Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
“This ain’t an upset. We’re the better team” — Lady Raiders patiently dominate Cardinals
12/5/2022 10:15:00 AM | Women's Basketball
“We have that IQ, we have that talent, we have all the pieces on paper. But we needed that toughness.”
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — In the middle of the third quarter on Sunday, maybe after Kseniya Malashka's three pointer that put Middle Tennessee up 40-25, maybe after Courtney Blakely's layup to go up 43-28 a few minutes later, Kyle Turnham said out loud what everyone in the Murphy Center was thinking on Sunday afternoon.
"This ain't an upset," said the Blue Raider Radio Network color commentator of MTSU's dominance over No. 18 Louisville. "We're the better team."
Sure, the ranking of Louisville in the top 25 in both the AP and the Coaches' poll, suggested the Lady Raiders' 67-49 win was a huge upset. The official NCAA March Madness account, and ESPNW, for that matter, confirmed as much later that evening, when they put out a graphic of their own highlighting the MTSU win.
And of course, even with a program with as much history and as much success as the Lady Raiders, it's hard to compete with a coach like Jeff Walz, who has taken the Cardinals to four Final Fours in his 16-year tenure at the helm of the program, most recently going to the Final Four just this past season.
But take away the colors on the jerseys on Sunday the national perception of both programs, one being a national title contender, the other one of the best mid majors in the country and ask yourself which team you think is which.
The team that made 42.3 percent of their shots beyond the arc? Or the one that made 19 percent? The one that got to the foul line 17 times, knocking down 14 shots? Or the one that only made 60 percent of its free throws?
The one that forced their opponent into 15 turnovers? Or the one who only forced 10?
"We have that IQ, we have that talent, we have all the pieces on paper, but we needed that toughness," Lady Raider Courtney Whitson said of her team's win. "We're not Little Middle, and I think we showed that tonight."
Like so many of Head Coach Rick Insell's best clubs, his team's success on Sunday started on the defensive end, where a combination of defensive talent with a relentless devotion to executing a defensive scout combined to devastate the Cardinals' offense. Hailey Van Lith, ranked No. 9 on ESPN'S Top 25 Players List ahead of the season, entered the Glass House averaging 21.0 points per game. She left it, after a night being face guarded by Courtney Blakely nearly the entire court, with only 12 points, after shooting 4-for-18 from the field.
Elsewhere on the court, while Blakely took over the Alexis Whittington role of guarding the best perimeter player with the graduate student out due to injury, everyone else filled their role. Helping in the paint, rotating on the drive, denying passing lanes. Even sagging off multiple Cardinals when they got the ball at the three-point lane, trusting their scout that said they had no shot from that range.
Insell gave a lot of credit his team, especially Blakely, for their execution on the defensive end, but also made sure to highlight Matt Insell and Tom Hodges, who combined on the scouting report for Louisville.
"What you've got to do when you have good assistant coaches is you've got to get out of the way (and) let them do their thing," the elder Insell said. "They've been living this scout for about six days. They had them pegged, had them pegged to the T on what they wanted to do."
Offensively, the steady hand that kept the Cardinals out of the hoop helped MTSU put the ball inside the hoop at the other end of the court, regularly getting wide open looks with smart ball movement both around the perimeter and inside-out, when players like Malashka or Blakely weren't getting to the rim themselves.
Savannah Wheeler, who led the Lady Raiders with 23 points while dishing out five assists, said that patience helped those shooting percentages rise.
"We were just completely steady the whole game," Wheeler said. "Playing teams like that, that's what we've got to do, just stay level-headed mentally, physically and just execute."
Her head coach, in true Rick Insell fashion, was a straight shooter when asked why his offense was effective on Sunday.
"When we run our offense and trust it, you're going to get wide open shooters," Insell said. "You've got to knock down some shots, and we knocked them down."
A few steps away, on the court on Zoom, Louisville head coach Jeff Walz clearly still had visions of Courtney Blakely dribbling out the clock, a stealing Merissah Russell' ankles in the process.
"Their No. 1 had made one three point shot all year," Walz said. "And she looked like she was Reggie Miller."
(Sidebar: Courtney Blakely has made four threes this year, not one. I'll grant Walz that he either a) was exaggerating for a hyperbolic effect or b) got Blakely's number (No. 1) mixed up with Anastasiia Boldyreva's (No. 2), who did enter the night 1-for-1 on the year from three until hitting a dagger near the end of the second quarter while completely unguarded, given that Blakely didn't make a three on Sunday.
But I'll also say this: I'm not sure he would've made either mistake if Matt Insell or Tom Hodges (or Kim Brewton or Nina Davis) were in charge of his scout).
Even with the dominance, the impact of such a win was evident right from the final buzzer, as the Blue Zoo took the court and the Lady Raiders embraced in the middle. Even the head coach couldn't wipe the smile off his face entering the press area post-game. A fact that was not lost on his veteran leader.
"We wanted this for Coach Insell," Whitson said. "This is why he stayed in coaching. People think he's crazy, this is why. It's this feeling right here."
"He's our leader, he's a fearless leader. He don't get excited much, but tonight he did, and we wanted it for him."
