Graduate student guard Julia Ayrault won the tip for the Spartans however, it was a three-pointer from freshman guard Maddy Huhn that gave the Redhawks the first points of the game. 

The Spartans started slow both offensively and defensively as they failed to convert any points in their first few possessions and allowed back-to-back three-pointers from the Redhawks to give the visitors an early six-point lead. 

Junior guard DeeDee Hagemann was the first Spartan on the board with the rare four-point play after converting the “and one” after being fouled at the three-point line. 

For a team with only one win on the season, the Redhawks showed great communication and ball movement early on, but MSU’s defense would soon turn up the pressure by switching to their well-known full-court press. 

It paid dividends for the Spartans as they forced a 10-second violation and three more turnovers in less than four minutes. The defensive pressure didn't make the biggest impact on the scoreboard at first as the Spartans still struggled to score in the first six minutes of play, but another two steals created some transition scoring opportunities for the Spartans. 

Ayrault, who has been having a great season on both sides of the ball, showed that again late in the first as she got the block on one end and then the three-pointer on the other end to put the Spartans up 18-9 at the end of the quarter. 

The momentum stayed with the Spartans going into the second quarter thanks to the increased ball movement. The very first possession of the quarter included six passes before resulting in a three-pointer for the green and white. 

Head coach Robyn Fralick decided to experiment with her second-quarter line-up and in the end, it proved to have good results. Fralick repeatedly switched out graduate guard/forward Tory Ozment and Ayrault. While Ayrault has been the more consistent of the two on the season, Ozment has had some explosive moments off the bench. Ozment finished the half with seven points and two rebounds.

Five straight points from sophomore guard Theryn Hallock after a three-pointer and a scoop and score pushed the Spartans to a big 32-9 second-quarter lead after struggling to build one in the first. 

Throughout the year, the Spartans have continued to create big point margins early on in games. They currently are ranked No. 1 in points margin in the Big Ten after averaging a point margin of about 33 points a game. 

Michigan State finished the first half off a little sloppy after failing to score in the last five minutes of the half. Nonetheless, the lead they built early on remained. Heading into halftime, the Spartans looked to increase their output on the rebounds after losing that battle 25-18. 

Miami was the first to strike in the second half, and just like the first points of the first half, it was a three-pointer to start. The Redhawks then scored again, this time at the free-throw line, to score five straight early in half two against the Spartans. 

Miami went on to score 10 straight points as the team slowly started to creep in on the Spartan lead, but graduate guard Moira Joiner wasn’t going to just let it happen. 

Joiner went on to score nine points that fought back against the steady comeback that the Redhawks were attempting to make. 

Joiner, who had a career-high game against DePaul, started the night quiet, but in the matter of just five minutes, she quickly became the leading scorer for the Spartan squad finishing the quarter with 15. 

The Spartan’s intensity remained the same heading into the fourth quarter, and with only ten minutes left, and a 20-point deficit to overcome, it seemed that a comeback for the Redhawks wasn’t going to happen. 

With that thought in mind, coach Fralick decided to switch up the lineups and bring in freshman guard Bree Robinson into the game to get some valuable minutes as she continues to grow as a player for this team. While Robinson hasn’t had any huge impact on games yet, her teammates continue to show incredible amounts of support for their freshmen. 

Fralick also decided to bring in Mary Meng, another freshman who continues to work on her game as she develops in the program. 

A 12-2 run in the middle of the fourth quarter for the Spartans put the game completely out of reach for the Redhawks after they fell into another scoring drought in the fourth quarter. 

Once again, MSU dominated both sides of the ball for almost the entirety of the game as the team secured an 89-44 win over the Redhawks. 

Michigan State will start Big Ten play next week against Nebraska at home on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 2 p.m.