Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
East Carolina
Start of season breeds excitement for Lady Raiders
11/5/2019 10:30:00 AM | Women's Basketball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — The weather is changing and leaves are falling around Middle Tennessee, signaling the start of a new basketball season in the historic Murphy Center.
While anticipation and excitement are always high this time of year surrounding MT's Lady Raider basketball team, it could be heightened this season. Middle Tennessee opens the 2019-20 campaign at East Carolina Wednesday at 10 a.m.
Rick Insell, the winningest basketball coach in the school's history with a 340-121 career record, has quite the roster set up for the new campaign that will yet again feature one of the toughest nonconference schedules in the country. The Raiders might not have a ton of experience returning, but the talent level is maybe as good as it's ever been.
"I think we're pretty talented, but everybody just has to buy into their roles," he said. "We have to do a better job in transition offensively and defensively early on here."
The Lady Raiders have quite a bit to replace from last season, most notably three-time all-conference performer Alex Johnson and last year's Conference USA Newcomer of the Year A'Queen Hayes, who also was a first-team all-conference recipient.
Middle Tennessee will need to find new scoring, with under 33% of its scoring returning from last season, but there are plenty of new weapons for Insell to choose from.
Nine newcomers are led by four girls who were McDonald's All-American nominees in their prep careers — sisters Anastasia and Aislynn Hayes, Rellah Boothe and Courtney Whitson.
Anastasia Hayes, a redshirt sophomore Murfreesboro native, leads that group. She's a transfer from Tennessee who was named the Southeastern Conference Sixth Player of the Year as a freshman in 2017-18, averaging 9.3 points and 3.5 assists per game for the Lady Vols before transferring last year to MT and redshirting.
"[The newcomers] are going to have to play," Insell said. "We lost nine kids from last year. … Even though maybe we weren't as talented as some of the other teams, we were more experienced and knew from the get-go what we had to do."
Those newcomers will add to a few players who are plenty experienced in the Murphy Center.
Sophomore Taylor Sutton, last year's C-USA Freshman of the Year, provides most of the experience for the lineup. Senior Charity Savage could also get plenty of nods in the starting five, as could sophomore Murfreesboro native Alexis Whittington.
Sutton, the team's leading 3-point shooter with 65 treys last season, is hoping to improve on a great first year and will pair with Whittington, another 3-point specialist, as a dynamic defensive backcourt duo.
"We're going to have to rely on our talent a little more than our experience at times this year," Insell said. "We may have more talent than we've had, but we might not be as experienced."
Though MT might have plenty of new faces in the lineup, don't expect Insell's group to look much different style-wise. The Lady Raiders have always been good under Insell in both defense and 3-point shooting, and this year should be no different.
They ranked 21st in the nation last season allowing just 56.5 points per game, setting a new program record with 12 opponents held under 50 points.
Insell's bunch better bring their defense and have their new players mesh right from the start. The regular season starts Wednesday at American Conference foe East Carolina, then the Lady Raiders will host No. 13 Kentucky in their home opener Sunday.
Also included in the nonconference slate are 2019 NCAA Tournament participant Auburn in the Gulf Coast Showcase, home games against reigning Atlantic 10 champion VCU and TCU, and a road trip to three-time defending Ohio Valley Conference champion Belmont, among others.
"Everybody is going to be struggling early at first, but the people who get there quicker in transition defense and offense will be the ones who win some early games," Insell said. "Those will be some tough teams we have to face early on."
It'll be a daunting schedule, but it's nothing the bunch isn't used to. Every year seems to breed another nonconference slate with ranked opponents and conference title hopefuls, and yet, Middle Tennessee has still been able to reach the postseason in each of Insell's 14 seasons and the last 16 overall.
The schedule will be tough, and the talent in the Murphy Center will surely wow all of MT's loyal fans. Get excited — the Lady Raiders are back.