"This ain't an upset," said the Blue Raider Radio Network color commentator of MTSU's dominance over No. 18 Louisville. "We're the better team."
Sure, the ranking of Louisville in the top 25 in both the AP and the Coaches' poll, suggested the Lady Raiders' 67-49 win was a huge upset. The official NCAA March Madness account, and ESPNW, for that matter, confirmed as much later that evening, when they put out a graphic of their own highlighting the MTSU win.
That's a 𝐖𝐈𝐍 for Middle Tennessee! ⚡@MT_WBB upsets No. 18 Louisville 67-49#NCAAWBB pic.twitter.com/T6xmLfRpBD
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) December 5, 2022
Middle Tennessee pulls off the HUGE win over No. 18 Louisville 😱
— espnW (@espnW) December 5, 2022
📸 @MT_WBB pic.twitter.com/pEDJy5ZiHz
And of course, even with a program with as much history and as much success as the Lady Raiders, it's hard to compete with a coach like Jeff Walz, who has taken the Cardinals to four Final Fours in his 16-year tenure at the helm of the program, most recently going to the Final Four just this past season.
But take away the colors on the jerseys on Sunday the national perception of both programs, one being a national title contender, the other one of the best mid majors in the country and ask yourself which team you think is which.
The team that made 42.3 percent of their shots beyond the arc? Or the one that made 19 percent? The one that got to the foul line 17 times, knocking down 14 shots? Or the one that only made 60 percent of its free throws?
The one that forced their opponent into 15 turnovers? Or the one who only forced 10?
"We have that IQ, we have that talent, we have all the pieces on paper, but we needed that toughness," Lady Raider Courtney Whitson said of her team's win. "We're not Little Middle, and I think we showed that tonight."
Like so many of Head Coach Rick Insell's best clubs, his team's success on Sunday started on the defensive end, where a combination of defensive talent with a relentless devotion to executing a defensive scout combined to devastate the Cardinals' offense. Hailey Van Lith, ranked No. 9 on ESPN'S Top 25 Players List ahead of the season, entered the Glass House averaging 21.0 points per game. She left it, after a night being face guarded by Courtney Blakely nearly the entire court, with only 12 points, after shooting 4-for-18 from the field.
Elsewhere on the court, while Blakely took over the Alexis Whittington role of guarding the best perimeter player with the graduate student out due to injury, everyone else filled their role. Helping in the paint, rotating on the drive, denying passing lanes. Even sagging off multiple Cardinals when they got the ball at the three-point lane, trusting their scout that said they had no shot from that range.
Insell gave a lot of credit his team, especially Blakely, for their execution on the defensive end, but also made sure to highlight Matt Insell and Tom Hodges, who combined on the scouting report for Louisville.
"What you've got to do when you have good assistant coaches is you've got to get out of the way (and) let them do their thing," the elder Insell said. "They've been living this scout for about six days. They had them pegged, had them pegged to the T on what they wanted to do."
Offensively, the steady hand that kept the Cardinals out of the hoop helped MTSU put the ball inside the hoop at the other end of the court, regularly getting wide open looks with smart ball movement both around the perimeter and inside-out, when players like Malashka or Blakely weren't getting to the rim themselves.
Savannah Wheeler, who led the Lady Raiders with 23 points while dishing out five assists, said that patience helped those shooting percentages rise.
"We were just completely steady the whole game," Wheeler said. "Playing teams like that, that's what we've got to do, just stay level-headed mentally, physically and just execute."
Her head coach, in true Rick Insell fashion, was a straight shooter when asked why his offense was effective on Sunday.
"When we run our offense and trust it, you're going to get wide open shooters," Insell said. "You've got to knock down some shots, and we knocked them down."
A few steps away, on the court on Zoom, Louisville head coach Jeff Walz clearly still had visions of Courtney Blakely dribbling out the clock, a stealing Merissah Russell' ankles in the process.
"Their No. 1 had made one three point shot all year," Walz said. "And she looked like she was Reggie Miller."
.@cabblakely1 said RIP to the anks pic.twitter.com/jo9KiQg0ag
— Calvin Wetzel (@cwetzel31) December 5, 2022
(Sidebar: Courtney Blakely has made four threes this year, not one. I'll grant Walz that he either a) was exaggerating for a hyperbolic effect or b) got Blakely's number (No. 1) mixed up with Anastasiia Boldyreva's (No. 2), who did enter the night 1-for-1 on the year from three until hitting a dagger near the end of the second quarter while completely unguarded, given that Blakely didn't make a three on Sunday.
But I'll also say this: I'm not sure he would've made either mistake if Matt Insell or Tom Hodges (or Kim Brewton or Nina Davis) were in charge of his scout).
Even with the dominance, the impact of such a win was evident right from the final buzzer, as the Blue Zoo took the court and the Lady Raiders embraced in the middle. Even the head coach couldn't wipe the smile off his face entering the press area post-game. A fact that was not lost on his veteran leader.
"We wanted this for Coach Insell," Whitson said. "This is why he stayed in coaching. People think he's crazy, this is why. It's this feeling right here."
"He's our leader, he's a fearless leader. He don't get excited much, but tonight he did, and we wanted it for him."
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