Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Thursday, March 10
Birmingham, Ala.
5:00 PM
Middle Tennessee
22-8
74
vs
54
Rice (ASN)
9-22
1
2
3
4
F
Rice
11
10
16
17
54
Middle Tennessee
18
15
20
21
74
Team Stats
RICE
MT
FG%
.422
.455
3FG%
.400
.462
FT%
.556
.706
RB
30
32
TO
18
10
STL
6
10
Game Leaders
Pts
23
FGM
7
3FGM
5
FTM
4
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballBlue Raiders power into C-USA semifinals
3/10/2016 9:08:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MT beats Rice, 74-54
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Middle Tennessee earned a spot in the semifinals of a conference tournament for the 11th time in 13 years with its 74-54 win against Rice in the quarterfinals of the C-USA Championship here Thursday.
Four Blue Raiders scored double figures, led by Brea Edwards' 23 points on the strength of five 3-pointers. Abbey Sissom poured in 16 points, Alex Johnson tallied 11 and Rebecca Reuter supplied 10 points and eight rebounds in a powerful performance off of the bench. Junior point guard Ty Petty was special once again, dishing out a career-high 13 assists to go with her seven points.
"Rice is a very intelligent basketball team," Blue Raider Head Coach Rick Insell said. "They crash the boards hard, and they make you work hard on every possession. This was a good win for our team but at this time of the year, all wins are great wins. We are happy to get the win and move on into the semifinals."
Middle Tennessee will play in the C-USA semifinals Friday at 12:30 p.m. at Legacy Arena. The game will be televised on CBS College Sports with Ed Cohen and Julianne Viani on the call.
The Blue Raiders (22-8) started strong and trailed only once – 2-0 less than one minute into the game, but still got the tough fight from Rice that was anticipated. Middle Tennessee started with an 8-2 run with Sissom doing the bulk of the early damage. Sissom knocked down a 3-pointer from the wing to get the Blue Raiders going.
Sissom then found Johnson in the paint for a basket and followed the assist with another trey as the Blue Raiders roared to the early 8-2 lead.
"It was important to get that good start," Sissom said. "We came out focused. We had a good shoot-around this morning and good practices this week. I believe our team has been the most focused I have seen us."
Caroline Warden's 3-pointer gave Middle Tennessee a 19-point lead, 53-34, late in the third quarter but, as anticipated, Rice fought back.
The Owls (9-22) cut the lead to seven, 55-48, with 6:27 remaining, but Sissom came up huge again with a clutch 3-pointer from the wing, and Edwards added another as Middle Tennessee stopped the run and regained control.
"That was a huge shot Sissom hit to stop Rice's momentum," Insell said. "And then Brea stepped up and hit another big win much as she has done all season. We had several young ladies hit big shots and play well and that is what is required to advance at this time of the season."
Middle Tennessee knocked down 12 3-pointers, which is its second-highest output of the season and just two shy of the 14 they hit against Ole Miss. They also ran the season total to 203 3-pointers. It marks the ninth time in program history the Blue Raiders have hit 200-plus 3-pointers and eight of those instances have occurred under Insell.
Middle Tennessee forced 18 turnovers and scored 18 points off of those miscues.
Four Blue Raiders scored double figures, led by Brea Edwards' 23 points on the strength of five 3-pointers. Abbey Sissom poured in 16 points, Alex Johnson tallied 11 and Rebecca Reuter supplied 10 points and eight rebounds in a powerful performance off of the bench. Junior point guard Ty Petty was special once again, dishing out a career-high 13 assists to go with her seven points.
"Rice is a very intelligent basketball team," Blue Raider Head Coach Rick Insell said. "They crash the boards hard, and they make you work hard on every possession. This was a good win for our team but at this time of the year, all wins are great wins. We are happy to get the win and move on into the semifinals."
Middle Tennessee will play in the C-USA semifinals Friday at 12:30 p.m. at Legacy Arena. The game will be televised on CBS College Sports with Ed Cohen and Julianne Viani on the call.
The Blue Raiders (22-8) started strong and trailed only once – 2-0 less than one minute into the game, but still got the tough fight from Rice that was anticipated. Middle Tennessee started with an 8-2 run with Sissom doing the bulk of the early damage. Sissom knocked down a 3-pointer from the wing to get the Blue Raiders going.
Sissom then found Johnson in the paint for a basket and followed the assist with another trey as the Blue Raiders roared to the early 8-2 lead.
"It was important to get that good start," Sissom said. "We came out focused. We had a good shoot-around this morning and good practices this week. I believe our team has been the most focused I have seen us."
Caroline Warden's 3-pointer gave Middle Tennessee a 19-point lead, 53-34, late in the third quarter but, as anticipated, Rice fought back.
The Owls (9-22) cut the lead to seven, 55-48, with 6:27 remaining, but Sissom came up huge again with a clutch 3-pointer from the wing, and Edwards added another as Middle Tennessee stopped the run and regained control.
"That was a huge shot Sissom hit to stop Rice's momentum," Insell said. "And then Brea stepped up and hit another big win much as she has done all season. We had several young ladies hit big shots and play well and that is what is required to advance at this time of the season."
Middle Tennessee knocked down 12 3-pointers, which is its second-highest output of the season and just two shy of the 14 they hit against Ole Miss. They also ran the season total to 203 3-pointers. It marks the ninth time in program history the Blue Raiders have hit 200-plus 3-pointers and eight of those instances have occurred under Insell.
Middle Tennessee forced 18 turnovers and scored 18 points off of those miscues.
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