Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Thursday, February 20
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
6:30 PM
Middle Tennessee
-179,95 CUSA
59
vs
61
UAB (ESPN3)
-179,95 CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
UAB
18
10
20
13
61
Middle Tennessee
10
20
14
15
59
.png&width=84&height=84&quality=100&type=webp)
Team Stats
UAB
MT
FG%
.362
.396
3FG%
.300
.200
FT%
.526
.632
RB
44
33
TO
16
12
STL
5
10
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
18
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
UAB earns split against Lady Raiders
2/20/2020 9:05:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MT drops 61-59 decision
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Scratching and clawing down the stretch wasn't enough for Middle Tennessee against UAB Thursday.
In a crucial matchup for Conference USA seeding, the Lady Raiders (17-9, 9-5) made a valiant comeback against the Blazers (17-9, 9-5) but couldn't get a last-second 3-pointer to fall in a 61-59 defeat.
Both teams are now even with Charlotte at 9-5 in the league, trailing Old Dominion, Rice and WKU.
"We didn't play one of our better defensive games," MT Head Coach Rick Insell said. "When you do that, you don't deserve to win … and that's not us. That's not the way we play."
UAB led by as many as eight points two different times in the fourth quarter before Middle Tennessee made its final push.
A little over four minutes remained when sophomore Rellah Boothe hit a 3-pointer followed by a layup by senior Charity Savage to cut the deficit to three.
The Lady Raiders managed to hold the Blazers scoreless for more than two minutes from there, but they struggled to come up with a rebound on a critical possession that led to a pair of free throws that felt more like daggers.
With under three minutes left, MT played stellar defense but allowed UAB to grab four straight offensive rebounds, the last of which led to two free throws that pushed the lead back to five. The possession drained more than a minute off the clock and led to two crucial points with 1:45 left.
"We didn't rebound the ball tonight at all … then we threw the ball away two or three times after we got a rebound," Insell said. "We did a good job of making some stops. We just didn't rebound. Nobody to blame but us."
Savage hit a 3-pointer with 1:20 left to bring the score within two again, but the make was too little, too late. The Lady Raiders managed to drain just five of their 25 attempts from deep. The Blazers weren't much better, making only nine of 30.
"They had good help-side defense," freshman Aislynn Hayes said. "Even when we would kick it out, it seemed like we didn't make threes that we would normally make."
After a back-and-forth first half that saw Middle Tennessee trailing by eight at the end of the first quarter then leading by two at halftime, the defenses dominated.
Neither team put the ball in the cylinder with consistency in the third quarter, combining to shoot under 35 percent. The Blazers' poor shooting helped erase five turnovers for the Lady Raiders in the quarter after they had only three in the first half.
"The turnovers and rebounding were all the difference," Savage said. "When we played good defense, it seemed like we gave up a rebound or would turn it over. That defeats the purpose."
Middle Tennessee was led in the scoring column by Hayes with 18 points on seven of 14 shooting. Savage had 10 points and nine rebounds, moving her into 11th on the program's single-season rebounding list with 288. She also stuffed the stat sheet with four assists and five steals.
Boothe, who's played in three games this season while recovering from knee surgery, had nine points and six rebounds in just 11 minutes.
Only four games remain for the Lady Raiders before the C-USA Championships. They'll travel to UTEP on Saturday before quickly returning for home games against WKU and North Texas, then the regular-season finale will be March 7 at Charlotte.
"We just have to get here in the morning, get on the plane and go down to El Paso and play," Insell said. "We'll see what we do Saturday."
In a crucial matchup for Conference USA seeding, the Lady Raiders (17-9, 9-5) made a valiant comeback against the Blazers (17-9, 9-5) but couldn't get a last-second 3-pointer to fall in a 61-59 defeat.
Both teams are now even with Charlotte at 9-5 in the league, trailing Old Dominion, Rice and WKU.
"We didn't play one of our better defensive games," MT Head Coach Rick Insell said. "When you do that, you don't deserve to win … and that's not us. That's not the way we play."
UAB led by as many as eight points two different times in the fourth quarter before Middle Tennessee made its final push.
A little over four minutes remained when sophomore Rellah Boothe hit a 3-pointer followed by a layup by senior Charity Savage to cut the deficit to three.
The Lady Raiders managed to hold the Blazers scoreless for more than two minutes from there, but they struggled to come up with a rebound on a critical possession that led to a pair of free throws that felt more like daggers.
With under three minutes left, MT played stellar defense but allowed UAB to grab four straight offensive rebounds, the last of which led to two free throws that pushed the lead back to five. The possession drained more than a minute off the clock and led to two crucial points with 1:45 left.
"We didn't rebound the ball tonight at all … then we threw the ball away two or three times after we got a rebound," Insell said. "We did a good job of making some stops. We just didn't rebound. Nobody to blame but us."
Savage hit a 3-pointer with 1:20 left to bring the score within two again, but the make was too little, too late. The Lady Raiders managed to drain just five of their 25 attempts from deep. The Blazers weren't much better, making only nine of 30.
"They had good help-side defense," freshman Aislynn Hayes said. "Even when we would kick it out, it seemed like we didn't make threes that we would normally make."
After a back-and-forth first half that saw Middle Tennessee trailing by eight at the end of the first quarter then leading by two at halftime, the defenses dominated.
Neither team put the ball in the cylinder with consistency in the third quarter, combining to shoot under 35 percent. The Blazers' poor shooting helped erase five turnovers for the Lady Raiders in the quarter after they had only three in the first half.
"The turnovers and rebounding were all the difference," Savage said. "When we played good defense, it seemed like we gave up a rebound or would turn it over. That defeats the purpose."
Middle Tennessee was led in the scoring column by Hayes with 18 points on seven of 14 shooting. Savage had 10 points and nine rebounds, moving her into 11th on the program's single-season rebounding list with 288. She also stuffed the stat sheet with four assists and five steals.
Boothe, who's played in three games this season while recovering from knee surgery, had nine points and six rebounds in just 11 minutes.
Only four games remain for the Lady Raiders before the C-USA Championships. They'll travel to UTEP on Saturday before quickly returning for home games against WKU and North Texas, then the regular-season finale will be March 7 at Charlotte.
"We just have to get here in the morning, get on the plane and go down to El Paso and play," Insell said. "We'll see what we do Saturday."
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Rick Insell Conference USA Hall of Fame Announcement
Wednesday, July 09
2025 Blue Raider Blitz Media Panel
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MTSU Women's Basketball Coach Rick Insell interview at 2025 Blue Raider Blitz
Monday, June 30
