Blue Raiders to face Xavier

Sunday, December 6

Cincinnati, Ohio

1:00 PM

Middle Tennessee

Xavier

12/5/2015 1:49:00 PM | Women's Basketball

MT seeking third-straight win

By: @MTAthletics

CINCINNATI – Middle Tennessee will look to continue its road success when it faces Big East member Xavier here Sunday afternoon. The Blue Raiders have won back-to-back road games and they have won 67 percent of their road games under Head Coach Rick Insell.

GAME INFORMATION
FULL GAME NOTES

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Date: Sunday, Dec. 6
Time: 1 PM
Teams: Middle Tennessee (3-3) at Xavier (5-1)
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Arena: Cintas Center (10,250)
TV: None
Radio: WMOT-FM (89.5), WGNS (1450 AM/100.5FM/101.9FM)
Play-by-Play: Dick Palmer

Live Audio | Live Streaming | Live Stats

Game Notes:
On the Road

• Middle Tennessee will play its fourth consecutive game away from home and its fifth in six games when it faces Xavier in Cincinnati.
• MT has perfomed well on the road under Head Coach Rick Insell, winning 66 percent (98-50) of the 148 games played.

Xavier Series History

• MT and Xavier meet for the 11th time in program history.
• MT leads the series, 6-4.
• MT has won three straight in the series.
• Rick Insell is 3-2 against Xavier.

Xavier (Blue Raiders lead, 6-4)
H: 3-1 A: 3-1 N: 0-2

12/05/97                                         N                                      L, 62-78
12/15/00                                         N                                      L, 89-92
12/23/01                                         A                                    W, 68-60
12/03/03                                         A                                    W, 67-65
01/06/05                                         H                                    W, 64-58
12/03/09                                         A                                      L, 63-80
12/09/10                                         H                                      L, 52-65
12/09/11                                         A                                    W, 65-49
12/06/12                                         H                                    W, 63-48
12/07/14                                         H                                    W, 90-68

Vs. the Big East

• Xavier is the only current member of the Big East that Middle Tennessee has faced.

Scouting Xavier

• Xavier is off to a 5-1 start and brings a four-game winning streak into the game vs. MT.
• The Muskateers are 5-0 at home, and 0-1 on the road.
• Raeshaun Gaffney leads a balanced scoring attack with 11.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Briana Glover averages 10.3 points per game.
• Xavier is averaging 62.5 points per game, and allowing just 55.7 ppg.

Jones Joins 1,000-Point Club

• With 15 points against Austin Peay, junior Olivia Jones became the 29th member of the program's 1,000-point club.
• Rick Insell has coached 12 of the 29 players in MT's 1,000-point club, including four of the Top 10 scorers in program history.
• Jones is the fifth player from Rutherford County, and the third from Riverdale HS, to join the club. Other members of the 1,000-point club who prepped in Rutherford County include: Kim Webb (Smyrna HS), Krystle Horton (Riverdale HS), Anne Marie Lanning (Riverdale HS), and Carlita Elder (Oakland HS).

Johnson C-USA Freshman of Week

• Forward Alex Johnson was named C-USA Freshman of the Week Monday (Nov. 30).
• Johnson earned the honor after scoring a career-high 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting in road win at Nevada.
• Johnson averaged 13.5 points and 4.0 rebounds, while shooting 68 percent from the field against Alabama and Nevada during the Nugget Classic in Reno, Nev. She earned a spot on the All-Tournament team for her breakout performances.

Edwards Amongst Nation's Best

• Senior guard Brea Edwards leads NCAA Division I WBB for 3-point FG per game (4.5), and she is eighth nationally in scoring (23.3).
• Edwards led the nation in scoring at Central Arizona Community College with a 21.8 average in 2012-13.
• Edwards has scored 24 or more four times in the first six games, including a career-high 30 against Virginia in the season opener.
• Edwards is among C-USA leaders in scoring (1st, 23.3), 3-pt FG per game (1st, 4.5), minutes (3rd, 35.5), 3-pt FG% (4th, .529), offensive rebounds (5th, 3.3), and rebounding (10th, 7.5)

Edwards Uncanny Beyond Arc

• Senior Brea Edwards has been sizzling from beyond the arc. She has connected on 53 percent of her 51 3-point attempts through six games.
• Edwards is shooting 79 percent from beyond the arc in her last two games, connecting on 11-of-14 treys.
• Edwards was 6-of-8 from beyond the arc vs. Nevada, and followed that performance with a 5-for-6 effort against Austin Peay.
• Edwards has hit at least one 3-pointer in all six games and has connected for four or more six times.
• Edwards has hit at least one trey in 20 straight games dating to last season.

Petty Strong Distributor

• MT junior point guard dished a career-high 10 assists in the win vs. Ole Miss.
• Petty is seventh in C-USA with 4.0 assists per game.
• Her 10 assists vs. Ole Miss marked the first time a Blue Raider has had double-figure assists since Kortni Jones had 12 against Troy (1/25/12).

• Petty registered her first career double double vs. Ole Miss.

