The No. 17/19 Michigan State Spartans open Big Ten play on Sunday boasting a program best 9-0 record. MSU is one of nine remaining undefeated teams in the country, one of four in the conference (Ohio State and UCLA are 9-0 while Maryland is 10-0). Standing in the way of a 10-0 record will be the No. 21/25 Iowa Hawkeyes.
The game will be at Noon Eastern Time with the game making a rare linear television appearance on the Big Ten Network. Fans can stream it via the FOX Sports App. Kylen Mills and Christy Winters Scott will be on the call for BTN.
Michigan State
The Spartans currently sit at No. 7 in the early NET rankings with one true road win at Western Michigan. MSU also boasts neutral court wins over Vanderbilt (No. 11 NET) and California (No. 28) in the Acrisure Classic last month.
Michigan State currently ranks No. 5 in scoring offense in the country and No. 1 in the Big Ten, averaging 91.4 points per game. The team gets there via selfless play, sitting at No. 3 in assists per game at 21.2. Similar to the men's team, the Spartans also see big contributions from the full roster as the bench averages 33.8 ppg, good for No. 15 in the NCAA.
Defensively the Spartans are coming off a program-record setting performance against DePaul last weekend that saw the team log 14 blocks against the Blue Demons. On the season, the team is averaging 6.2 per game, tied at No. 8 in the nation. MSU also sits at No. 15 in the NCAA in scoring defense and No. 3 in the league, holding opponents to just 53.1 ppg and a mere 33.3% field goal percentage (No. 11 in the NCAA).
On the individual side, graduate guard Julia Ayrault is averaging 16.4 ppg and 8.5 rebounds per game on the season, good for 12th and 10th best in the Big Ten to date. She's been even hotter in the past five games, though, averaging 19.4 ppg and 10.2 rpg, logging 97 total points and 51 total rebounds against teams in that span, including three Power-Five opponents.
RIght behind Ayrault in the standings is junior forward Grace VanSlooten with 15.5 ppg (15th in B1G) and 8.4 rpg (12th in B1G).
In the backcourt, junior guard Theyrn Hallock is posting 12.2 ppg (30th in B1G) and 3.4 assists per game (14th in B1G) while graduate guard Nyla Hampton is third in the league in steals with 2.4 per game.
Iowa
The Hawkeyes will also be opening conference play when they visit the Breslin Center, with the program's only loss on the season coming last weekend against Tennessee in a 78-68 defeat as part of the Women's Champions Classic in Brooklyn, New York. Iowa enters the game coming off a 75-69 win at home over intrastate rival No. 18 Iowa State. The Hawkeyes also have just one true road win on the season, an 86-73 victory at Drake last month on Nov. 17.
Iowa is in its first season under head coach Jan Jensen who replaced Lisa Bluder who retired after 24 seasons at the helm in Iowa City. Bluder retired after a second-straight NCAA Runner Up finish by Iowa last season. Jensen was the long-time assistant under Bluder and is in her 25th season with the Hawkeyes where she now boasts a 9-1 record to start her career at the helm.
Iowa is led in scoring by senior guard Lucy Olsen, who is averaging 19 ppg (t-sixth in B1G) and 5.2 apg (fourth in B1G). Olsen is also tied for 37th in the county in ppg and tied for 39th in helpers while averaging 3.9 rpg.
Senior forward/center Addison O'Grady is averaging 13.9 ppg and is fourth in the conference and the NCAA in field-goal percentage (67.7%). Rounding out scorers in double figures for the Hawkeyes is junior forward Hannah Stuelke who is averaging 13.5 ppg.
Michigan State lost a close one last season at Iowa. The Spartans fell to the then No. 4/3 Hawkeyes, 76-73, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena to a 3-point buzzer-beater by Caitlin Clark to end the game. The Spartans had a bad call in the closing minutes of the game go against them that helped Iowa tie it as a Hawkeye was clearly inside the 3-point arc but was given three shots from the charity stripe after drawing a shooting foul against MSU.
Michigan State had four players in double figures led by Ayrault who had 16 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks. Junior guard DeeDee Hagemann added 14 points and four assists. Graduate guard Moira Joiner and graduate guard/forward Tory Ozment both added 10 points apiece.
MSU trails Iowa 43-30 in the series overall, but the series has been close the last two games with both being decided by just three points or less. Iowa needed overtime on its last visit to East Lansing, beating the Spartans 84-81 on Jan. 18, 2023 MSU is looking for its first win in the series since an 86-82 victory at the Breslin Center on Dec. 12, 2020.
To do just that, Michigan State will need to slow down Iowa's scoring offense. While the Hawkeyes are currently averaging just 76.5 ppg, they have averaged a nation best at least 80 ppg the past four seasons. Iowa is 95-14 since 2020 when scoring 80+ points, including a 3-1 record against the Spartans in the past four games of the series that have seen the Hawkeyes hit the 80-point mark (Iowa fell 86-82 in Dec. 2020).
Following the Iowa game, the Spartans will head to West Palm Beach to participate in the West Palm Beach Classic. MSU will take on Montana (Dec. 19) and Alabama (Dec. 20) before resuming Big Ten play at Maryland on Dec. 29.
