Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Tuesday, December 20
Houston, TX
12 p.m.
Middle Tennessee
-82,10 CUSA
74
at
68
Rice
-91,01 CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Middle Tenn.
14
8
25
27
74
Rice
17
10
18
23
68
Team Stats
MTSU
Rice
FG%
.462
.393
3FG%
.318
.391
FT%
.950
.882
RB
34
30
TO
12
11
STL
4
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
21
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
10
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
Middle Tennessee Hands Rice First Loss of the Season
12/20/2022 4:18:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Lady Raiders break away late to win C-USA opener
HOUSTON—Middle Tennessee women's basketball opened Conference USA with another statement win, beating Rice, 74-68 Tuesday afternoon.
Middle Tennessee (8-2, 1-0) scored 52 points in the second half after trailing Rice (9-1, 0-1) 22-27 at the break. Overall, the Lady Raiders hit 19 of 20 free throws, including shooting 15-of-16 in the second half.
Savannah Wheeler helped the Lady Raiders catch fire in the third, scoring nine points of a 13-4 run to give the Lady Raiders their first lead since the 6:23 mark in the second quarter. A run of 11 unanswered Lady Raider points gave the visitors their largest lead of the afternoon (60-53) with 4:24 to play.
Eight straight Owl free throws evened the score at 63-all at the 1:35 mark but a clutch 3-pointer for Alexis Whittington with 41 seconds left put MTSU back in front for good.
Courtney Whitson joined the 1,000-point club with 18 points, along with seven rebounds and two assists. The duo of Wheeler and Kseniya Malashka scored over 20 points. Malashka finished with 11 rebounds for her fourth career double-double while Wheeler dished five assists and made all 10 of her free throws.
By the Numbers
95: A season-best free throw percentage by the Lady Raiders. Middle Tennessee made its first 11 free throws and finished the day 19-of-20.
52: Points scored in the second half, which was the most points scored in a half since the Lady Raiders scored 52 points in the second half at Lipscomb Dec. 5, 2021.
10: Number of blocks for Kseniya Malashka in her last four games. She entered today leading Conference USA and inside the top 50 nationally in shot blocking.
Game Notes
Thoughts from Head Coach Rick Insell
"Really proud of our basketball team," Insell said. "We hung in there, executed, made shots when we needed to and hit our free throws down the stretch. When you do that, you're going to win big games. We won the rebounding battle 34-30, we hit 19 out of 20 free throws. Defensively, they've got a very high prolific offense. I think they're averaging right at 80 points a game and we held them to 68 points. We didn't have a good first half, but we played well enough that we got the win."
Up Next
After a week off, Middle Tennessee will be back in action vs. Charlotte Dec. 29. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. inside the Murphy Center.
Middle Tennessee (8-2, 1-0) scored 52 points in the second half after trailing Rice (9-1, 0-1) 22-27 at the break. Overall, the Lady Raiders hit 19 of 20 free throws, including shooting 15-of-16 in the second half.
Savannah Wheeler helped the Lady Raiders catch fire in the third, scoring nine points of a 13-4 run to give the Lady Raiders their first lead since the 6:23 mark in the second quarter. A run of 11 unanswered Lady Raider points gave the visitors their largest lead of the afternoon (60-53) with 4:24 to play.
Eight straight Owl free throws evened the score at 63-all at the 1:35 mark but a clutch 3-pointer for Alexis Whittington with 41 seconds left put MTSU back in front for good.
Courtney Whitson joined the 1,000-point club with 18 points, along with seven rebounds and two assists. The duo of Wheeler and Kseniya Malashka scored over 20 points. Malashka finished with 11 rebounds for her fourth career double-double while Wheeler dished five assists and made all 10 of her free throws.
By the Numbers
95: A season-best free throw percentage by the Lady Raiders. Middle Tennessee made its first 11 free throws and finished the day 19-of-20.
52: Points scored in the second half, which was the most points scored in a half since the Lady Raiders scored 52 points in the second half at Lipscomb Dec. 5, 2021.
10: Number of blocks for Kseniya Malashka in her last four games. She entered today leading Conference USA and inside the top 50 nationally in shot blocking.
Game Notes
- Middle Tennessee won its sixth straight game, which is the longest streak by the program since winning seven in a row from Dec. 17, 2020 to Jan. 15, 2021.
- Tuesday was the second time this season both Kseniya Malashka and Savannah Wheeler scored over 20 points in a game.
- MTSU improves to 120-35 vs. Conference USA schools under head coach Rick Insell.
- Courtney Whitson joined the program record books on a list of 32 other 1,000-point career scorers. The junior from Kingsport, Tenn., also played in her 100th straight game as a Lady Raider.
Thoughts from Head Coach Rick Insell
"Really proud of our basketball team," Insell said. "We hung in there, executed, made shots when we needed to and hit our free throws down the stretch. When you do that, you're going to win big games. We won the rebounding battle 34-30, we hit 19 out of 20 free throws. Defensively, they've got a very high prolific offense. I think they're averaging right at 80 points a game and we held them to 68 points. We didn't have a good first half, but we played well enough that we got the win."
Up Next
After a week off, Middle Tennessee will be back in action vs. Charlotte Dec. 29. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. inside the Murphy Center.
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
