Box Score EAST LANSING, Mich. – Junior guard DeeDee Hagemann helped open the Robyn Fralick era with a bang, leading the Michigan State women’s basketball team to an 87-62 win over Oakland in the season opener Wednesday at the Breslin Center.
Fralick becomes the fourth Spartan women’s basketball head coach to win their opening game as MSU head coach, joining Dominic Marino in 1975-76, who also won his opener over Oakland; Joanne P. McCallie in 2000-01 and Suzy Merchant in 2007.
The Spartans have now won 10-straight season openers, improving to 1-0. Oakland has now evened out its record at 1-1.
Hagemann set a new career high with 23 points, going 5-for-6 from beyond the arc. Her previous career high was 20 against Penn State on Feb. 25, 2023. She also added five assists and four rebounds. Sophomore guard Abbey Kimball, who made her first career start, tied her career high with 13 points and adding a career-high five assists. Graduate guard Moira Joiner scored 12 points, while junior forward Isaline Alexander scored 10 off the bench. Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault set a new career high with five blocks.
Oakland was led by Markyia McCormick who scored 18 points, while former Spartan Maddy Skorupski added 14.
Michigan State was plagued by turnovers with four in the a three-minute span, as Oakland took the early 7-5 lead. The Grizzlies’ lead grew to 10-5 before a Hagemann layup got the Spartans going. Behind nine points from Hagemann, the Spartans led after the first quarter, 16-15.
In the second quarter, the Spartan offense came to life. In the period, Michigan State out-scored Oakland, 25-14. Four Spartans scored five points in the quarter to pull ahead. A Kimball fast-break layup with 1:54 remaining gave MSU its first double-digit lead, 35-25. At the half, MSU led 41-29.
An old-fashioned trey by Ayrault gave Michigan State an 18-point advantage at the 7:26 mark of the third period. Michigan State took its first 20-point lead after an Alexander three-point play. The Spartans went on a 13-1 run over a two-minute span. The third period was Michigan State’s strongest out-scoring the Grizzlies 27-6.
Oakland started the fourth quarter with a 14-0 to cut it to a 73-52. Freshman center Mary Meng scored her first points as a Spartan with six points in the…
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