Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Friday, January 7
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
1:00 PM
Middle Tennessee
vs
Rice
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Middle Tennessee hosts Rice and North Texas
1/6/2022 2:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee women's basketball faces a critical and challenging pair of games this week against Rice and North Texas.
In a rematch of the last two Conference USA Tournament championship games, the Lady Raiders (9-3, 1-1 in C-USA) renew their rivalry with Rice (5-3) Jan. 7 at 1 p.m.
Sunday features a matchup with the team that tied for third with MT in the C-USA preseason poll in North Texas (6-4) at 12:30 p.m.
Both games will be at the Murphy Center.
Last time out - Jan. 1 at UTEP (L, 55-56) RECAP
Middle Tennessee erased an 11-point third quarter deficit, but saw its comeback efforts fall short in its first conference loss of the season.
Dor Saar finished with a game-high 17 points while Jalynn Gregory tallied 16 points. Alexis Whittington finished with six points, eight rebounds, six assists and three steals.
Putting Middle Tennessee on the map
How good has the Blue Raider defense been? The following is where Middle Tennessee ranks nationally in several categories.
Blue Raider notes
The Lady Raiders are 55-18 all-time against Texas schools, including 47-10 against the four C-USA schools located in the Lone Star state.
Home Court Advantage
Middle Tennessee is 4-0 at the Murphy Center this season. Over the past five seasons, the Lady Raiders are 44-15 at the Glass House.
MT is 196-41 at the Murphy Center under Rick Insell for an 83 percent winning ledger, which is actually above the overall home winning percentage.
All-time, the Blue Raiders are 472-126 at Murphy Center for an 79 percent winning ledger.
Scouting Rice
The Owls come in having their past three games either canceled or postponed. Rice's last game took place Dec. 16 at Sam Houston, in which the Owls won 74-64. The team stayed around the .500 mark for most of the season. Rice scores 68.6 points and gives up 62.5 points per game.
Statistically, Rice is one of the best defensive teams in the conference in two categories, ranking second behind MT in opponent 3-point percentage (21.9 percent) and second in blocked shots per game (3.88).
Individually, Ashlee Austin is the third top scorer in the conference with 19.4 points per contest. Destiny Jackson leads the league in assists per game with 5.14. Malia Fisher is first in blocked shots per game (2) and second in C-USA in rebound average, grabbing 9.5 boards a game.
Lindsay Edmonds is in her first season as head coach of the Owls after previously coaching at NC State.
All-time series
MT leads the series, 8-4 despite dropping four of the last five games.
Previewing North Texas
North Texas is 6-4 this season but has yet to play a conference game. The Mean Green last faced Baylor on Dec. 29 where they fell 65-86.
North Texas won four straight games from Nov. 26 - Dec. 13 until the streak was snapped in a 64-67 loss to Wichita State Dec. 17.
The Mean Green offense is high scoring and efficient, leading Conference USA in points per game (75.7), field goal percentage (43 percent) and 3-point field goal percentage (34.5 percent).
Jalie Mitchell is in her seventh year with her alma mater with a career record of 89-97. The Mean Green are coming off their best season under Mitchell in 2020-21, going 13-7 overall and 10-4 in C-USA action.
All-time series
MT is 23-4 all time against North Texas and has won the last 18 games in the series. The Lady Raiders are 12-1 at the Murphy Center against the Mean Green.
Promotions
The first 125 fans who bring a pack of socks to Section P during Sunday's game will receive a pair of tie-dye MT socks. Socks will be donated to the homeless
Options to follow the game
In a rematch of the last two Conference USA Tournament championship games, the Lady Raiders (9-3, 1-1 in C-USA) renew their rivalry with Rice (5-3) Jan. 7 at 1 p.m.
Sunday features a matchup with the team that tied for third with MT in the C-USA preseason poll in North Texas (6-4) at 12:30 p.m.
Both games will be at the Murphy Center.
Last time out - Jan. 1 at UTEP (L, 55-56) RECAP
Middle Tennessee erased an 11-point third quarter deficit, but saw its comeback efforts fall short in its first conference loss of the season.
