Spartans’ Brave Second-Half Surge Stumbles Against Maryland’s Stalwart Defense

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – After trailing by as many as 17 points in the initial half, the No. 19/19 Michigan State women’s basketball team was unable to achieve the comeback, losing to No. 8/8 Maryland, 72-66, on Sunday at the XFINITY Center.

The Spartans have now experienced back-to-back losses against ranked teams and currently hold an overall record of 11-2 and 1-1 in Big Ten competition. Maryland improves to 12-0 overall and 2-0 in league action.

Michigan State had two players reach double digits, spearheaded by a season-high 20 points from junior guard Theryn Hallock, who rejoined the starting roster after coming off the bench for the previous four contests. Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault notched her fourth double-double of the season with 17 points and a season-high tying 12 rebounds. Senior forward Jocelyn Tate made a significant impact on the boards, securing 10 rebounds, a personal best for MSU. Tate also contributed a team-high four assists and three steals.

The Spartans have now forced at least 20 turnovers in eight consecutive games, as the MSU defense compelled the Terrapins into 25 turnovers.

Maryland was topped by Kaylene Smikle, who scored 19 points.

The Spartans opened the game with the first five points before Smikle sank a couple of free throws. The Terps struggled initially, missing their first seven shots until an Allie Kubek three-pointer gave Maryland a 7-5 advantage. A 7-0 run from the Terps established a 13-9 lead with under two minutes left in the period. MSU went the final 5:08 without making a field goal, ending the first quarter down 20-11.

In the second quarter, the Terps maintained their dominance, extending their lead to 31-18 following a basket from Bri McDaniel. In a physically intense matchup, Maryland capitalized at the charity stripe, making 14 of 17 free throws in the first half. A turnover followed by a three-pointer from Ayrault narrowed the gap to a 37-25 Maryland advantage with 3:08 remaining in the half. The Spartans fought hard until the buzzer, limiting Maryland to zero field goals in the last 2:46.

Once more, Michigan State tallied the first five points of the half, cutting the deficit to 41-35, prompting a Maryland timeout at the 8:08 mark of the third quarter. A pair of free throws from Hallock drew the game closer to 50-46 as MSU’s defense continued to apply pressure. Subsequently, Maryland embarked on a 7-0 run, widening the gap to 57-46 with 1:23 left in the third quarter.

The Spartans persisted, heading into the final quarter. A three-pointer from Hallock tied the score at 57-57 with 6:06 remaining. The Terps countered with two three-pointers to regain the lead. Despite outscoring the Terps 18-15 in the fourth quarter, MSU was unable to take the lead back. Hallock was instrumental for the Spartans in the fourth period with seven points.

Michigan State will return home to the Breslin Center for the first time since December 15 to face Purdue on Wednesday, January 1 at 2 p.m.

Michigan State Women’s Basketball Post-Game Notes

• Michigan State experienced its second loss of the season, marking back-to-back defeats in regular-season play for the first time since February 8 and 11 of last season, where they lost to No. 14/13 Indiana, 94-91, and No. 5/5 Ohio State, 86-71. This was also the last instance when the Spartans faced ranked teams consecutively, following their loss to No. RV/24 Alabama, 82-67, recently on December 20 and again to No. 8/8 Maryland on Sunday.

• With the No. 19/19 Spartans competing against the No. 8/8 Terrapins, this marked the second time in as many games and the third instance in two weeks that a ranked MSU squad encountered a ranked opponent, including No. RV/24 Alabama (December 20) in its most recent game . . . Sunday also highlighted a second consecutive Big Ten matchup against a ranked rival following the 68-66 triumph over No. 21/25 Iowa on December 15 . . . prior to that encounter against Iowa, the last occurrence of a ranked Michigan State team facing another ranked foe was on January 7, 2021, when No. 23/24 MSU lost to No. 12/12 Maryland.

• With the Spartan women’s team ranked No. 19 in the AP Top 25 poll and the MSU men’s team ranked No. 18, Michigan State is among only two Big Ten teams to have both women’s and men’s programs featured in the AP Top 25, alongside UCLA, and one of eight teams in the NCAA, along with UConn, Duke, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Ole Miss, and Kentucky.

• MSU’s defense forced Maryland into 25 turnovers, achieving 25 or more turnovers from the opposition for the third consecutive game following 29 against Alabama (December 20) and 30 against Montana (December 19) in back-to-back days . . . overall, this marks the eighth game of the season in which the Spartans have forced 25 or more turnovers.

