NCAA Tournament preview: MT set to take on Lady Vols

AUSTIN, Texas — The NCAA Women's Basketball Committee created a juicy matchup in the upper-right quadrant for basketball fans in the state of Tennessee.

Middle Tennessee (17-7), the No. 14 seed in the River Walk Region, will take on three-seed Tennessee (16-7) in the first round at 1 p.m. CT Sunday at the University of Texas' Frank Erwin Center.

The game will be broadcast nationally on ABC.

"As it started winding down and I saw that there was a chance we would be playing Tennessee, probably the first thing I thought about was Pat [Summit], if you want to know the truth," MT head coach Rick Insell said. "I thought Pat would've gotten a laugh about this."

History between the in-state foes

Despite being less than three hours apart — about 165 miles — and having two of the most loyal fanbases in women's college basketball, the Lady Raiders and Lady Vols don't have as much of a history as one might expect.

They haven't squared off on the hardwood since Nov. 8, 2013 — a 67-57 Tennessee win — and have only faced each other 14 times. Middle Tennessee is winless in the series.

If it was up to Insell, the two teams would meet regularly.

"We just need to try to get together," he said. "It would be better for the game of women's basketball in the state of Tennessee if we could get together and play."

The Lady Vols have beaten MT by an average of 17.6 points in the 14 games, though the Lady Raiders have kept the last two quite competitive. They went to Knoxville and lost in overtime 88-81 in 2012 and kept the low-scoring game close in 2013, their last meeting in Murfreesboro.

This is the second time the teams have met in the NCAA Tournament. The first was a 70-52 UT win in 1984. The Lady Raiders, led by coach Larry Joe Inman, were Ohio Valley champions and a No. 15 seed. They finished 19-10.

Scouting UT

Tennessee finished third in the SEC this season and earned a bye into the quarterfinals of the conference tournament, beating Ole Miss 77-72 to advance to the semifinals where eventual champion South Carolina was waiting.

A 67-52 loss to the Gamecocks ended the Lady Vols' conference tournament title hopes.

Senior Rennia Davis, an Honorable Mention All-American, leads UT in scoring (17.2 points per game) and rebounding (8.8 per game), ranking ninth in the SEC in both categories. The 6-foot-2 guard/forward doesn't shoot it well from the 3-point line — she leaves that to second-leading scorer Rae Burrell (16.8 points per game), a junior who's made 41.3% of her shots from deep this season.

The Lady Vols are long, with their shortest regular rotation player being Burrell at 6-foot-1. As you would expect, they're 18th in the country in blocks per game, with 6-foot-5 center Tamari Key ranking third in the SEC (2.8 per game).

If there's one thing that nags at Tennessee, it's turnovers. It finished last in the SEC in turnover margin and ranks 212th in the country in turnovers committed and 268th in turnovers forced.

Lady Raiders rolling

After going into the Conference USA Tournament, a little up and down, winning two of their last four games after a short COVID-19 shutdown, MT rounded into form to win the league title.

The Lady Raiders won the East Division and used the one seed to advance past LA Tech and UTEP into the finals against Rice, the one seed from the West.

Three Raiders scored in double figures against the Owls, led by an outstanding performance from sophomore forward Courtney Whitson. She helped stretch the floor, tying a C-USA championship game record by hitting 6-of-12 3-pointers, and finished with 22 points.

Whitson, the team's leading rebounder at 7.8 per game, and fellow forward Rellah Boothe could be key against UT's big shot blockers, just like they were against Rice's 6-foot-9 center Nancy Mulkey.

"They've got two young ladies in particular who sit in the paint, and it will be tough for our kids to attack the glass," Insell said. "I will say this, we're going to do our thing. We're not going into this game and looking at different strategies. We're going to dance with what brought us."

The Lady Raiders have proven this season they love to shoot the ball from deep, making 9.2 treys per game to rank 11th in the country.

If they can knock down the deep ball with regularity against the Lady Vols, who rank middle in the road in the country in 3-point percentage defense (31.4%), that will help open up the lane for former UT guard and Murfreesboro native Anastasia Hayes.

Hayes is second in the country in scoring (26.5 points per game) and also leads C-USA in total steals, assists and minutes played.

She'll be extra motivated to have a good night against Tennessee, where she spent her freshman season and earned SEC 6th Woman of the Year in 2017-18.

"To be here is just a blessing," she said. "Our guard play will be critical, and our defense putting pressure on the ball. … Everything is coming together at once. We all want it really bad and we're playing really hard and good together."

Feels good to be dancing again

No matter the opponent, MT is glad to be dancing again. Its last appearance in the NCAA Tournament was in 2016.

"We're so happy just to get the chance to be here and to play a really good team," Hayes said. "Coach has said all season to take every practice and game as your last, because you never know. … I'm just glad we're here."

This is the Lady Raiders' 19th trip the tourney all-time and 10th under Insell. They've been in the postseason 17 straight years — excluding 2020 when there was no postseason — including 12 NCAA Tournaments and five WNITs.

Follow Us
Be sure to follow the Lady Raiders @MT_WBB on Twitter, @mt_wbb on Instagram, and MTSU Women's Basketball on Facebook for news and updates regarding everything Lady Raiders basketball.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Rellah Boothe

Anastasia Hayes

Courtney Whitson

Middle Tennesee State University Athletics