth-straight game of senior forward Grace VanSlooten, senior forward Marah Dykstra, senior guard Threryn Hallock, junior guard Rashunda Jones and redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair. MSU is 5-0 with that lineup.

BLAIR BRINGS DOWN THE ROCK
MSU had a player in double-figure rebounds for the first time this season with 15 boards from Kennedy Blair on Thursday night. Blair is the first Spartan player with 15 or more rebounds since former Spartan great Julia Ayrault has 15 boards, nearly two years to the day, on Nov. 23, 2023, vs. James Madison.

PUTTING UP BIG NUMBERS
The Spartans have scored 90+ points in their first five games for the second-straight year under head coach Robyn Fralick. MSU has now scored 90 or more 23 times under Coach Fralick, now with five in 2025-26 after six in 2024-25 and 12 in 2023-25. The Spartans improved to 22-1 under Coach Fralick when scoring 90+ points, with the lone loss coming in a 94-91 loss at No. 14/13 Indiana on Feb. 8, 2024.
MSU has also passed the century mark twice this season against Eastern Illinois on Nov. 20 and Mercyhurst on Nov. 4.

SPARTANS VS. THE NCAA
After the first five games, Michigan State stands first in the nation in assists per game (27.4 apg) and assist/turnover ratio (3.34). The Spartans are also tops in the NCAA in turnover margin (+21.6). Michigan State is also third in the nation and first in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging 102.4 ppg. MSU has also been strong on the defensive end of the ball, standing second in the country in steals per game (18.6 spg).

CONSISTENT SPARTANS
MSU scored 20+ points in all four quarters for the third time out of the five games this season, also doing so in the season-opener vs. Mercyhurst (11/4/25) and vs. Youngstown State (11/12/25).

BIG TIME BIG TEN NUMBERS
The Spartans are first in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging 102.4 ppg. Michigan State is also first in scoring margin (+53.8). The Spartans stand first in field goal percentage (.543).

Individually, Rashunda Jones is second in steals per game, averaging 3.6 spg, while senior forward Grace VanSlooten is fourth (3.4 spg). Kennedy Blair is also third in assists with 6.6 apg.
DID YOU KNOW?
With the six turnovers against Eastern Illinois on Nov. 20, MSU has had single-digit turnovers in three of the five games this season, after just three miscues in the season-opener vs. Mercyhurst, and four last time out vs. Western Michigan.

WELCOME BACK
After tearing her ACL on Jan. 22, 2025 against Penn State, Juliann Woodard returned to the lineup against Eastern Michigan. Woodard entered the game at the 3:46 mark of the fourth quarter. At the 3:39 point, she drained her first shot, which was a 3-pointer. Her trey gave the Spartans a 32-point advantage.

STRONG BENCH
The Spartans' 59 points scored by their bench was more than Eastern Illinois' entire team scoring of 53 points. Thursday marked the second time that MSU's bench out-scored the opposition's total points, as the Spartan reserves also out-scored Mercyhurst, 55-39 in the season-opener in the 125-39 Victory for MSU. This season the MSU bench has out-scored opponents 238-96.

ADDING UP THE ACCOLADES
Senior forward Grace VanSlooten was named to the 2025-26 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Women's College Player of the Year Watch List Presented by AXIA Time. She was one of 50 players named to the watch list that honors the best players in the nation.

VanSlooten is one of 13 Big Ten players named to the watch list, including her team USA teammate Hannah Stuelke from Iowa. VanSlooten was also named to the Preseason All-Big Ten team earlier this month as well the Cheryl Miller Award Watch List.

RANKED TEAMS IN BIG TEN
This Big Ten continues to be one of the toughest conferences in the country with three teams in the top 10 in the rankings. In the AP poll, UCLA is No. 3, while Michigan and Maryland stand No. 6 and No. 9, respectively. USC is just outside the top 10 at No. 11. Iowa holds the No. 19 spot followed by Michigan State (No. 22) and Washington (No. 25).

ALEXANDER THE GREAT
After missing all of the 2024-25 season and much of the 2023-24 season, senior forward Isaline Alexander returned to action on Nov. 4 against Mercyhurst. Alexander scored a career-high 20 points against Western Michigan. She topped her previous career-high of 17 points from Nov. 19, 2022 vs. Central Michigan for her first career 20-point outing and just her seventh career double-figure scoring outing .

She netted her career-best 20 points on a perfect 9-of-9 shooting from the floor, also a career-high, bettering her previous career-high field goal outing of seven field goals, vs. Oregon (11/27/22).

HOLDING ON TO THE BALL
The Spartans only had three turnovers on Nov. 4 against Mercyhurst, also setting a school record for fewest turnovers, bettering the previous record of five done three previous times, first done in a 56-55 win at Northwestern on Jan. 22, 1989, then again in a 76-69 win vs. Stanford on March 29, 2005 and most recently in a 68-66 win over Toledo on March 18, 2018.
SEASON OPENERS
Michigan State has won its 12th-straight season-opener and three 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 16-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.

