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Lady Raiders improve to 3-0 with win against Vanderbilt
11/15/2021 9:50:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Malashka paces triumph with 17 points in debut
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee women's basketball earned a big non-conference win Monday night at the Murphy Center, riding the momentum of three Lady Raiders scoring in double figures to sneak past Vanderbilt 55-46.
The top notch defense that has defined head coach Rick Insell's squad thus far this season once again made its presence felt. The Lady Raiders (3-0) held the Commodores (1-2) to just over 30 percent shooting from the field, including a 2-11 clip from beyond the arc.
"We're smart," Insell said of his team's defense. "We haven't got a lot of lateral quickness, but we've got great IQ and that's what we're having to hang our hat on."
Ksenyia Malashka led the Lady Raiders with 17 points in her MT debut. The transfer from VCU missed the first two games of the season due to injury, but dominated in the paint, using her elite post moves to shoot 67 percent from the field (8-12) while hauling in six rebounds.
"I was getting ready for that game not yesterday or today when I got cleared from injury," Malashka said. "I was getting ready for that game when I transferred here in January."
Courtney Whitson played every single second of the game, scoring 15 points, all of them coming on three pointers while earning two steals. Alexis Whittington, who also played all 40 minutes of the game, led the Blue Raiders with five steals on the night, as Vanderbilt turned the ball over 23 times.
Dor Saar scored 12 points after starting at point guard, leading the team in rebounds alongside Jaylnn Gregory (seven rebounds each). The Ma'Anit, Israel native also led the team in assists, dishing out five dimes during the contest.
Monday night was a special treat for fans of women's basketball in the mid-state, as seven players from area high schools checked into the game for either the Commodores or Lady Raiders. A large crowd of 4,510 fans of both Vanderbilt and Middle Tennessee gave the game great energy down the stretch that the players clearly fed off of.
"I couldn't sleep last night," Whitson said. "That was a huge win for us. They had a bunch of kids from Murfreesboro that I've known my whole life, been around them, played with them. It kind of makes things come full circle."
Insell said he hoped games like this would continue to happen in the future, because they're good for the brand of women's basketball in the area.
"Middle Tennessee is a hot bed," Insell said. "You're going to have great players, A, AA, AAA all the way through. You saw that crowd tonight, they brought people, we brought people. That's how you grow women's basketball."
Middle Tennessee led 16-10 after a fast paced first quarter in which the Lady Raiders led wire to wire. MT's advantage on the boards was key, as the Lady Raiders doubled the Commodores rebound total in the quarter, 12-6. Dor Saar led all scorers with seven points in the opening 10 minutes.
The Commodores made a run back into contention in the second quarter, outpacing the Lady Raiders ever so slightly to cut their lead to 27-24 at the break. Vanderbilt's attacking of the rim paid off in the first 20 minutes, as 12 Middle Tenneseee fouls sent Vanderbilt to the foul line many times through the opening two quarters. The Commodores drained 11-of-12 attempts from the charity stripe to stay in the game at the half.
"(Middle Tennessee is) really physical, and I think that puts a lot of pressure on the referees," Vanderbilt head coach Shea Ralph said, noting she was pleased they took advantage of that physicality to get the charity stripe 16 times before the end of the game. "When you cut, when you're going into the lane, they're bumping you so that it makes some of the offensive sets or cuts or screens harder to make because you're bumped off your line. But they're really good at it."
The Lady Raiders came out of the locker room on a mission in the third quarter, stretching their lead to nine points by the end of the quarter with a 39-30 lead. Vanderbilt managed to attempt just nine shots in the third quarter, while Middle Tennessee attempted 16 shots, drilling two three pointers in the process.
Malashka helped MT ice the game in the fourth quarter, scoring 11 points in the final ten minutes, all with four personal fouls, to help the Lady Raiders put the game out of reach in the closing moments.
MT will have its second road game of the season next Monday, traveling to Cookeville, Tenn. to battle with Tennessee Tech ahead of the team's Thanksgiving weekend trip to the Daytona Beach Invitational.
"I want to go to Florida and be 4-0," Insell smiled at the end of the night. "And hang out with my grandson down there."
