EAST LANSING– After an NCAA tournament appearance in Robyn Fralick’s first year as head coach at Michigan State, the Spartans want to build on last season’s success. They got moving in the right direction in a dominant performance over Wayne State in a 101-40 exhibition victory. 

Besides the debut for this season of MSU women’s basketball, this game also featured a family affair between graduate guard Julia Ayrault, WSU sophomore guard Annabel Ayrault and their father WSU assistant coach Andy Ayrault. 

“It was a really cool night for Julia (Ayrault) and her family. Very rarely in basketball do you get a night where you get to play against your sister and your dad,” Fralick said. “So, I was very happy that this was able to come together and am very grateful for their family.”

“We’ve never played together or against each other or anything like that, so this was really special for us for sure,” Ayrault said. “I can’t express how much gratitude I have for the coaching staff and everybody else who was able to put time and effort into making this happen.”

In the first quarter, MSU came into the game wanting to start strong from the inside. The Spartans executed on that to near perfection, scoring 20 of their 30 points in the paint. 

Leading the charge for the MSU offense was junior guard Theryn Hallock, who led the team in scoring throughout the game with 16. She finished her night shooting at a 5-7 clip from the field and 6-7 from the line. 

“There’s a million things you can do in practice, you can watch film, but I always say when the game lights come on and the popcorn’s popping, it’s different,” Fralick said. “Her change of speed is elite. Her ability to get in seams, create seams, and make something happen is really good, and we saw her really develop that last year. So, we’re excited to see her.”

Junior forward Grace VanSlooten, a transfer from Oregon, made her presence known in the front court. Finishing a perfect 5-5 from the field in the first quarter with 10 points, and tying Hallock as the games leading scorer with 16. VanSlooten showed off her defensive skills as well, with two blocks and five defensive rebounds on the night.

“What we love about Grace is that she’s a two-way player, so she impacts the game on both sides of the floor,” Fralick said. “I thought she did a really good job impacting us offensively and defensively and being able to rebound outside of her area. It’s been fun.

MSU also capitalized on a suffocating defense throughout the first half, turning eight Warrior turnovers into 16 points. 

The Spartans finished the game with 19 turnovers forced and 34 points off of them. WSU was also held to only five points through the first thirty minutes, only going 2-35 from the field. 

Ayrault, coming off a first-team all-Big Ten season, was a big part of the Spartans dominant defensive performance. She finished with 4 blocks and 4 defensive rebounds. Ayrault also contributed eight points towards the offensive effort, shooting a perfect 4-4, and recording eight assists. 

The second quarter saw the MSU offense get hot from beyond the arc as well. With Ohio State transfer guard, junior Emma Shumate, going 2-2 from three and hitting one off of a turnover fast break. 

The Spartans never took their foot off the gas in any other regard. In the first half, MSU scored 19 points in transition, going 23-31 from the field, recording just under 1.5 points per possession, and finishing the half with 58. 

“That’s how we play, that’s how we practice, that’s how we train,” said Fralick. “We want to play with pace, we want to be disruptive, we want to force pressure on the defense on every possession.”

The start of the second half saw more of the same, only with WSU heating up a little. The Warriors finished the game with eight times their first-half output. Senior forward Shea Tripp led WSU in scoring with 10 as well as seven assists.

However, the Spartan lead proved way too high to overcome. MSU saw quality bench minutes from redshirt freshman guard Kennedy Blair and freshman center Ines Sotelo. 

They led the MSU offense in the second half, scoring 11 and 13 respectively. Blair is also coming into this season following a season-ending injury from last year. 

“I’m super excited for her [Blair], super excited for all the work and time that she’s put into it,” Ayrault said. “A lot of people don’t really understand when you’re coming back from injury, it’s difficult.” 

The regular season kicks off for MSU on Tuesday, Nov. 5 against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies, with tip set for 6:30 p.m.