Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Thursday, January 21
Denton, Texas
7:00 PM
Middle Tennessee
at
North Texas
Improved North Texas team on tap for Blue Raiders
1/20/2016 4:59:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MT has won 12 straight in series
DENTON, Texas – There is a great deal of conference basketball yet to be played and much remains to be determined as the league race unfolds; however, teams will begin to separate themselves as the race nears the halfway point next weekend.
Middle Tennessee (9-7, 3-2), along with three other teams, is tied for third, but it is only one game in front of six teams in a logjam tied for seventh. In fact, one game separates 10 teams in the middle of the C-USA standings heading into play this weekend.
The Blue Raiders will face two of those teams as they battle North Texas (7-8, 2-3) Thursday at 7 p.m., and Rice (3-13, 2-3) Saturday at 2 p.m.
Head Coach Rick Insell says games where conference teams face one another just once are very important in terms of tiebreakers at the end of the year.
"Four teams get a bye into the quarterfinals of the conference tournament and that is really important," Insell said. "You want to be in position to get one of those four (byes) at the end so every game is very important. In instances where you play a (conference) team once in the regular season they are really important because of the tiebreaker."
This year's race appears to be wide open.
UTEP (14-1, 5-0) and WKU (14-2, 5-0) share the conference lead and they have a two-game lead on the rest of the league; however, the next 10 teams are divided by just one game in the league standings.
"There is still a lot of basketball to be played," Insell said. "We want to make sure we put ourselves in the best position possible for the conference tournament, but our biggest focus really is Middle Tennessee. We have areas we must continue to improve as we get closer to the tournament. There is time to accomplish that as well."
Middle Tennessee will face one of the league's surprises of 2015-16 when it faces North Texas Thursday. The Mean Green have already surpassed last season's win total of five with seven victories under first-year Head Coach Jalie Mitchell, including a 61-57 upset of Oklahoma early in the campaign. Mitchell is a former Mean Green player who is the all-time leading scorer (1,764 points) in program history.
North Texas was picked last in the C-USA Coaches Preseason poll. It has a balanced offensive attack with four players in double figures, led by Kelsey Criner's 12.5 points per game. Criner also leads C-USA in assists. Candice Adams (12.4), Terra Ellison (10.3) and Acheil Tac (10.0) also average double figures for the Mean Green.
Middle Tennessee leads the series 17-4, including a 7-2 mark in Denton, Texas. The Blue Raiders have won 12 straight and 17-of-18 in the series, which dates back to 2001 when the teams were Sun Belt Conference members.
The Blue Raiders are contending despite a young team. They start one senior, one junior, two sophomores and one freshman. In fact, eight of the 12 players on the roster are either freshmen (5) or sophomores (3).
Junior guard Ty Petty and freshman post Alex Johnson have stepped up their game tremendously in recent weeks, and sophomore guard Abbey Sissom has evolved into the team's defensive stopper on the perimeter.
Petty has consistently been one of the top playmakers in C-USA this season; however, she has stepped up her game of late. Petty is second on the team in scoring (11.3) and averages 4.8 assists per game; however, she is averaging 20 points and six assists in her last three games. Petty leads the Blue Raiders in scoring (17.0) in C-USA games only.
Johnson has emerged as a breakthrough player for the Blue Raiders. The freshman forward has started 15 of the team's 16 games and her consistent improvement has made a go-to player of late. She has had four straight games in double figures scoring for the first time in her collegiate career. Overall, Johnson averages 8.7 points and 3.1 rebounds, but she is averaging 13 points and 3.0 rebounds against league foes. In the last three games, Johnson is averaging 16.7 points per game.
Senior Brea Edwards continues to be one of the most productive players in C-USA, and nationally. Edwards is sixth nationally for 3-point field goals per game (3.2), 11th in 3-point field goals made (51), 21st in 3-point field goal percentage (.871) and she is 25th nationally in free-throw percentage (.871). Edwards is second in C-USA in scoring with 18.4 points per game.
One area where Middle Tennessee has improved tremendously is the free-throw line. After starting slow at the charity stripe last season, the Blue Raiders have become one of the best free-throw shooting teams in C-USA. They are third in the league overall with a 71.8 percent showing. They have been even better since the start of conference play as they lead the league with a 79 percent showing in C-USA games only.
