The Michigan State women's basketball team was looking to rebound from a loss to Creighton in Cancun and did so in a big way. The Spartans took revenge on DePaul, which like Creighton, plays in the Big East, on Thursday night in Chicago. It was MSU's third 100-plus-point outing of the season, defeating the Blue Demons by a final score of 102-64.
The victory improves Michigan State to 6-1 on the season and a perfect 4-0 all-time record in the series against DePaul. The Blue Demons drop to 4-4 on the season with the loss.
Two Spartans finished the night with career highs, Moira Joiner being one of them with a team-high 26 points on the night. Theyrn Hallock also had a career high with 14 points, the sophomore's second game of her career in double figures, topping her previous best of 10 versus Purdue Fort Wayne Nov 10, 2022.
DeeDee Hagemann and Julia Ayrault were second on the team in scoring with 17 points each. Abbey Kimball added 11 for scorers in double figures.
Hagemann also led the team in assists with six, marking her fifth game of the year with at least five. Hallock was second on the team in assists with five. Jocelyn Tate led the team on the glass with six boards, and Ayrault in blocks (2) and steals (3).
Overall, the team shot a blistering 45.2% from 3-point range with Hallock going 4-for-6. Ayrault was 7-for-10 from inside the arc, and Hagemann was also 7-for-10 from the field, only missing three from deep. MSU was hot from the paint as well, outscoring the Blue Demons 50-24 while managing 22 points off 19 turnovers by DePaul.
Anaya Peaoples led DePaul in scoring with 18 points while MSU held the Blue Demons just below the season average at 39.3% shooting from the field, and 28.6% from 3-point range on the night.
Hagemann got thins started for Michigan State right away with a layup on the team's opening possession. After drawing the foul on the made basket and hitting the free throw, DePaul quickly responded with a 3-pointer by Michelle Sidor.
The opening series on offense for both teams would set the stage for a first quarter that was a back-and-forth battle. The Spartans and Blue Demons traded the lead or tied the game eight times throughout the opening period.
The fortunes were short lived for DePaul, however. At the 3:13 mark in the first, MSU reclaimed the lead thanks to Hagemann's only trey of the night and the Spartans never relinquished the lead again.
DePaul managed to keep things close through much of the second quarter, but a pair of free throws by Ayrault with 3:07 left came in the middle of a 12-0 Spartan run and extended MSU's lead into double digits where it remained for the rest of regulation.
At the half, Michigan State headed into the locker room up 46-32.
MSU opened the third quarter with a 7-0 run that forced an early Blue Demons timeout as the Spartans opened a 53-32 advantage. Joiner would go on to score 13 of the team's 27 points in the third stanza. Tate also picked up a technical foul around the midway point, and would finish the game in foul trouble with four thanks to her technical. At the end of the third quarter, Michigan State held a 73-48 lead.
The final quarter was all green and white. MSU used two separate 12-point runs to storm away with it. The Spartans ended the game on a 12-1 run, hitting 4-of-5 field goals to end the game while the Blue Demons failed to score any field goals in the final 4:$3 of regulation, going 0-for-7 from the field.
After three-straight games on the road, Michigan State returns to the home confines of the Breslin Center for its next three games. A visit by Miami (OH) awaits on Sunday for a 2 p.m. start before Nebraska visits next Saturday, Dec. 9 for an early conference matchup. A visit from Central Michigan follows on Dec. 17 before the Spartans head south for the Cherokee Invitational.
The visit by the RedHawks will be streamed on B1G+, while the Huskers will be the first live television broadcast of the year for MSU on the Big Ten Network.
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