Dor Saar finished with a game-high 17 points while Jalynn Gregory tallied 16 points. Alexis Whittington finished with six points, eight rebounds, six assists and three steals.
Putting Middle Tennessee on the map
How good has the Blue Raider defense been? The following is where Middle Tennessee ranks nationally in several categories.
- Third in the nation in opponent 3-point percentage (21.9 percent).
- Tied for 32nd in the country in scoring defense, holding opponents to 54.8 points per game.
- Alexis Whittington is tied for 26th in the country in steals with 33.
Blue Raider notes
- Middle Tennessee has made 18 consecutive postseason appearances.
- This season's roster includes five international players from five different countries.
- Five of the 11 non-conference opponents were NCAA Tournament teams last season: VCU, Marquette, Mercer, Troy and Belmont. MT went 8-2 in the non-conference portion of the season.
- Jalynn Gregory has been named Conference USA Freshman of the Week twice. The Lafayette, Tenn. native is putting up 11.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, including scoring double figures in her last five games and eight times in 12 games.
- The Lady Raiders held five of their first seven opponents, including their first four, to less than 50 points, marking the only time in program history that a MT team has held four straight foes to less than 50 points during any stretch.
- MT's bench has been strong this season with the Lady Raider bench averaging 17.7 ppg., which is almost three times its average last season.
The Lady Raiders are 55-18 all-time against Texas schools, including 47-10 against the four C-USA schools located in the Lone Star state.
Home Court Advantage
Middle Tennessee is 4-0 at the Murphy Center this season. Over the past five seasons, the Lady Raiders are 44-15 at the Glass House.
MT is 196-41 at the Murphy Center under Rick Insell for an 83 percent winning ledger, which is actually above the overall home winning percentage.
All-time, the Blue Raiders are 472-126 at Murphy Center for an 79 percent winning ledger.
Scouting Rice
The Owls come in having their past three games either canceled or postponed. Rice's last game took place Dec. 16 at Sam Houston, in which the Owls won 74-64. The team stayed around the .500 mark for most of the season. Rice scores 68.6 points and gives up 62.5 points per game.
Statistically, Rice is one of the best defensive teams in the conference in two categories, ranking second behind MT in opponent 3-point percentage (21.9 percent) and second in blocked shots per game (3.88).
Individually, Ashlee Austin is the third top scorer in the conference with 19.4 points per contest. Destiny Jackson leads the league in assists per game with 5.14. Malia Fisher is first in blocked shots per game (2) and second in C-USA in rebound average, grabbing 9.5 boards a game.
Lindsay Edmonds is in her first season as head coach of the Owls after previously coaching at NC State.
All-time series
MT leads the series, 8-4 despite dropping four of the last five games.
Previewing North Texas
North Texas is 6-4 this season but has yet to play a conference game. The Mean Green last faced Baylor on Dec. 29 where they fell 65-86.
North Texas won four straight games from Nov. 26 - Dec. 13 until the streak was snapped in a 64-67 loss to Wichita State Dec. 17.
The Mean Green offense is high scoring and efficient, leading Conference USA in points per game (75.7), field goal percentage (43 percent) and 3-point field goal percentage (34.5 percent).
Jalie Mitchell is in her seventh year with her alma mater with a career record of 89-97. The Mean Green are coming off their best season under Mitchell in 2020-21, going 13-7 overall and 10-4 in C-USA action.
All-time series
MT is 23-4 all time against North Texas and has won the last 18 games in the series. The Lady Raiders are 12-1 at the Murphy Center against the Mean Green.
Promotions
The first 125 fans who bring a pack of socks to Section P during Sunday's game will receive a pair of tie-dye MT socks. Socks will be donated to the homeless
Options to follow the game
- Unable to make it to this weekend's games? Friday's game will be streamed on ESPN+ and Sunday's game is on CUSA.TV. Listen to both games on WGNS 1450 AM, 100.5 FM, 101.9 FM or GoBlueRaiders.com/Watch.
Players Mentioned
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