Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Thursday, March 5
6:30 PM
Middle Tennessee
-209,125 CUSA
74
vs
63
North Texas (ESPN3)
-1118,512 CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
North Texas
15
12
18
18
63
Middle Tennessee
25
15
16
18
74
Team Stats
UNT
MT
FG%
.333
.477
3FG%
.462
.350
FT%
.688
.385
RB
34
51
TO
10
22
STL
13
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
24
FGM
11
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
Savage goes out in style on senior night
3/5/2020 9:19:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Forward dominant in 25-rebound performance
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — It was just about a perfect senior night for Charity Savage Thursday.
Middle Tennessee (20-9, 12-5) welcomed North Texas (11-18, 5-12) to the Murphy Center and sent its lone senior off with a double-digit victory, 74-63, and Savage showed why she's become quite the crowd favorite this season.
She scored 13 points, but most of her work came on the glass, where she gobbled up a career-high 25 rebounds, nine of them on the offensive end. She became just the third Lady Raider ever to record 25 boards in a game, finishing two off the program record set by Robin Hendrix in the 1980-81 season and tying Hendrix and Jennifer McFall for second on the single-game list. It was Savage's 11th double-double of the season.
"[Senior night] couldn't have gone any better, honestly," she said. "When we played North Texas at North Texas, I didn't come out with a lot of energy. I made an emphasis on doing that, and that's my specialty. I was going to get as many as I could.
"North Texas is one of the top offensive rebounding teams in the conference. We made an emphasis to stop them."
Savage was all over the boards from the opening tip, registering 15 first-half rebounds as Middle Tennessee built an early double-digit lead.
Her tenacity on the glass was nothing new. She's been one of the best rebounders in college basketball this season, racking up 326 to rank in the top 15 in the country and top 10 in offensive boards. Her 326 rebounds also put her in ninth on the program's single-season list, just two behind Jennifer McFall for eighth.
It's quite the accomplishment, considering in her first three seasons with the blue and white she only averaged 5.7 minutes per game and had a season high of 43 rebounds.
"It's been a long four years, but this night made it worth it all," Savage said. "I told myself I wasn't going to cry, but then they played the video after the game, and I cried.
"I felt a lot of love from my family and the fans. I'll remember this forever."
With Savage holding down the boards, sophomores Anastasia Hayes and Taylor Sutton did their part to lead the offense.
Hayes scored 12 of her team-high 24 points before halftime, and Sutton picked it up in the second half, draining three 3-pointers and scoring 11 of her 14 after halftime.
The Lady Raiders wore the Mean Green down underneath the basket, dominating the points in the paint 42-28.
"We had a great start and got out of the gates well," Head Coach Rick Insell said. "We kind of catapulted out of our win against WKU, and we kept our momentum going. Now, we have to find out about ourselves in the last game of the season."
Middle Tennessee seems to have found some rhythm at the most important time of the season. Thursday's win makes three in a row to go along with a 92-80 victory at UTEP and 108-103 double-overtime win against rival WKU.
The Lady Raiders will try to make it four in a row going into the Conference USA tournament when they travel to Charlotte Saturday for the regular-season finale. With a win, they'll clinch the league's fourth seed and a first-round bye in the tournament.
Middle Tennessee (20-9, 12-5) welcomed North Texas (11-18, 5-12) to the Murphy Center and sent its lone senior off with a double-digit victory, 74-63, and Savage showed why she's become quite the crowd favorite this season.
She scored 13 points, but most of her work came on the glass, where she gobbled up a career-high 25 rebounds, nine of them on the offensive end. She became just the third Lady Raider ever to record 25 boards in a game, finishing two off the program record set by Robin Hendrix in the 1980-81 season and tying Hendrix and Jennifer McFall for second on the single-game list. It was Savage's 11th double-double of the season.
"[Senior night] couldn't have gone any better, honestly," she said. "When we played North Texas at North Texas, I didn't come out with a lot of energy. I made an emphasis on doing that, and that's my specialty. I was going to get as many as I could.
"North Texas is one of the top offensive rebounding teams in the conference. We made an emphasis to stop them."
Savage was all over the boards from the opening tip, registering 15 first-half rebounds as Middle Tennessee built an early double-digit lead.
Her tenacity on the glass was nothing new. She's been one of the best rebounders in college basketball this season, racking up 326 to rank in the top 15 in the country and top 10 in offensive boards. Her 326 rebounds also put her in ninth on the program's single-season list, just two behind Jennifer McFall for eighth.
It's quite the accomplishment, considering in her first three seasons with the blue and white she only averaged 5.7 minutes per game and had a season high of 43 rebounds.
"It's been a long four years, but this night made it worth it all," Savage said. "I told myself I wasn't going to cry, but then they played the video after the game, and I cried.
"I felt a lot of love from my family and the fans. I'll remember this forever."
With Savage holding down the boards, sophomores Anastasia Hayes and Taylor Sutton did their part to lead the offense.
Hayes scored 12 of her team-high 24 points before halftime, and Sutton picked it up in the second half, draining three 3-pointers and scoring 11 of her 14 after halftime.
The Lady Raiders wore the Mean Green down underneath the basket, dominating the points in the paint 42-28.
"We had a great start and got out of the gates well," Head Coach Rick Insell said. "We kind of catapulted out of our win against WKU, and we kept our momentum going. Now, we have to find out about ourselves in the last game of the season."
Middle Tennessee seems to have found some rhythm at the most important time of the season. Thursday's win makes three in a row to go along with a 92-80 victory at UTEP and 108-103 double-overtime win against rival WKU.
The Lady Raiders will try to make it four in a row going into the Conference USA tournament when they travel to Charlotte Saturday for the regular-season finale. With a win, they'll clinch the league's fourth seed and a first-round bye in the tournament.
Facility tour – Stephen and Denise Smith Student-Athlete Performance Center
Wednesday, July 30
Rick Insell Conference USA Hall of Fame Announcement
Wednesday, July 09
2025 Blue Raider Blitz Media Panel
Thursday, July 03
MTSU Women's Basketball Coach Rick Insell interview at 2025 Blue Raider Blitz
Monday, June 30
