Lansing Sun

Michigan State University's women's basketball team is set to continue its season-opening homestand with a game against Yale on Friday, November 8, at 7 p.m. Joe DesVergnes and Derrick Mitchell will provide commentary for B1G+.

The Spartans began their season with a commanding 107-42 victory over Oakland. This marked the highest points scored in a season-opener by MSU since the 2008-09 opener against Niagara, where they scored 116 points. It was also the first time they exceeded 100 points in an opener since November 11, 2017, against Robert Morris.

Yale enters the game after a close win over Monmouth, finishing 64-61. Senior Mackenzie Egger led Yale with a career-high of 25 points. Both teams notably prevented their opponents from scoring any three-pointers in their respective openers.

Returning for Michigan State are two All-Big Ten players: Julia Ayrault and Theryn Hallock. Ayrault was last season's leading scorer for the team with an average of 15.4 points per game, while Hallock contributed an average of 11.2 points per game.

In their recent match against Oakland, all active Spartan players participated, with six achieving double-digit scores. Junior forward Grace VanSlooten led her new team with 15 points in her debut after transferring from Oregon.

MSU has won its last eleven season openers and fifteen consecutive home openers under head coach Robyn Fralick's guidance.

Defensively, MSU showed strength by forcing Oakland into committing 33 turnovers and securing 22 steals during the game—just shy of the school's record of 24 steals.

This year's roster includes four experienced transfers: Nyla Hampton from Ball State via Bowling Green, Jaddan Simmons from Arizona State, Grace VanSlooten from Oregon, and Emma Shumate from Ohio State.

Head coach Robyn Fralick announced Julia Ayrault and Nyla Hampton as team captains for this season. Ayrault returns as captain for her second year, while Hampton joins in her first year with MSU but has prior experience playing under Fralick at Bowling Green.

The upcoming schedule includes challenging matches against seven teams ranked in preseason top-25 polls. Additionally, Michigan State will participate in two tournaments this season: the Acrisure Classic in Palm Springs over Thanksgiving and the West Palm Beach Classic before Christmas.