A big second quarter helped the Michigan State women’s basketball pull away and add to its best start in program history.
The No. 17-ranked Spartans outscored Montana, 23-6, during the second quarter on the way to a 69-38 victory on Thursday afternoon at the West Palm Beach Classic in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The victory improved MSU, which was among nine unbeaten Division I women’s basketball teams entering the week, to 11-0 and extended its streak of consecutive regular-season wins dating back to last season to 16.
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“I thought our second and third quarter we really dialed in,” MSU coach Robyn Fralick said. “I think we did a good mix of our full-court pressure being bothersome and sustaining and guarding in the half-court.”
Julia Ayrault was among four players to score in double figures for the Spartans, finishing with a game-high 15 points. Ines Sotelo added 13 points off the bench on 6-of-8 shooting, while Theryn Hallock added 11 points and four assists. Grace VanSlooten finished with 10 points for MSU.
Ayrault and Hallock each scored seven points during the dominant second quarter for the Spartans, who followed that by outscoring Montana, 24-5, in the third quarter.
Adria Lincoln led Montana (4-6) with seven points.
MSU wraps up the West Palm Beach Classic on Friday with a 4:30 p.m. matchup against No. 24-ranked Alabama, which features former East Lansing star Aaliyah Nye.
“Quick turnaround, a really good, physical, athletic team,” Fralick said about Alabama. “Very different team than we just played just in style and system. … It’s a game where you’ve got to be able to, without much prep time, be able to dominate some details.”
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan State women’s basketball stays perfect with rout of Montana