VANSLOOTEN EARNS PRESEASON HONOR
Michigan State women's basketball senior forward Grace VanSlooten was named 2025-26 Preseason All-Big Ten by both the coaches and media. In her first season with the Spartans, VanSlooten earned second-team All-Big Ten honors. She was first on the team in scoring, averaging 15.5 points per game. She scored a career-high 480 points her junior season. She was tied for 15th in the Big Ten in rebounding, averaging 7.3 rebounds per game. In a win against, Vanderbilt at the Acrisure Classic on Nov. 27, she scored her 1,000th career point.

BRINGING HOME THE GOLD
Three players earned gold medals for their home countries this summer. Grace VanSlooten won the FIBA Women's Americup for Team USA. Marah Dykstra won gold for Canada in the FIBA 3x3 Junior Pan American Games. Inés Sotelo and Spain won a gold medal in the 2025 FIBA Eurobasket.

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
Michigan State head coach Robyn Fralick has announced senior forward Grace VanSlooten and senior guard Abbey Kimball as team captains, as voted on by the players on the 2025-26 women's basketball team. This is the first time that either has been named a captain for Michigan State. VanSlooten is in her second season with MSU after transferring from Oregon. Kimball is in her fourth season as a Spartan.

REACHING THE CENTURY MARK
After scoring 107 points in last year's season-opener vs. Oakland in a 107-42 Victory for MSU on Nov. 5, 2024, the Spartans have scored 100+ points in back-to-back season-openers for the first time in school history after scoring 125 against Mercyhurst on Nov. 4. The closest MSU had been to reaching the century back in consecutive lid-lifters to a season was in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 season-openers when the Spartans scored 100 in a 100-58 win over Robert Morris in on Nov. 11, 2017, and then 99 the next year in a 99-69 win over Bowling Green on Nov. 6, 2018.

MSU surpassed the century mark for the second time this season with the 101-53 win over Eastern Illinois on Nov. 20. MSU scored at least 100 points three times last season.

LAST TIME OUT
No. 22 Michigan State women's basketball topped the century mark for the second time this season, as the Spartans nearly doubled up Eastern Illinois, 101-53 on Thursday night at the Breslin Center.

Senior forward Grace VanSlooten and sophomore guard Juliann Woodard led the Spartans in scoring with 17 points each. Woodard scored 14 of her 17 in the fourth quarter going a perfect 4-for-4 from long range. She also added a career-high seven rebounds. Redshirt-sophomore guard Kennedy Blair had a career-high 15 rebounds to go along with eight points. She is the first Spartan to bring down 15 boards since Julia Ayrault on Nov. 23, 2023. Off the bench, Jalyn Brown was the third MSU player in double figures with 14 points.

NEW DIGS
The Spartans welcome four transfers to the 2025-26 season. Rashunda Jones is a junior guard, who comes to Michigan State after two years at Purdue. Marah Dykstra is a senior forward who spent three season at Montana State in the Big Sky Conference. Jalyn Brown is the second-straight player to come to MSU from Arizona State. The guard played two seasons at ASU. Last season, senior Jaddan Simmons spent one season with MSU. Finally, Sara Sambolić is a junior guard from Slovenia who transferred from the University of Ljubljana.

ROBYN FRALICK RADIO SHOW
Michigan State women's basketball head coach Robyn Fralick started her weekly radio call-in show, the Robyn Fralick Radio Show, on Nov. 18 at One North Kitchen and Bar. Coach Fralick joins host Dalton Shetler, the Spartans' play-by-play voice, from 12-1 p.m., for an in-depth look into the MSU women's basketball program. The show is held at One North Kitchen and Bar on 1310 Abbott in East Lansing.

Radio Show Dates
Tuesday, Nov. 18
Tuesday, Dec. 2
Tuesday, Dec. 9
Tuesday, Dec. 16
Tuesday, Jan. 6
Tuesday, Jan. 13
Tuesday, Jan. 20
Tuesday, Jan. 27
Tuesday, Feb. 3
Tuesday Feb. 10
Tuesday, Feb. 17
Tuesday, Feb. 24

No. 22 Spartans Close Out Homestand against Oakland Sunday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Isaline Alexander

Julia Ayrault

Kennedy Blair

Jalyn Brown

Marah Dykstra

Theryn Hallock

Rashunda Jones

Abbey Kimball

Jaddan Simmons

Jocelyn Tate

Grace VanSlooten

Juliann Woodard

No. 22 Spartans Close Out Homestand against Oakland Sunday

Related News

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Isaline Alexander

Julia Ayrault

Kennedy Blair

Jalyn Brown

Marah Dykstra

Theryn Hallock

Rashunda Jones

Abbey Kimball

Jaddan Simmons

Jocelyn Tate

Grace VanSlooten

Juliann Woodard

Related Videos