Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Thursday, December 17
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
11:00 AM
Middle Tennessee
5-4
70
vs
54
Missouri State
6-5
1
2
3
4
F
Missouri State
13
10
23
8
54
Middle Tennessee
10
18
17
25
70
Team Stats
MSU
MT
FG%
.340
.400
3FG%
.333
.238
FT%
.619
.643
RB
34
46
TO
19
13
STL
5
11
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
29
FGM
11
3FGM
4
FTM
3
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballEdwards shoots Blue Raiders to victory on Education Day
12/17/2015 1:58:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MT defeats Missouri St., 70-54
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – With 2:20 left in the game, MT senior Brea Edwards dropped in a three pointer to give the Blue Raiders a comfortable 66-52 lead.
It was her final bucket in what turned into an Edwards 10-0 run covering just 1:32, as the Blue Raiders (5-4) raced past the Missouri State Lady Bears (6-5), 70-54, in front of the second-largest crowd (11,411) at the Murphy Center Thursday afternoon in the Education Day game.
Edwards finished with 29 points on 11-of-21 shooting, while bringing down five rebounds.
The 29-point outing gives Edwards her fifth 20-point scoring effort in the last nine games.
The senior guard also logged a complete game against the Lady Bears, marking the second time this season where Edwards has played all 40 minutes.
Offseason conditioning led to Edwards dropping over 20 pounds, and it's something she credits to averaging 36 minutes per game this season.
"Last year, it would have taken a toll on me," Edwards said. "But I made a conscience effort to come back in shape this season. I came in determined that I was going to play forty minutes, so coming back in shape was definitely helpful for me."
Ty Petty also had a solid performance Thursday afternoon as she posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 assists.
Petty's 11 assists marked a career-high for the junior guard, and also placed her in a tie for ninth on the MT single-game assists list.
"Our communication was pretty good," Petty said. "I saw when they were playing that zone that they would collapse. So, I just tried to find my shooters, like Brea Edwards, who was hitting everything."
The Blue Raiders got out to a sluggish start on the offensive side of the ball, as MT shot 29.4 percent (10-of-34) in the first half.
But after making halftime adjustments, Middle Tennessee shot a high 50 percent (18-of-36) to push towards the win.
"We just talked about what we were going to do against their zone and their man," MT head coach Rick Insell said. "I thought we could have been more coach-able, but I thought Ty [Petty] made a couple of good decisions to open up our scoring."
Perhaps the strongest part of MT's win over Missouri State was the defensive effort in the second half.
The Blue Raiders held the Lady Bears to eight fourth-quarter points, including 12.5 percent shooting (2-of-16) from the field in the final period.
"That fourth quarter our entire team just came out really strong," Edwards said. "We held them to eight points in the fourth and that was really the spark. I've always thought our defense has been our spark."
Olivia Jones got the scoring started for the Blue Raiders after converting a jumper at the 9:29 mark.
With 3:13 left in the opening period, Edwards dropped in a layup to give the Blue Raiders an 8-7 lead.
The Lady Bears reclaimed the lead, 10-8, after a layup by Tyonna Snow, marking the fifth lead change in the first period.
A three pointer by Missouri State's Kenzie Williams pushed the Lady Bears to their largest lead of the game, 18-10, with 7:41 left in the first half.
But, the Blue Raiders wouldn't be denied.
Back-to-back three pointers by Petty and Edwards sparked a 15-0 run to give Middle Tennessee a 25-18 lead with 2:46 remaining in the second period, with MT eventually going into the break with a 28-23 advantage.
Rebecca Reuter converted a layup that scored the first points of the second half for the Blue Raiders, pushing the MT lead to 30-25.
Another layup by Edwards gave the Blue Raiders a seven-point advantage, 38-31, with 6:03 left in the third period.
With 3:45 left in the fourth period and the Blue Raiders holding a slight 56-52 lead, Edwards went to work.
She went on a 10-0 run to push MT to a 66-52 lead, capped off by a three pointer with 2:20 left in the game.
