The No. 15 ranked Michigan State women’s basketball team is off to a historic start in its 2024-25 season. The Spartans are 10-0, which is their best start in program history and are among one of the four remaining unbeaten teams in the Big Ten conference. MSU sits with No. 1 UCLA, and No. 11 Ohio State all at 11-0, and No. 8 Maryland at 10-0.
The Spartans will look to keep their undefeated season alive as they face off against the Montana Lady Griz in the first of two games in the West Palm Beach Classic in West Palm Beach, Florida, starting on Thursday. Tipoff is set for noon Eastern time from Rubin Arena with the game being streamed on Baller TV.
Michigan State
The Spartans are coming off a 68-66 win against the then No. 21 ranked Iowa Hawkeyes Sunday. Julia Ayrault led MSU in scoring with 19 points in the win. Grace VanSlooten’s 14 points and Nyla Hampton’s 13 were also key factors in the Spartans impressive win to open Big Ten conference play.
Offensively, MSU has been led this season by Ayrault. The graduate guard is averaging 16.7 points per game on the season and sits close to a double-double with 8.0 rebounds per game.
Junior forward VanSlooten has proven to be a valuable addition to MSU’s team this season. The Oregon transfer averages 15.3 points per game and leads the team in rebounds, averaging 8.2 per game.
MSU ranks best in the Big Ten and fifth best in the country in scoring offense as it averages 89.1 points per game and ranks second in the conference in 3-point percentage, hitting 37.9% from beyond the arc.
The Spartans backcourt has been a dominating force this season. Junior guard Theryn Hallock is averaging 11.8 points per game and graduate guard Hampton is fourth in the Big Ten in steals, averaging 2.3 per game.
Defensively, Michigan State is second in the Big Ten in steals (14.6 per game) and blocks (6.1 per game).
Montana
The Lady Griz enter Thursday's game against the Spartans with a 4-5 record and are currently riding a two-game losing streak. Montana lost its last game 78-70 against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. MSU won’t be the first Big Ten team that the Lady Griz have played this season as Minnesota hosted them on Nov. 24, besting Montana 84-45.
The Lady Griz are led offensively by junior guard Mack Konig. Through nine games this season, Konig leads the team in scoring, averaging 12.1 points per game. Montana ranks second in the Big Sky Conference in field goal percentage, hitting at 45% from the field thus far.
Defensively, the Lady Griz pride themselves on defense in their shot blocking skills, ranking third in the Big Sky and averaging 3.7 per game. Junior forward Alex Pirog leads the team in blocks with 10 on the season.
Montana is led by head coach Brian Holsinger who is in his fourth season at the helm. The Lady Griz are 60-42 under his leadership and he holds an 82-78 career record overall. He spent two seasons (2005-2007) as the head coach at Montana Tech before becoming an assistant coach and rising to associate head coach at Washington State from 2007-2015 and later returned to coaching after taking the 2015-2016 season off as an assistant at Oregon State from 2016 until taking the job at Montana in April 2021.
Thursday's matchup will be the first meeting between Montana and Michigan State.
