EAST LANSING — A game after setting a program record for shooting, the Michigan State women’s basketball team delivered another strong offensive performance.
And that helped the Spartans to another runaway win.
MSU got off to a dominant start while rolling to a 105-49 victory over Evansville on Sunday afternoon at Breslin Center.
“(It’s) an exciting team win,” MSU coach Robyn Fralick said. “I think one of the positives moving forward is we had a much better start. We’ve been talking about that and starting the game and setting the tone for the game. I thought we took some big strides in that.”
The win helped the Spartans finish off a perfect four-game season-opening homestand to begin a new era under Fralick. After opening with a 25-point win over Oakland, MSU has won each of its last three games by at least 44 points.
DeeDee Hagemann had 14 points in just 17 minutes to lead the balanced attack for MSU, which followed its 70.8% shooting performance against Detroit by shooting 63.6%.
Julia Ayrault added 12 points, seven blocks, six rebounds and four assists, while Moira Joiner and Tory Ozment each had 12 points for the Spartans. Jocelyn Tate had 11 points and Lauren Ross finished with 11 points off the bench for MSU, which led 20-4 after the opening quarter.
MSU did lose a player to injury for the second straight game Sunday with Gabby Elliott going down in the third quarter. Elliott, who returned from a season-ending ACL tear suffered last December, was on a fast break when she suffered the injury. Fralick didn’t have an immediate update on Elliott during her postgame press conference.
The Spartans also lost Isa Alexander to an injury Thursday in a win over Detroit. She was in a walking boot on the bench and was moving around with a scooter.
“Prayers for Gabby and we’re hoping everything is going to be all right with that,” Ayrault said. “As for Isa, that’s a huge loss for us. It’s obviously been a tough week for us. We just know we’ve got their backs and we’re going to help them with whatever they need.”
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway.