Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Thursday, February 16
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
6:30 PM
Middle Tennessee
16-9, 12-3
75
vs
82
WKU (beIN)
19-6, 11-2
1
2
3
4
F
WKU
22
23
18
19
82
Middle Tennessee
24
11
25
15
75
Team Stats
WKU
MT
FG%
.491
.528
3FG%
.400
.333
FT%
.727
.929
RB
24
34
TO
6
16
STL
12
1
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
33
FGM
12
3FGM
0
FTM
9
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballWKU snaps Lady Raiders' five-game win streak, 82-75
2/16/2017 9:03:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Johnson scores 33 in loss
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee failed to stay atop the Conference USA standings Thursday, falling to rival WKU 82-75 in a thriller at the Murphy Center.
After trailing by as many as 11 points early in the third quarter, the Blue Raiders (16-9, 11-3) battled all the way back and cut the Hilltoppers (9-6, 11-2) lead to a single point with just under five minutes remaining. But, they couldn't sustain, and WKU finished the game on an 11-5 run to take the victory.
The loss snapped Middle Tennessee's five-game winning streak. It was the third win in a row for the Hilltoppers in the head-to-head series and their first in Murfreesboro since 2004, but MT still leads the 60-game series with its rival 33-27.
"It was a heck of game," MT head coach Rick Insell said. "They have a better basketball team than we've got, and they came in here and proved it."
Things weren't looking good for the Blue Raiders after two quarters. WKU held a 45-35 lead at halftime and looked to have all of the momentum. But, the third quarter was all Middle Tennessee.
Led by the conference's second-highest scorer, MT opened the second half on a 17-6 run and grabbed a lead midway through the third, then trailed by just three points heading into the final 10 minutes.
Sophomore Alex Johnson, second in C-USA averaging 20.5 points per game, poured in 13 of her game-high 33 points in the third quarter. She hit her first 10 shots from the field, finishing 12 for 15, and hit all nine of her free throws. She also added a team-high six rebounds.
It was a nice rebound for her after scoring just 14 points in the first matchup between the teams this season.
"The first game against them, we weren't ourselves," Johnson said. "This game, I felt like other people stepped up. Even though we didn't come out with the win, there were just different factors at different times that really helped WKU push the lead on us."
Senior Ty Petty, fifth in the league at 17.6 points per game, also aided in the third-quarter comeback.
She added nine of her 17 points in the quarter and also finished with five rebounds and seven assists, moving her past Kortni Jones into second all-time at Middle Tennessee in career helpers.
"Ty is a great player," Insell said. "I'm proud to have her, and she's done a good job. That's where she needs to be, she's done that for three years."
Junior Abbey Sissom added 14 points, five assists and five rebounds for the Blue Raiders, while junior Gabby Lyon had six points and five rebounds and freshman Kyla Allison rounded out the scoring with five.
Middle Tennessee had issues all game slowing down the Hilltoppers, who average a C-USA best 75.6 points per game. WKU hit 10 of 25 shots from 3-point range and the Raiders forced them into just six turnovers, while committing 16 themselves.
"A lot of the time we just got sucked in, then the guards would hit their posts and their posts had a good shooting night," Sissom said. "It wasn't one thing that it came down to. There were multiple things on defense that we could have done better."
It was the Blue Raiders' sloppy play both offensively and defensively that Petty said will have to improve heading forward.
"We were our own worst enemies," Petty said. "I don't think they came out here and did anything to stop us. We beat ourselves tonight. There were no trophies won tonight. We can't keep our heads down, we just have to come back in tomorrow and fix our mistakes."
Middle Tennessee is next in action Saturday as Marshall comes to the Murphy Center for a 2 p.m. tipoff, then on Feb. 26 Petty will be honored as the only senior on senior day against UAB. The Blue Raiders finish the regular season on the road at FIU and FAU on March 2 and 4, respectively.
After trailing by as many as 11 points early in the third quarter, the Blue Raiders (16-9, 11-3) battled all the way back and cut the Hilltoppers (9-6, 11-2) lead to a single point with just under five minutes remaining. But, they couldn't sustain, and WKU finished the game on an 11-5 run to take the victory.
The loss snapped Middle Tennessee's five-game winning streak. It was the third win in a row for the Hilltoppers in the head-to-head series and their first in Murfreesboro since 2004, but MT still leads the 60-game series with its rival 33-27.
"It was a heck of game," MT head coach Rick Insell said. "They have a better basketball team than we've got, and they came in here and proved it."
Things weren't looking good for the Blue Raiders after two quarters. WKU held a 45-35 lead at halftime and looked to have all of the momentum. But, the third quarter was all Middle Tennessee.
Led by the conference's second-highest scorer, MT opened the second half on a 17-6 run and grabbed a lead midway through the third, then trailed by just three points heading into the final 10 minutes.
Sophomore Alex Johnson, second in C-USA averaging 20.5 points per game, poured in 13 of her game-high 33 points in the third quarter. She hit her first 10 shots from the field, finishing 12 for 15, and hit all nine of her free throws. She also added a team-high six rebounds.
It was a nice rebound for her after scoring just 14 points in the first matchup between the teams this season.
"The first game against them, we weren't ourselves," Johnson said. "This game, I felt like other people stepped up. Even though we didn't come out with the win, there were just different factors at different times that really helped WKU push the lead on us."
Senior Ty Petty, fifth in the league at 17.6 points per game, also aided in the third-quarter comeback.
She added nine of her 17 points in the quarter and also finished with five rebounds and seven assists, moving her past Kortni Jones into second all-time at Middle Tennessee in career helpers.
"Ty is a great player," Insell said. "I'm proud to have her, and she's done a good job. That's where she needs to be, she's done that for three years."
Junior Abbey Sissom added 14 points, five assists and five rebounds for the Blue Raiders, while junior Gabby Lyon had six points and five rebounds and freshman Kyla Allison rounded out the scoring with five.
Middle Tennessee had issues all game slowing down the Hilltoppers, who average a C-USA best 75.6 points per game. WKU hit 10 of 25 shots from 3-point range and the Raiders forced them into just six turnovers, while committing 16 themselves.
"A lot of the time we just got sucked in, then the guards would hit their posts and their posts had a good shooting night," Sissom said. "It wasn't one thing that it came down to. There were multiple things on defense that we could have done better."
It was the Blue Raiders' sloppy play both offensively and defensively that Petty said will have to improve heading forward.
"We were our own worst enemies," Petty said. "I don't think they came out here and did anything to stop us. We beat ourselves tonight. There were no trophies won tonight. We can't keep our heads down, we just have to come back in tomorrow and fix our mistakes."
Middle Tennessee is next in action Saturday as Marshall comes to the Murphy Center for a 2 p.m. tipoff, then on Feb. 26 Petty will be honored as the only senior on senior day against UAB. The Blue Raiders finish the regular season on the road at FIU and FAU on March 2 and 4, respectively.
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