Spartan Women’s Basketball Dominates Rutgers on Record-Setting Day - Michigan State University Athletics (2024)

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State women's basketball celebrated 4-H Day at the Breslin Center with a dominating, 93-57, win over Rutgers in front of 7,696 fans on Saturday afternoon.

The Spartans also broke the single-season school record for 3-pointers in a season against the Scarlet Knights. MSU came into the game needing 11 to break the record and hit 14 in the game. The Spartans have now recorded 255 3-pointers this season, breaking the record set during the 2016-17 season.

Michigan State has now won three-straight games after earning series sweeps over Michigan, Purdue and Rutgers. The Spartans improve to 20-7 overall and 10-6 in Big Ten play. Rutgers falls to 8-22 overall and 2-15 in league games. MSU has now reached the 20-win mark for the first time since the 2018-19 season.

All nine Spartans that played in the game scored for MSU, as Michigan State distributed the ball well. Graduate guard Moira Joiner led the way with 22 points in only 23 minutes of action. Both sophom*ore guard Abbey Kimball and graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault added 17 points with Ayrault adding six rebounds. Junior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate added nine points and a team-high seven boards.

Rutgers was led by 20 points from Erica Lafayette.

Despite being a little turnover prone early in the game, Michigan State jumped out to an early 11-4 lead due in part to starting the game 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. The Scarlet Knights used an 8-0 run to re-take the lead 12-11, following the media timeout. MSU responded with an 10-0 run over 1:56 to take its first double-digit lead 27-15. The Spartans were led by 14 points in the first quarter from Joiner.

In the second quarter, the run continued as MSU scored the first 11 of the period to take a 38-15 advantage. The barrage of three pointers continued for Michigan State going 11-for-18 in the half. Joiner led the Spartans with 20 points in the first half, as MSU led 51-27 at the break.

Michigan State didn't let up in the third quarter, scoring the first 14 points to take a commanding 65-27 advantage. The Spartans broke the 3-point single-season record on a DeeDee Hagemann left-side trey with 7:44 left in the period. Michigan State out-scored Rutgers 27-8 in the third quarter. Kimball and Ayrault led the charge in the third period with eight points each.

With the lead, MSU was able to rest some players for much of the fourth quarter. Rutgers battled in the final period, out-scoring Michigan State 22-15 in the final 10 minutes of action. Lafayette scored 10 of her 20 points in the quarter.

Michigan State will now prepare for its final home regular-season game of the season, taking on Illinois on Thursday, Feb. 29 at 8 p.m. The Spartans will say goodbye to seniors Moira Joiner and Tory Ozment. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

Michigan State Women's Basketball Post-Game Notes
• Michigan State's starting five for Wednesday's game made up of junior guard DeeDee Hagemann, sophom*ore guard Abbey Kimball junior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate, graduate guard Moira Joiner and graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault was MSU's 18th-consecutive game with those five Spartans on the court for tip-off. Michigan State has started a total of 24 games this season with that starting five, improving to 17-7 on the season. The only other two Spartans to start this season are sophom*ore guard Theryn Hallock and junior forward Isaline Alexander.

• Graduate guard Moira Joiner made her first five 3-pointers of the game to lead the Spartans. She ended the game with 22 points, going 6-for-9 from long range. She was just one 3-pointer shy of her career high of seven treys against Central Michigan on Dec. 17 in East Lansing. The 22 points were her fifth 20-point game of the season. She has reached double figures in scoring 24 times this season and 53 times in her career.

• The 93 points that Michigan State scored against Rutgers were the most since scoring 92 against Wisconsin on Jan. 24, 2021. Michigan State has scored at least 90 points in five Big Ten games this season. Overall, MSU is now 11-1 when scoring 90 or more points this season.

• The Spartans recorded 27 assists on 37 made baskets against Rutgers. It was the most helpers for MSU since recording 29 against Central Michigan on Dec. 17. MSU's season high in assists was 34 in the Spartans' 104-44 win against Detroit Mercy on Nov. 16. Junior guard DeeDee Hagemann led the way with seven assists, while junior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate tied her career high with six helpers.

• Michigan State out-rebounded Rutgers 34-29, behind seven rebounds from Jocelyn Tate and six from Julia Ayrault. The Scarlet Knights came into the game ninth in the Big Ten in rebound margin (+0.97).

• MSU captured its third-straight sweep after defeating Rutgers for the second time this season. The Spartans also defeated the Scarlet Knights on Jan. 30. Michigan State also earned season sweeps against Purdue and Michigan. The only team that swept the Spartans this season is No. 2 Ohio State.

• The Spartans also broke the single-season school record for 3-pointers in a season against the Scarlet Knights. MSU came into the game needing 11 to break the record and hit 14 in the game. The Spartans have now recorded 255 3-pointers this season, breaking the record set during the 2016-17 season.Graduate guardMoira Joinerleads the team with 68 3-pointers. The single-season record for individual treys was 122 by All-American Tori Jankoska during the 2016-17 season.