MSU Seniors Ride Out in Style With Win Over Minnesota

Michigan State women’s basketball turns its attention to the postseason after a dominant performance on Senior Night.

Michigan State's Julia Ayrault, right, slaps hands with teammates before the game against Oregon on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

No. 23 Michigan State women’s basketball sent its seniors out in style, defeating Minnesota on Saturday 73-58 in the squad's last regular season game.

The Spartans honored four players on Senior Night: guard Julia Ayrault, guard Nyla Hampton, guard/forward Jocelyn Tate and guard Jaddan Simmons. The four made a significant contribution in MSU’s 15-point win over the Golden Gophers, as three of the four seniors scored in double figures. 

Ayrault led the way for the seniors with 13 points and connecting on three triples. Simmons followed with 11 points and Hampton with 10 points. 

The seniors spent the final moments of the game together on the court and followed the Michigan State tradition, kissing the Spartan head at center court to say goodbye to their last game played in the regular season.

“We just keep building and growing, and I think the seniors have shown that they really just want to take that next step for the last year, and I think that we’ll do that," Simmons said postgame. "We’ll show that in the Big Ten Tournament.”

The win over Minnesota places the Spartans in the sixth spot in the Big Ten with a 21-8 overall and 11-7 conference record, one game above Michigan, which plays its final game Sunday against Illinois.

As the regular season concludes, the nationally ranked Spartans now turn their attention to making a statement in the conference tournament in Indianapolis and, ultimately, the national tournament.

“Over the last two weeks, all we’ve played are tournament games,” said Coach Robyn Fralick after the game. “The entire end of our schedule has been all tournament teams. I think we’re going into March with no false understandings of what it feels like, what it looks like [and] what this level of team that we’ve been going against feels like to compete against.”

“We’ve finished the season with a really tough stretch of games," Fralick said. "But in a good way, I think going into March Madness, we have been competing consistently against high-level teams.”

The Big Ten Tournament bracket will be released Sunday.

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