New-look Raiders roll, 93-44

Thursday, November 6

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

7:00 PM

Middle Tennessee

Martin Methodist

11/6/2014 11:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Five reach double figures in win

By: @MTAthletics

Game Box (PDF)

MURFREESBORO – A new-look Middle Tennessee women's basketball team took the court for its first exhibition game of the 2014-15 season at Murphy Center Thursday night.

New look, similar results.

The Blue Raiders dominated Martin Methodist on the way to a 93-44 triumph in front of 2,116 at Murphy Center. They sprinted out to a 41-20 halftime lead and didn't let up in the second half.

All but two Blue Raiders who played scored and six players pulled five or more rebounds. Middle Tennessee has a young squad after graduating six seniors from last season's 29-win team.

The youngsters and newcomers performed well in newfound expanded roles and Head Coach Rick Insell utilized what he calls a deep bench as 12 players played 10 minutes or more.

Newcomer Brea Edwards led five Middle Tennessee players in double figures with 16 points in just 10 minutes of action. Olivia Jones poured in 14 points and just missed a double double with nine rebounds. Jones also dished out six assists and collected two steals.

China Dow contributed 13 points and yanked eight rebounds, freshman Gabby Lyon was solid in her Blue Raider debut. Lyon had a double double with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field and pulled 10 caroms. Lyon also came up with six steals and blocked three shots.

Sophomore Ty Petty was outstanding, as well. Petty scored 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, dished out four assists and had no turnovers. TiAnna Porter and Caya Williams finished with nine points each.

Insell started a lineup with one senior (Shanice Cason), one junior (Porter), one sophomore (Jones) and two freshmen (Lyon, Abbey Sissom).

Middle Tennessee launched 43 3-point attempts and connected on 14 with Edwards' five leading the way. Jones knocked in three.

"We're going to shoot the 3," Insell said. "Brea Edwards was 5-of-9, China Dow was 2-of-5. You won't see Sissom go 1-of-8. You won't see that. She's too good of a shooter. Olivia is better than 3-for-9. Everybody we have can shoot the 3. We hit 14 tonight. I don't know that we ever hit 14 in a game last year, even in the exhibitions."

Middle Tennessee finished with 58 rebounds, including 33 offensive rebounds. They limited the opposition to 26 rebounds and only five offensive boards. Most importantly, the Blue Raider post players combined for 26 of those. The Blue Raiders scored 23 second-chance points off of the offensive rebounds.

The suffocating defense administered by the Blue Raiders forced 31 turnovers and converted those miscues into 38 points.

Middle Tennessee's bench was explosive. Three of the double-figure scorers were reserves. The Blue Raider bench supplied 54 points in the blowout.

Petty sparked the Blue Raiders who were winning 11-6 when Petty came off the bench and buried a 3-pointer with 12:17 remaining in the half to push the lead to 14-6. She turned a steal into a layup to push the score to 16-6 and the Blue Raiders were off and running.

Middle Tennessee went on a 13-0 run over the next three minutes and extended the lead to 23-6 with nine minutes remaining.

They were never threatened from there.

Middle Tennessee will play its final exhibition game against University of Alabama – Huntsville Monday. Tipoff at Murphy Center is 5 p.m.