Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Saturday, December 31
Bowling Green, KY
2 p.m.
Middle Tennessee
at
WKU
Lady Raiders Take On Hilltoppers on New Year's Eve
12/30/2022 4:04:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Bowling Green, KY – Saturday is is rivalry day as Middle Tennessee women's basketball takes on Western Kentucky on New Year's Eve at 2 p.m. inside E.A. Diddle Arena.
Both teams have started off conference play on positive notes as the Lady Raiders are 2-0 while the Hilltoppers defeated Rice Dec. 29 in Houston.
The game will be broadcasted on the Blue Raider Network and CUSA.TV.
LAST TIME OUT
The Middle Tennessee women's basketball team found its groove in the second quarter against Charlotte and never looked back in a dominant 71-46 win in the Lady Raiders final home game of 2022 at the Murphy Center on Thursday night.
The MTSU defense forced 20 turnovers while holding the 49ers under 40 percent shooting.
After trailing 16-11 after the first quarter, the Lady Raiders (9-2, 2-0 C-USA) raced into the locker room at halftime on a 15-2 run, resulting in a 31-23 lead after successfully attacking the 49er defense in the second quarter. Kseniya Malashka paced all scorers with 13 points at the break, taking advantage of slow feet in the Charlotte paint to get to the rim.
The 49ers (5-6, 1-1 C-USA) would hang around in the third quarter, only dropping that frame by two points thanks to a pair of threes. Charlotte would get blitzed off the court in the game's final four minutes, turning the ball over seven times leading to 11 MTSU points as the Lady Raiders left no doubt, winning the final quarter 23-8 to put an exclamation point on the end of 2022 in the Glass House.
Malashka was excellent as usual off the bench, scoring 22 points while hauling in eight rebounds and swatting three blocks. Courtney Whitson turned it on the second half, making six of her nine shots from the field in the game's final 20 minutes to score 17 points, earning her a double-double with her team-leading 10 rebounds, including five offensive boards. Alexis Whittington was the only other Lady Raider in double figures, scoring a season-high 16 points thanks to a 3-for-4 night beyond the arc and a 5-for-6 evening at the free throw line.
ON THE COURT
Stat Leaders:
Points – Kseniya Malashka (16.6 PPG)
Rebounds - Courtney Whitson (8.3 RPG)
Assists - Savannah Wheeler (3.7 APG)
Steals - Jalynn Gregory (2.1 SPG)
LADY RAIDER NOTES
SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
Both teams have started off conference play on positive notes as the Lady Raiders are 2-0 while the Hilltoppers defeated Rice Dec. 29 in Houston.
The game will be broadcasted on the Blue Raider Network and CUSA.TV.
LAST TIME OUT
The Middle Tennessee women's basketball team found its groove in the second quarter against Charlotte and never looked back in a dominant 71-46 win in the Lady Raiders final home game of 2022 at the Murphy Center on Thursday night.
The MTSU defense forced 20 turnovers while holding the 49ers under 40 percent shooting.
After trailing 16-11 after the first quarter, the Lady Raiders (9-2, 2-0 C-USA) raced into the locker room at halftime on a 15-2 run, resulting in a 31-23 lead after successfully attacking the 49er defense in the second quarter. Kseniya Malashka paced all scorers with 13 points at the break, taking advantage of slow feet in the Charlotte paint to get to the rim.
The 49ers (5-6, 1-1 C-USA) would hang around in the third quarter, only dropping that frame by two points thanks to a pair of threes. Charlotte would get blitzed off the court in the game's final four minutes, turning the ball over seven times leading to 11 MTSU points as the Lady Raiders left no doubt, winning the final quarter 23-8 to put an exclamation point on the end of 2022 in the Glass House.
Malashka was excellent as usual off the bench, scoring 22 points while hauling in eight rebounds and swatting three blocks. Courtney Whitson turned it on the second half, making six of her nine shots from the field in the game's final 20 minutes to score 17 points, earning her a double-double with her team-leading 10 rebounds, including five offensive boards. Alexis Whittington was the only other Lady Raider in double figures, scoring a season-high 16 points thanks to a 3-for-4 night beyond the arc and a 5-for-6 evening at the free throw line.
ON THE COURT
Stat Leaders:
Points – Kseniya Malashka (16.6 PPG)
Rebounds - Courtney Whitson (8.3 RPG)
Assists - Savannah Wheeler (3.7 APG)
Steals - Jalynn Gregory (2.1 SPG)
LADY RAIDER NOTES
- MTSU is 121-35 vs. C-USA members since joining the league prior to the 2013-14 season. The 121 wins are the most of any league member during this span.
- Since receiving her diploma on Dec. 10, Kseniya Malashka has been on a tear. The redshirt senior, who graduated with a degree in business administration, has averaged 19.3 points over her last four games.
- The Lady Raiders are 21st in the latest NET ratings, ranked above any other program in Conference USA. NET rankings take into account game results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin, net offensive and defensive efficiency and quality of wins and losses.
- Winners of seven straight with six wins coming in December, the Lady Raiders are looking to cap off a perfect month for the first time since January of 2014. Led by head coach Rick Insell, the Lady Raiders went 7-0 that month as part of a 17-game winning streak.
SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
- WKU lost five of its first six games of the season, but heads into Saturday's matchup winners of three of its past four games. The Hilltoppers opened conference play with a 79-74 win over Rice in Houston Dec. 29.
- WKU leads the conference and sits in the top 25 nationally in both steals per game (11.9) and 3-point attempts per game (27.2). The Hilltoppers are forcing 20.8 turnovers per game, which is second in C-USA.
- Individually, Jaylin Foster leads the team in scoring average (11.2), rebounding (6.2 per game), steals (23) and blocks (three). Hope Sivori has made a team-best 19 3-pointers.
- The rivalry between Middle Tennessee and WKU dates back to 1977 as the Lady Raiders lead the all-time series 38-32. The two programs split the season series in 2021-22 with MTSU defeating WKU 71-64 at the Glass House Jan. 29, 2022, but the Hilltoppers responding to win 97-93 in Bowling Green Feb. 26, 2022.
Players Mentioned
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