EAST LANSING — There are times when Julia Ayrault wishes she and younger sister Annabel were a little closer in age.
The Michigan State women’s basketball grad student guard / forward would have loved for the opportunity to play together in high school or in some other instance with her.
But with a four-year age difference, sharing the court was never possible.
That all changed Monday.
Ayrault’s dreams turned into reality when she got a chance to share the same court with her sister during MSU’s 101-40 exhibition win over Division II program Wayne State.
And as an added bonus, their father Andy was also part of the experience on the Breslin Center floor. Annabel is a sophomore guard and Andy is a second-year assistant coach for Wayne State.
“A really cool night for Julia and her family,” MSU coach Robyn Fralick said. “Very rarely in basketball do you get a night where you get to play against your sister and your dad. I was very happy that this was able to come together. I’m very grateful for their family.”
Julia shared embraces with her sister and father on the court following the game and enjoyed having the experience with numerous family members in attendance watching.
“It was awesome,” Julia said. “Just to see them and be here at the Breslin Center with them here and getting the chance to be around family (was great). We had some family from out of town that came in for the game. It was just really special for our family. I can’t express enough how much gratitude I have for the coaching staff and just everybody else who was able to put time and effort to make this happen.”
Julia first learned in the summer the possibility of the exhibition coming together. The excitement picked up once it was finalized.
Monday brought a different level of excitement, especially as both found themselves on the court together in the second quarter sporting their No. 40 jerseys. And when Annabel made a 3-pointer in the second half, Julia was excited to celebrate the moment from the Spartan bench.
“It’s up there with some cool moments for me,” Julia said of playing against her sister. “I think I’ll remember it forever and I think she will as well. She’s definitely my best friend and getting the opportunity to see her and spend some time with her today was really cool.”
Spartans dominate
MSU had six players score in double figures while dominating in their tune-up before things start for real next week. Oregon transfer Grace VanSlooten and Theryn Hallock each had 16 points and were a combined 13 of 17 from the field for the Spartans, who led 30-2 after the opening quarter and 58-5 at halftime.
Freshman Ines Sotelo had 13 points, while Jocelyn Tate, Arizona State transfer Jaddan Simmons and Kennedy Blair each had 11 points.
Shea Tripp led Wayne State with 10 points. Alyssa Leister (Alma) had two points in just under 20 minutes and Emily Homan (Haslett) had two rebounds for the Warriors.
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Julia Ayrault gets special reunion in MSU basketball’s exhibition win