• The Spartans’ bench was outscored by the Terps’ reserves, 22-10, marking the first instance this season that MSU’s bench yielded more points than its counterparts.

• On Sunday, the starting five for the Spartans consisted of graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault, graduate guard Jaddan Simmons, junior forward Grace VanSlooten, senior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate, and junior guard Theryn Hallock, marking the second game for this line-up . . . it has been one of five different line-ups utilized by Michigan State.

• After serving as a bench player in the past four games, junior guard Theryn Hallock, who was last season’s Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year, returned to the starting line-up for the first time since November 27 against Vanderbilt and recorded a season-best 20 points . . . Hallock previously started the first eight games of the season before coming off the bench in the last four matches.

• Hallock’s team-leading 20 points represented her first 20-point performance since her career-high 24 points scored last season against Purdue (January 4) . . . it marked her third 20-point game in her career, including 21 points, also from last season, at Penn State (December 30) . . . MSU is now 2-1 when Hallock scores 20 or more points.

• Sunday’s 20 points marked Hallock’s third consecutive outing in double figures . . . it represented her ninth game this season and the 26th of her career with 10 or more points.

• Hallock hit a team-best two three-pointers, being the only Spartan with multiple triples, resulting in her fifth game this season with more than one trey, including her second in a row and third in the last four matchups.

• With her 17 points on Sunday, graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault has achieved double figures in all 12 games played this season, as she missed the Detroit Mercy game (December 20) due to injury . . . she has reached double figures in scoring in her last 25 games consecutively, being part of 36 out of her last 41 games played since the beginning of the 2023-24 season . . . Ayrault achieved 10 or more points for the 52nd game of her career, and the Spartans now sport a record of 39-12 when Ayrault scores in double figures.

• Ayrault recorded 17 points and 12 rebounds, achieving her fourth double-double of the season, all in the last eight contests, and her 10th double-double in her career.

• The 17 points and 12 rebounds mark Ayrault’s impressive streak, averaging 18.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per game over the last nine matchups, with a total of 166 points and 74 rebounds during that time.

• With her 14th and 15th points of the contest coming at 9:19 of the fourth quarter from a pair of free throws, Ayrault entered the Top 25 of MSU’s career scoring list, moving ahead of Jenna Allen (2015-19) at No. 26 with 1,098 points and surpassing Becky Cummings (1997-2001) at No. 25 with 1,108 points . . . Ayrault’s current tally stands at 1,111 points, making her the 26th player in Spartan women’s basketball history to reach this milestone.

basketball chronicles with 1,100 career points . . . she requires 22 points to surpass Julie Polakowski (1982-86) at No. 24 with 1,143 points.

• The 12 rebounds equaled Ayrault’s season-high for the third occasion this season, matching the 12 boards from her previous two double-doubles, each with a dozen boards against Vanderbilt (11/27/24) and DePaul (12/8/24) . . .  Ayrault now boasts four outings with double-digit rebounds this season, all coinciding with her four double-doubles, three of which occurred away from home, including the aforementioned games, along with 10 rebounds in a double-double at Western Michigan (11/27/24).

• The 12 rebounds marked Ayrault’s eighth game this season with five or more boards, including the second successive game.

• Senior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate collected 10 rebounds, achieving not only her MSU season-high but also her Spartan career-high, falling just two boards short of her career-best 12 rebounds, recorded during her tenure at Bowling Green, occurring on March 27, 2023 against Florida.

• Tate scored a 3-pointer for MSU’s opening points of the contest, and it was merely Tate’s fifth successful trey of the season, being her first since versus Cal (11/26/24), concluding the game 1-of-2 from beyond the arc, now standing at 5-of-15 this season.

• With a seven-point finish, Tate achieved her third consecutive game scoring 5+ points and the 12th time in 13 games this season.

• Tate recorded a game-high three steals on Sunday, achieving three steals for the second consecutive match, marking her eighth game this season with multiple thefts, including the sixth time with three or more steals.

• Graduate guard Nyla Hampton notched a career-best four blocks, accounting for all four of MSU’s rejections . . . Sunday marked Hampton’s first game this season with multiple blocks, having tallied one block in four other games this season . . . the four denials surpassed her collegiate career-best of three blocks achieved twice during her Bowling Green career, the last time on March 16, 2022 versus Western Michigan.

• After not having led MSU in assists throughout her Spartan career for the previous 42 games in the Green & White, Tate has guided the Spartans for the second consecutive game after providing four assists on Sunday and leading MSU with three assists in their last outing against Alabama (12/20/24)