Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Thursday, February 10
Norfolk, Va.
5:30 PM
Middle Tennessee
-165,83 CUSA
56
at
58
Old Dominion
-185,83 CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Middle Tenn.
11
9
19
17
56
Old Dominion
11
19
19
9
58
Team Stats
MTSU
ODU
FG%
.339
.413
3FG%
.350
.300
FT%
.688
.680
RB
40
30
TO
19
16
STL
10
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
11
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
Photo by: Matt Posey/MT Athletic Communications
Lady Raiders suffer heartbreaker at Old Dominion
2/10/2022 8:07:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MT falls 58-56 in road battle
NORFOLK, Va. – Two of the top defensive teams in the country regarding scoring defense collided here Thursday and the game played out as one may expect as Old Dominion survived a 58-56 triumph at Chartway Arena.
Middle Tennessee trailed by as many as 13 in the second half but battled all the way to tie the game, 56-56 on a Dor Saar stepback 3-pointer with 57 seconds remaining.
The Lady Raiders (16-5, 8-3) had three chances to win the game in the finals seconds but came up empty. Amari Young hit the second of two free throws to give the Monarchs (18-5, 8-3) a 57-56 lead with 34 seconds remaining.
Courtney Blakely's driving layup for the potential game winner was just off the mark with eight seconds remaining, but the ball went off an Old Dominion player and Middle Tennessee retained possession with 5.1 seconds remaining.
The Lady Raiders were unable to get the ball inbounds and turned it over to Old Dominion. Iggy Allen was fouled and hit the second of two free throws to push the lead to 58-56. The Lady Raiders had the final possession but couldn't get a shot off in the final five seconds.
"I'm proud of how the ladies battled back and gave themselves a chance to win the game," Middle Tennessee coach Rick Insell said. "There is no quit in this bunch, but we just didn't play well enough overall. We didn't protect the ball and we dug ourselves a big hole."
Old Dominion came into the game ranked ninth nationally and leading C-USA in scoring defense, allowing 52.7 points per game, while the Lady Raiders came in ranked 29th nationally and second in the league allowing 55.8.
Both teams found field goals tough to come by in a tough, physical game pitting two of the league's top contenders. As it turned out, both teams finished with an identical 19 field goals; however, in the end, the Monarchs used 17 points at the free-throw line to sneak out with a win.
Saar led the Lady Raiders with 15 points and added four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Courtney Whitson netted 13 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Kseniya Malashka also reached double figures with 11 and also had seven rebounds.
Anastasiia Boldyreva finished with eight rebounds and five rebounds. Blakely was instrumental in the comeback bid, supplying harassing defense. She had four points and a pair of steals.
Middle Tennessee got off to a good start, jumping out to an 11-4 lead on the second of three consecutive Boldyreva field goals with 2:16 remaining in the first quarter, but Old Dominion closed the frame on a 7-0 lead to even the score 11-11 after one stanza.
The Monarchs run didn't stop there. Old Dominion outscored the Lady Raiders 26-9 in the final 12:44 of the first half to take a 30-20 lead into the halftime locker room.
The Lady Raiders couldn't get in sync offensively in the first half. After jumping out to the 11-4 advantage they were 7-of-24 from the field the remainder of the first half for 13 percent.
Middle Tennessee will look to salvage a split on the road trip at Charlotte Sunday. Tipoff is noon (CT).
Middle Tennessee trailed by as many as 13 in the second half but battled all the way to tie the game, 56-56 on a Dor Saar stepback 3-pointer with 57 seconds remaining.
The Lady Raiders (16-5, 8-3) had three chances to win the game in the finals seconds but came up empty. Amari Young hit the second of two free throws to give the Monarchs (18-5, 8-3) a 57-56 lead with 34 seconds remaining.
Courtney Blakely's driving layup for the potential game winner was just off the mark with eight seconds remaining, but the ball went off an Old Dominion player and Middle Tennessee retained possession with 5.1 seconds remaining.
The Lady Raiders were unable to get the ball inbounds and turned it over to Old Dominion. Iggy Allen was fouled and hit the second of two free throws to push the lead to 58-56. The Lady Raiders had the final possession but couldn't get a shot off in the final five seconds.
"I'm proud of how the ladies battled back and gave themselves a chance to win the game," Middle Tennessee coach Rick Insell said. "There is no quit in this bunch, but we just didn't play well enough overall. We didn't protect the ball and we dug ourselves a big hole."
Old Dominion came into the game ranked ninth nationally and leading C-USA in scoring defense, allowing 52.7 points per game, while the Lady Raiders came in ranked 29th nationally and second in the league allowing 55.8.
Both teams found field goals tough to come by in a tough, physical game pitting two of the league's top contenders. As it turned out, both teams finished with an identical 19 field goals; however, in the end, the Monarchs used 17 points at the free-throw line to sneak out with a win.
Saar led the Lady Raiders with 15 points and added four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Courtney Whitson netted 13 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Kseniya Malashka also reached double figures with 11 and also had seven rebounds.
Anastasiia Boldyreva finished with eight rebounds and five rebounds. Blakely was instrumental in the comeback bid, supplying harassing defense. She had four points and a pair of steals.
Middle Tennessee got off to a good start, jumping out to an 11-4 lead on the second of three consecutive Boldyreva field goals with 2:16 remaining in the first quarter, but Old Dominion closed the frame on a 7-0 lead to even the score 11-11 after one stanza.
The Monarchs run didn't stop there. Old Dominion outscored the Lady Raiders 26-9 in the final 12:44 of the first half to take a 30-20 lead into the halftime locker room.
The Lady Raiders couldn't get in sync offensively in the first half. After jumping out to the 11-4 advantage they were 7-of-24 from the field the remainder of the first half for 13 percent.
Middle Tennessee will look to salvage a split on the road trip at Charlotte Sunday. Tipoff is noon (CT).
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