The Michigan State women’s basketball team tipped off the 2024-2025 regular season against the Oakland Golden Grizzles at the Breslin Center on Tuesday. The Spartans cruised to a 107-42 win to open head coach Robyn Fralick’s second season in East Lansing.
Fralick was impressed with MSU's performance to begin the new campaign, and she knows the Spartans still have plenty of things to improve upon moving forward.
“Great opening night at the Breslin for the season," Fralick said. "There are so many things we’re excited about and to build on. I loved our effort, I loved our energy, I love the impact that our entire roster made in the game. We’ll enjoy it for a little bit and then we’re going to learn from it, cause there’s a lot of things we know that we can continue to do better. The energy and the effort of this group is in a really good place to start."
The game featured great performances throughout the roster, as six Spartans scored in double figures in the win.
In her first game in the Green and White, Oregon transfer forward Grace VanSlooten scored a team-high 15 points for MSU.
Junior guard Theryn Hallock also helped lead the Spartans to the dominant victory, as she contributed 14 points on the night, with 13 of those points coming in the first half.
Senior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate recorded 13 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field, while graduate senior guard Julia Ayrault collected 11 points on 4-for-8 shooting overall.
Junior guard Abbey Kimball and redshirt freshman guard Kennedy Blair each had 10 points to round out an impressive opening night offensive performance from the Spartans.
Throughout the game, the Spartans shot excellent from the field and had a lights-out performance from beyond the arc. The Spartans shot 50% from the floor (35-of-70) in the game, and over shot 45.8% from 3-point range (11-for-24).
Having success from deep range is something that Hallock and the Spartans believe they can pride themselves on as a team this season.
“Right from the jump, we were in the gym right away as a team," Hallock said. "We’re all in there at least an hour early getting shots up, it’s something we’ve taken huge pride in. I think we’re confident. We hype each other up when we make threes. It’s the reason why we’re called the 'Breslin Boomers' — there was a lot of 'boom' tonight."
While their offense was a highlight of the night, the Spartans defense also shined in the win, recording 22 steals, which was two steals short of the school record. MSU also forced 33 Golden Grizzlies turnovers in total.
“I think defensively, we’ve been disruptive and made it hard to score," Fralick said. "Offensively, we’ve done a good job of getting to the free-throw line consistently. Those are things we like early and think we’ll learn more as we go on."
The Spartans will next face off against the Yale Bulldogs. Tipoff from the Breslin Center on Friday is set for 7 p.m. Eastern Time. The game will be available to watch on Big Ten Plus.
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