Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Thursday, November 29
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
11:00 AM
Middle Tennessee
6-2
69
vs
54
Georgia State
3-2
1
2
3
4
F
Georgia State
10
14
23
7
54
Middle Tennessee
16
19
12
22
69
Team Stats
GSU
MT
FG%
.350
.468
3FG%
.389
.263
FT%
.357
.857
RB
34
42
TO
10
9
STL
4
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballLady Raiders win on Education Day
11/29/2018 1:41:00 PM | Women's Basketball
More than 11,000 enjoy victory
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – A crowd filled with Murfreesboro City Schools students watched Middle Tennessee take down Georgia State Thursday afternoon.
The Lady Raiders (6-2) withstood a flurry of a rally from the Panthers (3-2) in the third quarter and used a few key baskets late to leave with a 69-54 win in the annual Education Day Game.
The most-attended Education Day Game nationally since the tradition started in Murfreesboro during the 2012-13 season attracted 11,310 fans, most of which were students.
"We knew it was going to be a tough game," MT Head Coach Rick Insell said. "I'm very proud of our young ladies for hanging in there and coming back after they got behind.
"It was loud … and I love this day. My hat's off to [Murfreesboro City Schools Director of Schools Dr. Linda Gilbert] and her staff. They have to have great, great leadership … to pull this off. It's a win-win for them, and it's a win-win for us."
Middle Tennessee's lead reached as many as 12 points early in the third quarter, but Georgia State wouldn't go down so easily.
The Panthers used a 20-8 run over the rest of the frame, taking three one-point leads and tying things at 47 as the game moved to the final 10 minutes.
That's when the Lady Raiders woke up.
They outscored Georgia State 22-7 in the fourth, hitting 8 of 12 shots and all four of their attempts from the charity stripe down the stretch.
Freshman Taylor Sutton led the way in the final 10 minutes for MT with seven of her 13 points, including a 3-pointer with 2:45 left that felt like a dagger, putting the Lady Raiders up 61-52. It was her only make from distance on the afternoon.
The performance followed Sutton's good weekend at the UNLV Lady Rebel Roundup, where she was named tournament MVP and Conference USA Freshman of the Week after averaging 19.5 points in two games.
"She's a freshman, and she's going to do things that blow your mind, and then she's going to do things that make you think, 'Where in the world did that come from?" Insell said.
Middle Tennessee's defense also buckled down when it needed to, holding the Panthers to 3-of-15 shooting in the fourth quarter.
Other than the 53.3-percent outburst from Georgia State in the third, the Lady Raiders were effective for most of the afternoon. They went into the game holding opponents under 40 percent shooting for the season and limited the Panthers to 35 percent.
"I think after halftime, we let off the gas a little bit," Raider senior A'Queen Hayes said. "That's when they started to gain momentum, but once we saw them pushing back, we snapped back and got it together."
Hayes was MT's leading scorer, hitting 9-of-16 shots for 20 points to go with seven rebounds, four assists and a block. Senior Alex Johnson had 14 points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocks and moved into 14th on the Middle Tennessee all-time scoring list, passing former teammate Ty Petty.
Redshirt junior Jordan Majors rounded out the double-figure scoring with a career-high 12 points, and she added another career high with 14 rebounds to register her first double-double.
"I know what my part is to help the team, and I know that rebounding is one of those," Majors said. "I feel like today will give me more motivation and confidence for the next games to come."
The Lady Raiders are hoping the whole team's confidence is high as they hit the road for games at Troy and Kentucky on Dec. 4 and 15, respectively.
"Every time I go out there with them, every practice and every game, I learn something about this bunch," Insell said. "This was a learning situation for us today."
Josh Vardaman is the staff writer for goblueraiders.com. Follow him on Twitter @J_Vardaman and also follow @MTAthletics for more on the Blue Raiders.
The Lady Raiders (6-2) withstood a flurry of a rally from the Panthers (3-2) in the third quarter and used a few key baskets late to leave with a 69-54 win in the annual Education Day Game.
The most-attended Education Day Game nationally since the tradition started in Murfreesboro during the 2012-13 season attracted 11,310 fans, most of which were students.
"We knew it was going to be a tough game," MT Head Coach Rick Insell said. "I'm very proud of our young ladies for hanging in there and coming back after they got behind.
"It was loud … and I love this day. My hat's off to [Murfreesboro City Schools Director of Schools Dr. Linda Gilbert] and her staff. They have to have great, great leadership … to pull this off. It's a win-win for them, and it's a win-win for us."
Middle Tennessee's lead reached as many as 12 points early in the third quarter, but Georgia State wouldn't go down so easily.
The Panthers used a 20-8 run over the rest of the frame, taking three one-point leads and tying things at 47 as the game moved to the final 10 minutes.
That's when the Lady Raiders woke up.
They outscored Georgia State 22-7 in the fourth, hitting 8 of 12 shots and all four of their attempts from the charity stripe down the stretch.
Freshman Taylor Sutton led the way in the final 10 minutes for MT with seven of her 13 points, including a 3-pointer with 2:45 left that felt like a dagger, putting the Lady Raiders up 61-52. It was her only make from distance on the afternoon.
The performance followed Sutton's good weekend at the UNLV Lady Rebel Roundup, where she was named tournament MVP and Conference USA Freshman of the Week after averaging 19.5 points in two games.
"She's a freshman, and she's going to do things that blow your mind, and then she's going to do things that make you think, 'Where in the world did that come from?" Insell said.
Middle Tennessee's defense also buckled down when it needed to, holding the Panthers to 3-of-15 shooting in the fourth quarter.
Other than the 53.3-percent outburst from Georgia State in the third, the Lady Raiders were effective for most of the afternoon. They went into the game holding opponents under 40 percent shooting for the season and limited the Panthers to 35 percent.
"I think after halftime, we let off the gas a little bit," Raider senior A'Queen Hayes said. "That's when they started to gain momentum, but once we saw them pushing back, we snapped back and got it together."
Hayes was MT's leading scorer, hitting 9-of-16 shots for 20 points to go with seven rebounds, four assists and a block. Senior Alex Johnson had 14 points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocks and moved into 14th on the Middle Tennessee all-time scoring list, passing former teammate Ty Petty.
Redshirt junior Jordan Majors rounded out the double-figure scoring with a career-high 12 points, and she added another career high with 14 rebounds to register her first double-double.
"I know what my part is to help the team, and I know that rebounding is one of those," Majors said. "I feel like today will give me more motivation and confidence for the next games to come."
The Lady Raiders are hoping the whole team's confidence is high as they hit the road for games at Troy and Kentucky on Dec. 4 and 15, respectively.
"Every time I go out there with them, every practice and every game, I learn something about this bunch," Insell said. "This was a learning situation for us today."
Josh Vardaman is the staff writer for goblueraiders.com. Follow him on Twitter @J_Vardaman and also follow @MTAthletics for more on the Blue Raiders.
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