Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Saturday, March 2
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
5:00 PM
Middle Tennessee
20-8, 11-4
74
vs
48
Florida Atlantic
5-23, 2-13
1
2
3
4
F
FAU
4
10
23
11
48
Middle Tennessee
12
29
16
17
74
Team Stats
FAU
MT
FG%
.333
.453
3FG%
.308
.346
FT%
.522
.538
RB
34
42
TO
12
9
STL
6
7
Game Leaders
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballLady Raiders roll to 20th win on Senior Night
3/2/2019 7:39:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Turn back Florida Atlantic, 74-48
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Florida Atlantic offered little competition on Middle Tennessee's Senior Night Saturday.
For the second time this season, the Lady Raiders (20-8, 11-4) throttled the Owls (5-23, 2-13) by double digits, winning 74-48. It was their 24th win in the 25-game series all-time and clinched a 20-win season for the 13th time in the last 14 years.
After the contest, six MT seniors were honored: Alex Johnson, Katie Collier, Jess Louro, Jordan Majors, LaSonja Edwards and A'Queen Hayes.
"Really proud of all of our young ladies," MT Head Coach Rick Insell said. "I love all six [of the seniors] … and I couldn't have had a better group."
While it was a night to celebrate the seniors' accomplishments, two freshmen ignited the Lady Raiders early on.
Middle Tennessee jumped to a 12-4 lead after the first quarter, then, after growing the advantage to 22-9 in the second, freshmen Taylor Sutton and Alexis Whittington caught fire from deep.
They combined to hit five straight treys, helping MT end the second quarter on a 16-0 run.
When the halftime buzzer sounded, the Lady Raiders led 41-14 behind nine points from Sutton and eight from Whittington, putting them ahead plenty enough to cruise to victory.
"We just really wanted to get this win for our seniors," Sutton said. "We knew it was a big night for the team going into the tournament."
The Raiders weren't solely dependent upon their freshmen; it truly was a team effort on both ends.
Ten of MT's 14 players who saw the floor scored, and the Lady Raiders limited the Owls on the other end to 33 percent shooting. It was MT's 10th time this season holding an opponent under 50 points, one off the program record set last year.
FAU went into the night averaging a C-USA-worst 58 points per game, while Middle Tennessee was second in the league and 24th nationally allowing 56.4.
"I really don't think we even played as good of defense as we could have played," Insell said. "I'm just glad to get the win."
Sutton finished with a team-high 14 points to go with a career-high-tying five assists. Hayes had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Whittington had 10 points.
Johnson, a Murfreesboro native and MT's ninth-leading scorer all-time, had 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists in possibly her last game in her hometown.
"I actually kept it together more than I thought I was going to [after the game]," Johnson said. "It's still a surreal feeling … but I enjoyed every single moment with each and every one of the seniors and my other teammates."
Middle Tennessee has a single game left in the regular season, a Thursday matchup at rival WKU on March 7.
The Lady Raiders are currently tied with UAB for second in C-USA with an 11-4 league record and have clinched a first-round conference tournament bye. The C-USA Tournament will be held from March 13-16 in Frisco, Texas.
"We know we still have a championship to go win," Johnson said. "Today is over, and it was a great team win, but we have a lot more goals we want to accomplish."
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.
For the second time this season, the Lady Raiders (20-8, 11-4) throttled the Owls (5-23, 2-13) by double digits, winning 74-48. It was their 24th win in the 25-game series all-time and clinched a 20-win season for the 13th time in the last 14 years.
After the contest, six MT seniors were honored: Alex Johnson, Katie Collier, Jess Louro, Jordan Majors, LaSonja Edwards and A'Queen Hayes.
"Really proud of all of our young ladies," MT Head Coach Rick Insell said. "I love all six [of the seniors] … and I couldn't have had a better group."
While it was a night to celebrate the seniors' accomplishments, two freshmen ignited the Lady Raiders early on.
Middle Tennessee jumped to a 12-4 lead after the first quarter, then, after growing the advantage to 22-9 in the second, freshmen Taylor Sutton and Alexis Whittington caught fire from deep.
They combined to hit five straight treys, helping MT end the second quarter on a 16-0 run.
When the halftime buzzer sounded, the Lady Raiders led 41-14 behind nine points from Sutton and eight from Whittington, putting them ahead plenty enough to cruise to victory.
"We just really wanted to get this win for our seniors," Sutton said. "We knew it was a big night for the team going into the tournament."
The Raiders weren't solely dependent upon their freshmen; it truly was a team effort on both ends.
Ten of MT's 14 players who saw the floor scored, and the Lady Raiders limited the Owls on the other end to 33 percent shooting. It was MT's 10th time this season holding an opponent under 50 points, one off the program record set last year.
FAU went into the night averaging a C-USA-worst 58 points per game, while Middle Tennessee was second in the league and 24th nationally allowing 56.4.
"I really don't think we even played as good of defense as we could have played," Insell said. "I'm just glad to get the win."
Sutton finished with a team-high 14 points to go with a career-high-tying five assists. Hayes had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Whittington had 10 points.
Johnson, a Murfreesboro native and MT's ninth-leading scorer all-time, had 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists in possibly her last game in her hometown.
"I actually kept it together more than I thought I was going to [after the game]," Johnson said. "It's still a surreal feeling … but I enjoyed every single moment with each and every one of the seniors and my other teammates."
Middle Tennessee has a single game left in the regular season, a Thursday matchup at rival WKU on March 7.
The Lady Raiders are currently tied with UAB for second in C-USA with an 11-4 league record and have clinched a first-round conference tournament bye. The C-USA Tournament will be held from March 13-16 in Frisco, Texas.
"We know we still have a championship to go win," Johnson said. "Today is over, and it was a great team win, but we have a lot more goals we want to accomplish."
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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