Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Thursday, December 20
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
6:30 PM
Middle Tennessee
8-3
67
vs
46
UNC Asheville
5-5
1
2
3
4
F
UNC Asheville
9
8
16
13
46
Middle Tennessee
21
9
19
18
67
Team Stats
AVL
MT
FG%
.425
.560
3FG%
.400
.467
FT%
.500
.667
RB
18
31
TO
13
10
STL
4
4
Game Leaders
Pts
31
FGM
13
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballHayes pours in 31 to power Lady Raiders
12/20/2018 9:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Johnson tallies 16 on solid night
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – A'Queen Hayes' career night powered Middle Tennessee past the visiting UNC Asheville Bulldogs 67-46 Thursday.
The senior guard tied her season high in points in the first half with 21, then finished it off with 10 more after the break to end with a career-high 31 on 13-of-22 shooting and 3-of-4 from 3-point range. She's now just 12 points away from 1,000 in her career.
"I thought Queen had a great game," MT Head Coach Rick Insell said. "We've had some pretty tough practices the last two or three days, and one of the things we've kept telling Queen is to shoot the three because it opens up slashing lanes. She did … and I'll take that any night."
Hayes got off to a hot start, scoring 12 points on five made baskets in the first quarter to go with seven points from fellow senior Alex Johnson. They helped the Lady Raiders (8-3) jump to a 21-9 lead at the end of the frame, all but kicking the Bulldogs (5-5) out of the Murphy Center.
Two of Hayes' made baskets came from a pair of shots beyond the arc, a little surprising considering she entered the night just 4 of 10 from deep this season.
"I don't know where that came from," she said. "I'm guessing it was breakfast this morning. [I had] Waffle House … and I never eat bacon and waffles on game day. I guess that's my new game day meal."
As Hayes and Johnson paced Middle Tennessee's offense, the blue and white defense smothered UNC Asheville.
The Bulldogs managed to shoot 41 percent (7-17) in the first half and turned the ball over 10 times, leading to eight Lady Raider points.
Not much improved for UNC Asheville in the second half, as it finished just 42.5 percent from the field. The visitors were also dominated down low, losing the points in the paint battle 36-14 and the war on the boards 31-18.
"We have so many different factors," Johnson said. "We have a lot of people who know their role and are doing their role very well this year. That's hard to beat."
Hayes added a team-high eight rebounds to her career-high 31 points, and Johnson finished with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. She's now just four points shy of 10th place on MT's all-time scoring list.
Only six Lady Raiders scored a point, with Jordan Majors adding 10, Katie Collier five, Jess Louro three and two from Alexis Whittington. Their ball movement was crisp, though, with 16 assists on 28 made baskets.
It's the type of offensive game Insell wants to see moving forward as MT gears up for the Fordham Holiday Classic ahead of the start of Conference USA play on Jan. 3. The Lady Raiders will begin the Holiday Classic Dec. 29 against Chattanooga.
"I'd like to see that," he said. "When we score, we're going to win. We play good enough defense … and we've been outrebounding just about everyone.
"We know what we have to do."
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 senior guard tied her season high in points in the first half with 21, then finished it off with 10 more after the break to end with a career-high 31 on 13-of-22 shooting and 3-of-4 from 3-point range. She's now just 12 points away from 1,000 in her career.
"I thought Queen had a great game," MT Head Coach Rick Insell said. "We've had some pretty tough practices the last two or three days, and one of the things we've kept telling Queen is to shoot the three because it opens up slashing lanes. She did … and I'll take that any night."
Hayes got off to a hot start, scoring 12 points on five made baskets in the first quarter to go with seven points from fellow senior Alex Johnson. They helped the Lady Raiders (8-3) jump to a 21-9 lead at the end of the frame, all but kicking the Bulldogs (5-5) out of the Murphy Center.
Two of Hayes' made baskets came from a pair of shots beyond the arc, a little surprising considering she entered the night just 4 of 10 from deep this season.
"I don't know where that came from," she said. "I'm guessing it was breakfast this morning. [I had] Waffle House … and I never eat bacon and waffles on game day. I guess that's my new game day meal."
As Hayes and Johnson paced Middle Tennessee's offense, the blue and white defense smothered UNC Asheville.
The Bulldogs managed to shoot 41 percent (7-17) in the first half and turned the ball over 10 times, leading to eight Lady Raider points.
Not much improved for UNC Asheville in the second half, as it finished just 42.5 percent from the field. The visitors were also dominated down low, losing the points in the paint battle 36-14 and the war on the boards 31-18.
"We have so many different factors," Johnson said. "We have a lot of people who know their role and are doing their role very well this year. That's hard to beat."
Hayes added a team-high eight rebounds to her career-high 31 points, and Johnson finished with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. She's now just four points shy of 10th place on MT's all-time scoring list.
Only six Lady Raiders scored a point, with Jordan Majors adding 10, Katie Collier five, Jess Louro three and two from Alexis Whittington. Their ball movement was crisp, though, with 16 assists on 28 made baskets.
It's the type of offensive game Insell wants to see moving forward as MT gears up for the Fordham Holiday Classic ahead of the start of Conference USA play on Jan. 3. The Lady Raiders will begin the Holiday Classic Dec. 29 against Chattanooga.
"I'd like to see that," he said. "When we score, we're going to win. We play good enough defense … and we've been outrebounding just about everyone.
"We know what we have to do."
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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