Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
Western Kentucky
Sun Belt East Title on the Line When Blue Raiders Meet Hilltoppers Saturday
2/24/2006 1:49:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Sun Belt East championship will be on the line when the Blue Raiders and the Hilltoppers face off at 3:30 p.m. in E.A. Diddle Arena. Middle Tennessee brings a 17-8 record and 10-2 in the Sun Belt. Western Kentucky is 21-5 and 11-2 in the Sun Belt.
A Middle Tennessee win will assure the Blue Raiders at least a share of the Sun Belt East and a No. 1 seed. Lose, and the Blue Raiders will still receive a bye in the first round of the Sun Belt Championships, but will fall to the No. 2 seed. Either way, the finish will be the highest for Middle Tennessee since joining the Sun Belt.
"Every since I have been at Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky has always been our biggest rival," said junior guard Chrissy Givens. "We've never beat them [Western Kentucky] on their floor, so this game means a lot to me, Krystle [Horton] and Tia [Stovall] because of the history we have with Western Kentucky. Also because we can clinch first place with the win and I think going into their place we have to bring our own enthusiasm."
Western Kentucky will be trying to protect a 13-game home wining streak and Middle Tennessee will try and snap four-game regular season losing streak in Bowling Green. The Blue Raiders opened Sun Belt play on January 8 with a 68-63 win over the Hilltoppers in Murfreesboro. Since that loss, Western Kentucky has just stumbled once more, against Arkansas State, and then reeled off 10 straight wins.
The two teams will also match-up the two top candidates for Sun Belt Player of the Year.
In the blue corner is Givens, who leads the Sun Belt and is second in the nation in scoring with 21.9 points per game. She also leads the Sun Belt in steals with 3.4 steals per game and a total of 85.
In the red corner is sophomore forward Crystal Kelly. She is second in the Sun Belt in scoring with 20.2 points per game. In the two team's first meeting, Kelly was held to just nine points.
"Our biggest rival is Western Kentucky," said Head Coach Rick Insell. "Will we prepare any different than we have for any other team? No. We know what we have to do, and their personnel and we will just go out play our game on Saturday."