Hometown Flavor

• MT starts three players from Murfreesboro - Olivia Jones (Riverdale), Ty Petty (Riverdale) and Alex Johnson (Blackman).
• Ten of the 13 players on the Blue Raider roster list Tennessee as their home state.

Sophomore Sissom Stepping Up

• MT sophomore Abbey Sissom is averaging 7.8 points.
• After averaging 9.3 minutes in 2014-15 the former Class AA Miss Basketball is averaging 20.5 minutes this season.

Demanding Schedule

• MT will face another tough non-conference slate in 2015-16.
• MT faces teams from the SEC (Alabama, Kentucky, Ole Miss); ACC (Virginia); Missouri Valley (Missouri State), Mid-American (Central Michigan, Ohio) and Big East (Xavier) in the first 11 games.
• The Blue Raiders have 10 wins against Power Conference foes in the last two seasons.
• MT's non-conference schedule was rated as high as No. 1 as far as toughest last season.

80 is Magic Number
• Give the Blue Raiders 80 points or more and they are nearly unbeatable under Rick Insell. MT has won 93 of the 95 games it has scored 80 or more in Insell's 10-plus seasons. The Blue Raiders are 35-0 when scoring 90 or more points under Insell.

Insell Amongst the Best

• MT Head Coach Rick Insell is one of the nation's winningest women's basketball coaches.
• Insell is sixth among winningest active coaches in Division I by winning percentage with a .761 clip.
• Insell's current record is 255-80.

NCAA Division I Winningest Active Coaches

(By Winning Percentage)
Coach                              School                 %
1. Geno Auriemma         UConn                 .873
2. Kim Mulkey                 Baylor                 .831
3. Tara VanDerveer        Stanford             .815
4. Mike McLaughlin        Penn                    .770
5. Joe Foley                     Little Rock           .766
6. Rick Insell                  MT                       .761
7. Wes Moore                 NC State              .759
8. Matt Bollant                Illinois                 .755
9. Robin Selvig                Montana             .754
10. Brian Giorgis            Marist                  .754

NCAA Division I Winningest Coaches

(By Winning Percentage)
Coach                              School                 %
1. *Geno Auriemma       UConn                 .873
2. Leon Barmore            LA Tech               .869
3. Pat Summitt                Tennessee           .841
4. *Kim Mulkey               Baylor                 .831
5. *Tara VanDerveer      Stanford             .815
6. Bill Sheahan                Mt. St. Mary's     .782
7. *Joe Foley                   Little Rock           .766
8. *Rick Insell                MT                       .761
9. *Wes Moore               NC State              .759
10. *Robin Selvig            Montana             .754

Keeping Strong Company

• MT has proven to be one of the nation's winningest programs through the years. The Blue Raiders are 18th all-time in winning percentage with a .684 mark and their 820 all-time victories are 29th most among NCAA Division I women's basketball.
• During the last five years MT's .760 winning percentage is 16th best nationally, and its 130 wins are 20th most. The 130 wins are the most by any C-USA team during that stretch.

Division I All-Time Winningest Programs (By Winning Percentage)

School                                                          %
1. UConn 833
2. Tennessee                                                                           .817
3. LA Tech*                                                                               .790
4. Stanford                                                                                .763
5. Green Bay                                                                            .734
6. Montana                                                                               .731
7. Notre Dame                                                                        .731
8. Texas                                                                                       .729
9. Old Dominion*                                                                 .717
10. Georgia                                                                              .702
11. Rutgers                                                                               .701
12. Stephen F. Austin                                                         .700
13. North Carolina                                                               .698
14. Ohio State                                                                        .696
15. Duke                                                                                     .695
16. Utah                                                                                      .687
17. Maryland                                                                           .686
18. Middle Tennessee*                                                 .684
19. Penn State                                                                        .679
20. LSU                                                                                        .677
* - C-USA Team

Division I Winningest Programs (Last 5 years)

School                                                          %
1. UConn                                                                                    .940
2. Baylor                                                                                     .928
3. Notre Dame                                                                        .910
4. Stanford                                                                                .878
5. Green Bay                                                                            .860
6. Maryland                                                                              .829
7. Duke                                                                                        .824
8. Tennessee                                                                           .823
9. Princeton                                                                             .819
10. Gonzaga                                                                             .816
11. James Madison                                                              .789
12. Kentucky                                                                           .773
13. Dayton                                                                                .772
14. South Carolina                                                               .771
15. Chattanooga                                                                   .771
16. Middle Tennessee                                                   .760
17. Marist                                                                                  .750
18. Hampton                                                                           .750
19. Texas A&M                                                                        .749
20. DePaul                                                                                .744

MT Consistently Good Under Insell

• MT Head Coach Rick Insell has enjoyed a high level of succes in his 10-plus seasons leading the Blue Raiders.
• MT has played in the postseason in each of the previous 10 seasons under Insell (8 NCAAs, 2 WNITs).
• Already the winningest coach in program history with 255 victories, Insell has proven to be a consistent winner. The Blue Raiders have won 20-plus in each of his 10 seasons, including one 30-win season and six seasons of 25 or more victories.
• The five-time Hall of Famer is averaging 25 wins per season at Middle Tennessee.