Fresh off the Cancun Challenge, Michigan State women's basketball is continuing its time on the road with its lone true road matchup on the non-conference season Thursday night. The Spartans will take on the DePaul Blue Demons in Chicago in the first meeting between the two programs since 2002.
Start time for the game is set for 7 p.m. Eastern Time with it being broadcast on the CBS Sports Network. Alex Del Barrio and Isis Young will be on the call.
The Blue Demons enter the matchup with a 4-3 record and are coming off a 93-72 victory over Loyola-Chicago on Sunday. That win at home came following a 1-2 outing in the Battle 4 Atlantis that saw DePaul fall in two-straight to South Dakota and Middle Tennessee State before defeating Howard in the final game of the event. The other loss on the year came at No. 17 Louisville in a 81-74 outing.
In her second season with the Blue Demons, Anaya Peoples leads DePaul and is second in the Big East in scoring, adding 21.3 points per game on average so far. The graduate guard transferred from Notre Dame after the 2021-2022 season and also leads the team in helpers with 26 assists on the season (3.7 apg). She is also second in steals (2.3 spg) and fourth on the team on the glass (8.3 rpg).
Kate Clark is second on the team in scoring with 15.1 ppg while averaging 42.9% from 3-point range, and should be a familiar face to MSU fans after having spent her freshman season at Michigan. The sophomore guard transferred out of the Wolverines program after last season where she saw action in 14 games off the bench. Clark is also third on the team in steals with 1.6 spg and has earned the starting job in four games this season, averaging 27.6 mpg.
Clark is joined on the roster by fellow Michigan transfer Michelle Sidor. A graduate guard, Sidor played in just one game last season due to an injury after earning six starts in 21 games she saw action in during the 2021-2022 season. She is averaging 29.7 mpg this season, earning starts in all seven of the year, and averaged 10.1 ppg while sitting tied for second on the team in assists with 22 on the year (3.1 apg).
Fellow Big Ten transfer Jorie Allen is the other player for the Blue Demons in double figures scoring on the year. An Indiana graduate transfer forward, Allen is averaging 11.1 ppg and is second on the team in rebounds with 6.0 rpg. Allen is also shooting 56.1% from the field, good for team best.
DePaul is led by longtime head coach Doug Bruno who is in his 38th season at the helm with a career record of 778-388.
Michigan State is coming off its first loss of the season in a 83-69 loss to Creighton in the final game of the Cancun Challenge. The Spartans dropped to 5-1 on the year while the Bluejays improved to 5-1 themselves. The matchup marked the first against an opponent from a power conference for MSU on the young season.
MSU saw a season low seven-player rotation against Creighton, but five players reached double figures in scoring.
Julia Ayrault earned All-Tournament Team selection honors, which included an 11-point performance against CU. Moira Joiner led MSU in scoring against CU with 13 points, alongside seven rebounds (team high) and two assists. Jocelyn Tate, Tory Ozment, and Jocelyn Tate also all added 11 points each in the game. Ozemnt finished the week in Cancun averaging 13.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.5 steals per game, earning her top-five sixth woman of the week honors from "Trendy Hoop Stars."
Creighton's Lauren Jenson led all scorers with the game-high 32 point performance.
Thursday evening marks the fourth meeting all-time between Michigan State and DePaul. The Spartans hold a 3-0 advantage over the Blue Demons, but the series has been dormant since 2002. The WNIT matchup that year came in East Lansing with a 87-76 victory for the Spartans. MSU defeated DePaul in the first round matchup, going on to defeat Illinois (70-57) and Alabama (79-61) in the second round and quarterfinals, respectively, before falling to eventual champion Oregon 65-54 in the semifinals on the Ducks' home court in Eugene.
Former MSU assistant coach Kristin Haynie scored 18 points for the Spartans in the 2002 win over DePaul. Also seeing action on the court for Michigan State was former Director of Recruiting Candice Jackson and former Director of Operations Julie Pagel Dombroski.
While current head coach for MSU, Robyn Fralick, was in her sophomore season at Davidson during the 2002 game, Doug Bruno saw his lone game in the series as head of the Blue Demons. The other two matchups in the series came prior to Bruno's tenure with DePaul in 1981 and 1982, both wins for Michigan State.
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