Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Friday, January 15
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
6:00 PM
Middle Tennessee
-73,50 CUSA
78
vs
58
Southern Miss
-25,05 CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Southern Miss.
20
9
17
12
58
Middle Tennessee
24
17
19
18
78
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Lady Raiders victorious in Insell's 500th game
1/15/2021 8:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MT wins seventh straight
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Rick Insell's 500th game as head coach at his alma mater ended in sweet victory Friday night.
Middle Tennessee (7-3, 5-0) welcomed Conference USA foe Southern Miss (2-5, 0-5) to the Murphy Center and left a 78-58 winner. It was the 500th conference win all-time for the program and seventh in a row this season after starting 0-3, the team's longest winning streak since 2016.
"I'm pretty happy with the play of our players," Insell said. "We got a win, and that's all it amounts to. … I would like to say I'll get 500 more, but that's not going to happen. I'll tell you that right now."
The Lady Raiders historically have had a tough time in the series, going into the night trailing the Golden Eagles 8-5 in 13 meetings.
They didn't have as much of a problem Friday.
After both teams battled back and forth in the first quarter, MT turned a four-point advantage at the end of the first quarter into a 41-29 halftime lead. That grew to as many as 23 in the second half.
"Our shots weren't falling like they usually do, but we were able to do other things and on the defensive end got a few steals and got out in transition," junior Anastasia Hayes said. "We forgot about our missed shots and just stayed in it."
It was easy to see how Middle Tennessee built a big lead. It did all the little things well.
The Lady Raiders didn't necessarily shoot the lights out of the gym — they only hit 24-of-71 shots (34%) and 7-of-26 from 3-point range (27%). What they did was take care of the ball, only turning it over two times, breaking the program record, and capitalizing both on second-chance points (18) and points off turnovers (15), grabbing 16 offensive rebounds and forcing 20 takeaways.
"I don't know if I've ever had a game where we've only had two turnovers," Insell said. "We handled the ball really well."
Hayes, the nation's leading scorer going into the night averaging 28.6 points per game, shook off a slow start to score a game-high 26, including a 10-for-13 showing from the free-throw line. She also had six steals, a career high.
Middle Tennessee used a team effort to push the lead, though. All eight players who saw the floor scored, including 15 from senior Deja Cage and 10 from sophomore Aislynn Hayes, who added 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season.
Sophomore Courtney Whitson scored nine points in just 18 minutes. She missed most of the second half because she picked up her fourth foul 20 seconds into the third quarter.
When Whitson was forced out, some bench heroes stepped in admirably for MT. Freshman Jada Grannum saw action on her home floor for the first time, scoring four points and grabbing four rebounds in 12 minutes, while fellow freshman Susha Kozlova had two points and three rebounds in seven minutes.
Junior Amanda Whittington, though undersized, stepped into the post and held her own with a block and added two 3-pointers on the offensive end for six points.
"I thought when Courtney was in there, she gave us quality, quality minutes," Insell said. "I thought our freshmen did a good job. We just have to slow down when we get it under there and finish a little better. … Amanda has been giving us some great minutes, too."
The Lady Raiders will try to extend their streak to eight wins in a row Saturday when Southern Miss comes back to the Murphy Center for a 4 p.m. tipoff.
"We have to pick up the little things that we did wrong," Anastasia Hayes said. "We know their system and what we have to do tomorrow to make sure we come out strong."
Middle Tennessee (7-3, 5-0) welcomed Conference USA foe Southern Miss (2-5, 0-5) to the Murphy Center and left a 78-58 winner. It was the 500th conference win all-time for the program and seventh in a row this season after starting 0-3, the team's longest winning streak since 2016.
"I'm pretty happy with the play of our players," Insell said. "We got a win, and that's all it amounts to. … I would like to say I'll get 500 more, but that's not going to happen. I'll tell you that right now."
The Lady Raiders historically have had a tough time in the series, going into the night trailing the Golden Eagles 8-5 in 13 meetings.
They didn't have as much of a problem Friday.
After both teams battled back and forth in the first quarter, MT turned a four-point advantage at the end of the first quarter into a 41-29 halftime lead. That grew to as many as 23 in the second half.
"Our shots weren't falling like they usually do, but we were able to do other things and on the defensive end got a few steals and got out in transition," junior Anastasia Hayes said. "We forgot about our missed shots and just stayed in it."
It was easy to see how Middle Tennessee built a big lead. It did all the little things well.
The Lady Raiders didn't necessarily shoot the lights out of the gym — they only hit 24-of-71 shots (34%) and 7-of-26 from 3-point range (27%). What they did was take care of the ball, only turning it over two times, breaking the program record, and capitalizing both on second-chance points (18) and points off turnovers (15), grabbing 16 offensive rebounds and forcing 20 takeaways.
"I don't know if I've ever had a game where we've only had two turnovers," Insell said. "We handled the ball really well."
Hayes, the nation's leading scorer going into the night averaging 28.6 points per game, shook off a slow start to score a game-high 26, including a 10-for-13 showing from the free-throw line. She also had six steals, a career high.
Middle Tennessee used a team effort to push the lead, though. All eight players who saw the floor scored, including 15 from senior Deja Cage and 10 from sophomore Aislynn Hayes, who added 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season.
Sophomore Courtney Whitson scored nine points in just 18 minutes. She missed most of the second half because she picked up her fourth foul 20 seconds into the third quarter.
When Whitson was forced out, some bench heroes stepped in admirably for MT. Freshman Jada Grannum saw action on her home floor for the first time, scoring four points and grabbing four rebounds in 12 minutes, while fellow freshman Susha Kozlova had two points and three rebounds in seven minutes.
Junior Amanda Whittington, though undersized, stepped into the post and held her own with a block and added two 3-pointers on the offensive end for six points.
"I thought when Courtney was in there, she gave us quality, quality minutes," Insell said. "I thought our freshmen did a good job. We just have to slow down when we get it under there and finish a little better. … Amanda has been giving us some great minutes, too."
The Lady Raiders will try to extend their streak to eight wins in a row Saturday when Southern Miss comes back to the Murphy Center for a 4 p.m. tipoff.
"We have to pick up the little things that we did wrong," Anastasia Hayes said. "We know their system and what we have to do tomorrow to make sure we come out strong."
Team Stats
USM
MT
FG%
.407
.338
3FG%
.188
.269
FT%
.611
.793
RB
45
40
TO
20
2
STL
1
12
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
26
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
10
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
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