MT's Gabby Lyon tacked on a layup to give Middle Tennessee the 70-54 victory.
The Blue Raiders return to action on Dec. 20 against Tennessee Tech at the Murphy Center. Tip off is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT.
It was her final bucket in what turned into an Edwards 10-0 run covering just 1:32, as the Blue Raiders (5-4) raced past the Missouri State Lady Bears (6-5), 70-54, in front of the second-largest crowd (11,411) at the Murphy Center Thursday afternoon in the Education Day game.
Edwards finished with 29 points on 11-of-21 shooting, while bringing down five rebounds.
The 29-point outing gives Edwards her fifth 20-point scoring effort in the last nine games.
The senior guard also logged a complete game against the Lady Bears, marking the second time this season where Edwards has played all 40 minutes.
Offseason conditioning led to Edwards dropping over 20 pounds, and it's something she credits to averaging 36 minutes per game this season.
"Last year, it would have taken a toll on me," Edwards said. "But I made a conscience effort to come back in shape this season. I came in determined that I was going to play forty minutes, so coming back in shape was definitely helpful for me."
Ty Petty also had a solid performance Thursday afternoon as she posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 assists.
Petty's 11 assists marked a career-high for the junior guard, and also placed her in a tie for ninth on the MT single-game assists list.
"Our communication was pretty good," Petty said. "I saw when they were playing that zone that they would collapse. So, I just tried to find my shooters, like Brea Edwards, who was hitting everything."
The Blue Raiders got out to a sluggish start on the offensive side of the ball, as MT shot 29.4 percent (10-of-34) in the first half.
But after making halftime adjustments, Middle Tennessee shot a high 50 percent (18-of-36) to push towards the win.
"We just talked about what we were going to do against their zone and their man," MT head coach Rick Insell said. "I thought we could have been more coach-able, but I thought Ty [Petty] made a couple of good decisions to open up our scoring."
Perhaps the strongest part of MT's win over Missouri State was the defensive effort in the second half.
The Blue Raiders held the Lady Bears to eight fourth-quarter points, including 12.5 percent shooting (2-of-16) from the field in the final period.
"That fourth quarter our entire team just came out really strong," Edwards said. "We held them to eight points in the fourth and that was really the spark. I've always thought our defense has been our spark."
Olivia Jones got the scoring started for the Blue Raiders after converting a jumper at the 9:29 mark.
With 3:13 left in the opening period, Edwards dropped in a layup to give the Blue Raiders an 8-7 lead.
The Lady Bears reclaimed the lead, 10-8, after a layup by Tyonna Snow, marking the fifth lead change in the first period.
A three pointer by Missouri State's Kenzie Williams pushed the Lady Bears to their largest lead of the game, 18-10, with 7:41 left in the first half.
But, the Blue Raiders wouldn't be denied.
Back-to-back three pointers by Petty and Edwards sparked a 15-0 run to give Middle Tennessee a 25-18 lead with 2:46 remaining in the second period, with MT eventually going into the break with a 28-23 advantage.
Rebecca Reuter converted a layup that scored the first points of the second half for the Blue Raiders, pushing the MT lead to 30-25.
Another layup by Edwards gave the Blue Raiders a seven-point advantage, 38-31, with 6:03 left in the third period.
With 3:45 left in the fourth period and the Blue Raiders holding a slight 56-52 lead, Edwards went to work.
She went on a 10-0 run to push MT to a 66-52 lead, capped off by a three pointer with 2:20 left in the game.
MT's Gabby Lyon tacked on a layup to give Middle Tennessee the 70-54 victory.
The Blue Raiders return to action on Dec. 20 against Tennessee Tech at the Murphy Center. Tip off is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT.
Facility tour – Stephen and Denise Smith Student-Athlete Performance Center
Wednesday, July 30
Rick Insell Conference USA Hall of Fame Announcement
Wednesday, July 09
2025 Blue Raider Blitz Media Panel
Thursday, July 03
MTSU Women's Basketball Coach Rick Insell interview at 2025 Blue Raider Blitz
Monday, June 30