In addition to Edwards being 25th nationally for free-throw percentage, Petty is 47th with an 85.4 percentage. Petty is 16-for-17 from the line in C-USA play and had made 14 straight before attempts before suffering her only miss in the first quarter vs. Old Dominion.
Middle Tennessee (9-7, 3-2), along with three other teams, is tied for third, but it is only one game in front of six teams in a logjam tied for seventh. In fact, one game separates 10 teams in the middle of the C-USA standings heading into play this weekend.
The Blue Raiders will face two of those teams as they battle North Texas (7-8, 2-3) Thursday at 7 p.m., and Rice (3-13, 2-3) Saturday at 2 p.m.
Head Coach Rick Insell says games where conference teams face one another just once are very important in terms of tiebreakers at the end of the year.
"Four teams get a bye into the quarterfinals of the conference tournament and that is really important," Insell said. "You want to be in position to get one of those four (byes) at the end so every game is very important. In instances where you play a (conference) team once in the regular season they are really important because of the tiebreaker."
This year's race appears to be wide open.
UTEP (14-1, 5-0) and WKU (14-2, 5-0) share the conference lead and they have a two-game lead on the rest of the league; however, the next 10 teams are divided by just one game in the league standings.
"There is still a lot of basketball to be played," Insell said. "We want to make sure we put ourselves in the best position possible for the conference tournament, but our biggest focus really is Middle Tennessee. We have areas we must continue to improve as we get closer to the tournament. There is time to accomplish that as well."
Middle Tennessee will face one of the league's surprises of 2015-16 when it faces North Texas Thursday. The Mean Green have already surpassed last season's win total of five with seven victories under first-year Head Coach Jalie Mitchell, including a 61-57 upset of Oklahoma early in the campaign. Mitchell is a former Mean Green player who is the all-time leading scorer (1,764 points) in program history.
North Texas was picked last in the C-USA Coaches Preseason poll. It has a balanced offensive attack with four players in double figures, led by Kelsey Criner's 12.5 points per game. Criner also leads C-USA in assists. Candice Adams (12.4), Terra Ellison (10.3) and Acheil Tac (10.0) also average double figures for the Mean Green.
Middle Tennessee leads the series 17-4, including a 7-2 mark in Denton, Texas. The Blue Raiders have won 12 straight and 17-of-18 in the series, which dates back to 2001 when the teams were Sun Belt Conference members.
The Blue Raiders are contending despite a young team. They start one senior, one junior, two sophomores and one freshman. In fact, eight of the 12 players on the roster are either freshmen (5) or sophomores (3).
Junior guard Ty Petty and freshman post Alex Johnson have stepped up their game tremendously in recent weeks, and sophomore guard Abbey Sissom has evolved into the team's defensive stopper on the perimeter.
Petty has consistently been one of the top playmakers in C-USA this season; however, she has stepped up her game of late. Petty is second on the team in scoring (11.3) and averages 4.8 assists per game; however, she is averaging 20 points and six assists in her last three games. Petty leads the Blue Raiders in scoring (17.0) in C-USA games only.
Johnson has emerged as a breakthrough player for the Blue Raiders. The freshman forward has started 15 of the team's 16 games and her consistent improvement has made a go-to player of late. She has had four straight games in double figures scoring for the first time in her collegiate career. Overall, Johnson averages 8.7 points and 3.1 rebounds, but she is averaging 13 points and 3.0 rebounds against league foes. In the last three games, Johnson is averaging 16.7 points per game.
Senior Brea Edwards continues to be one of the most productive players in C-USA, and nationally. Edwards is sixth nationally for 3-point field goals per game (3.2), 11th in 3-point field goals made (51), 21st in 3-point field goal percentage (.871) and she is 25th nationally in free-throw percentage (.871). Edwards is second in C-USA in scoring with 18.4 points per game.
One area where Middle Tennessee has improved tremendously is the free-throw line. After starting slow at the charity stripe last season, the Blue Raiders have become one of the best free-throw shooting teams in C-USA. They are third in the league overall with a 71.8 percent showing. They have been even better since the start of conference play as they lead the league with a 79 percent showing in C-USA games only.
In addition to Edwards being 25th nationally for free-throw percentage, Petty is 47th with an 85.4 percentage. Petty is 16-for-17 from the line in C-USA play and had made 14 straight before attempts before suffering her only miss in the first quarter vs. Old Dominion.
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Basketball
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/ Women's Basketball
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