Michigan State women's basketball had a record-setting day en route to defeating DePaul, 89-61, Sunday afternoon at the Breslin Center. With the win, the Spartans improved to 9-0, which is their best start in program history.
Prior to the game, MSU head coach Robyn Fralick honored graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault and junior forward Grace VanSlooten for both scoring 1,000 career points. Both reached the 1,000-point plateau at the Acrisure Classic last week.
The accolades didn't end there as Michigan State broke the school record for blocks in a game with 14, which was previously 13 set by the 2006 team against Indiana. Seven players had at least one block in the game, led by a game-high four blocks from VanSlooten.
For the first time this season, graduate guard Jaddan Simmons led the Spartans in scoring with 18 points to go along with five assists and three steals. Ayrault had her second-straight double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds to go along with a season-high five assists. Sophomore guard Emma Shumate had a breakout performance with 12 points, going 4-for-8 from the beyond the arc. She also tied her career high with three blocks. Senior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate was the final Spartan in double figures with 10 points.
DePaul was led by 15 points from Jorie Allen and Grace Carstensen. Allen is the sister of former Spartan standout Jenna Allen.
The Spartans scored the first six points of the game, before the MSU offense went cold. After the media timeout, Michigan State responded with a 9-0 run to take its first double-digit lead 20-8. Both teams were prone to turnovers in the first quarter with six for MSU and six for DePaul. Ayrault led all scorers with five points in the first 10 minutes of action.
In the second quarter, the Spartans scored six points over 29 seconds to push the lead to 30-15 after a trey by Shumate. The Spartans went over four minutes without a field goal before a Nyla Hampton put back with under 20 seconds in the period. Despite the drought, Michigan State entered the locker room with a 42-25 advantage. The MSU defense kept the Blue Demons from scoring the final 4:08 of the half. Coming off the bench, Theryn Hallock led MSU with seven points in the first half.
A steal and a score by Ayrault gave Michigan State its first 20-point lead 52-31 at the 4:47 mark of the third quarter. Hallock followed that up with a basket to give extend the lead to 23 points. The third quarter was the closest with the Spartans only out-scoring the Blue Demons, 19-17.
Michigan State maintained control throughout the fourth quarter, continuing its strong outside shooting. The 133-pointers were the most in a game this season. A 6-0 run made its 83-52, giving MSU its first 30-point advantage with 4:20 remaining.
The Spartans will play their final home game of 2024 on Sunday, Dec. 15, taking on No. 17/20 Iowa at Noon. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
This story originally appeared on MSUSpartans.com.