Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Thursday, February 17
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
6:00 PM
Middle Tennessee
-185,103 CUSA
63
vs
49
FIU
-1211,48 CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
FIU
16
6
14
13
49
Middle Tenn.
20
16
12
15
63
Team Stats
FIU
MTSU
FG%
.346
.453
3FG%
.267
.280
FT%
.750
.533
RB
23
41
TO
14
18
STL
7
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
7
3FGM
5
FTM
4
Pts
21
FGM
10
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
C
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
Photo by: Matt Posey/MT Athletic Communications
Fab frosh pace Lady Raiders past FIU
2/17/2022 9:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Boldyreva, Gregory combine for 44 points
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee women's basketball rode two dominant freshman performances to a C-USA win on Thursday night, defeating FIU 63-49 in the Murphy Center to stay undefeated at home this season.
Jalynn Gregory scored 23 points behind five made 3-pointers with six rebounds for the Blue Raiders (18-5, 10-3 C-USA), while Anastasiia Boldyreva scored 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting, adding seven boards and five blocked shots against the Panthers (12-11, 4-8 C-USA) to her effort.
"It was a game we needed to have, and now you can see why we got beat down there. They're a tough, very aggressive team," head coach Rick Insell said. "I don't think anybody played a real good game to be honest with you. Except the two freshmen. Jalynn Gregory carried us early and Anastasiia carried us late."
Gregory's long-range shooting paced MT in the first half, as she scored 21 of MT's 36 points in the opening 20 minutes. While Boldyreva went 5-for-6 from the field in the fourth quarter to help the Lady Raiders ice the game.
"After (Gregory) hit that second three, I said, 'this is going to be one of them nights,'" Insell said regarding his starting wing. As for the Russian international, he added: "How many times did she drive tonight from that front court and lay it up and score? I don't know if I've ever seen a young lady that size that can do the things she's doing."
This was the first game since MT's win over Rice on Jan. 7 that Gregory scored at least 10 points, and the first time in four games the freshman made a 3-pointer. A slump that the Lafayette, Tenn. native was very happy to snap out of.
"That's what Coach Matt (Insell) kept telling me in practice," Gregory said. "I'd still been struggling to knock down shots. And he's like 'once you see one go in, you're going to see the rest of them go in.' Knocking down those shots just really helped (in) saying that I'm out of that slump."
Thursday was the third time in four games and the fifth time in seven games that Boldyreva scored at least 14 points. Her five blocks were a career high and pushed her up to seventh in MT history in single season blocks (38).
"I was a little surprised to score so much," Boldyreva said humbly. "At the same time, I knew that I had to score because in some positions, they (played) loose and I knew I needed to score there."
The win over FIU is the eighth time this season MT has held their opponent under 50 points. The single season record in that category is 11 times in one season.
At the end of the first quarter, MT held a 20-16 lead after leading by as much as 10 points earlier in the quarter. Gregory led the way for the Lady Raiders with 11 points after making four of her first five shots to open the first ten minutes of the game. But the Panthers rallied from 18-8 to cut MT's lead to four thanks to their full court pressure on defense.
The Lady Raiders responded strongly in the second quarter, holding FIU to just six points in the frame to take a 36-22 lead into the locker room at the half. MT absolutely dominated the boards in the game's first 20 minutes, out rebounding the Panthers 23-7, including a 14-2 margin in the second quarter. Gregory added 10 points in the second quarter to finish the first half with 21 points, just six-points off of her game career high.
FIU would cut ever so slightly into that lead in the third quarter, with MT entering the final ten minutes of the game holding a 48-36 advantage. The Lady Raiders only shot the ball nine times from the field in the third quarter but turned the Panthers over six times in the quarter to stop FIU from cutting any further than two points into MT's halftime advantage.
MT iced a game that they never trailed with a 15-13 advantage in the fourth quarter. Boldyreva scored 11 of the Lady Raiders' 15 fourth quarter points to help Middle Tennessee get to 10 conference wins for the 19th straight season.
The Lady Raiders are back in action on Saturday against Florida Atlantic in the team's annual Play4Kay game to support breast cancer research. MT will wear their pink alternate jerseys against the Owls. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. central.
Jalynn Gregory scored 23 points behind five made 3-pointers with six rebounds for the Blue Raiders (18-5, 10-3 C-USA), while Anastasiia Boldyreva scored 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting, adding seven boards and five blocked shots against the Panthers (12-11, 4-8 C-USA) to her effort.
"It was a game we needed to have, and now you can see why we got beat down there. They're a tough, very aggressive team," head coach Rick Insell said. "I don't think anybody played a real good game to be honest with you. Except the two freshmen. Jalynn Gregory carried us early and Anastasiia carried us late."
Gregory's long-range shooting paced MT in the first half, as she scored 21 of MT's 36 points in the opening 20 minutes. While Boldyreva went 5-for-6 from the field in the fourth quarter to help the Lady Raiders ice the game.
"After (Gregory) hit that second three, I said, 'this is going to be one of them nights,'" Insell said regarding his starting wing. As for the Russian international, he added: "How many times did she drive tonight from that front court and lay it up and score? I don't know if I've ever seen a young lady that size that can do the things she's doing."
This was the first game since MT's win over Rice on Jan. 7 that Gregory scored at least 10 points, and the first time in four games the freshman made a 3-pointer. A slump that the Lafayette, Tenn. native was very happy to snap out of.
"That's what Coach Matt (Insell) kept telling me in practice," Gregory said. "I'd still been struggling to knock down shots. And he's like 'once you see one go in, you're going to see the rest of them go in.' Knocking down those shots just really helped (in) saying that I'm out of that slump."
Thursday was the third time in four games and the fifth time in seven games that Boldyreva scored at least 14 points. Her five blocks were a career high and pushed her up to seventh in MT history in single season blocks (38).
"I was a little surprised to score so much," Boldyreva said humbly. "At the same time, I knew that I had to score because in some positions, they (played) loose and I knew I needed to score there."
The win over FIU is the eighth time this season MT has held their opponent under 50 points. The single season record in that category is 11 times in one season.
At the end of the first quarter, MT held a 20-16 lead after leading by as much as 10 points earlier in the quarter. Gregory led the way for the Lady Raiders with 11 points after making four of her first five shots to open the first ten minutes of the game. But the Panthers rallied from 18-8 to cut MT's lead to four thanks to their full court pressure on defense.
The Lady Raiders responded strongly in the second quarter, holding FIU to just six points in the frame to take a 36-22 lead into the locker room at the half. MT absolutely dominated the boards in the game's first 20 minutes, out rebounding the Panthers 23-7, including a 14-2 margin in the second quarter. Gregory added 10 points in the second quarter to finish the first half with 21 points, just six-points off of her game career high.
FIU would cut ever so slightly into that lead in the third quarter, with MT entering the final ten minutes of the game holding a 48-36 advantage. The Lady Raiders only shot the ball nine times from the field in the third quarter but turned the Panthers over six times in the quarter to stop FIU from cutting any further than two points into MT's halftime advantage.
MT iced a game that they never trailed with a 15-13 advantage in the fourth quarter. Boldyreva scored 11 of the Lady Raiders' 15 fourth quarter points to help Middle Tennessee get to 10 conference wins for the 19th straight season.
The Lady Raiders are back in action on Saturday against Florida Atlantic in the team's annual Play4Kay game to support breast cancer research. MT will wear their pink alternate jerseys against the Owls. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. central.
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