Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Thursday, February 24
Huntington, WV
5:00 PM
Middle Tennessee
-205,123 CUSA
65
at
57
Marshall
-1312,88 CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Middle Tenn.
25
9
16
15
65
Marshall
14
13
18
12
57
Team Stats
MTSU
Marsh
FG%
.422
.400
3FG%
.393
.269
FT%
.762
.833
RB
32
27
TO
15
16
STL
7
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
6
3FGM
5
FTM
2
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
Lady Raiders chalk up 20th win of season
2/24/2022 8:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Middle Tennessee turns back Marshall, 65-57
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. – Winning on the road is never easy, especially in conference play.
Chalking up 20-win seasons is also no easy task.
Middle Tennessee (20-5, 12-3) achieved both, using a strong finish to surge past Marshall, 65-57, here Thursday night.
The defending Conference USA champion Lady Raiders remained one game behind East-Division leader Charlotte with three league games remaining. The two teams play one another next week.
It marks the 15th time in 17 seasons that the Lady Raiders have won 20 or more under Head Coach Rick Insell.
"I'm so proud of this team. I don't think words can really put into perspective how proud I am of this bunch of winners," Insell said. "It's not easy to win 20 games in college basketball so this a nice achievement for this team, but we still have work to do. We are not satisfied by any means."
Courtney Whitson had another monster performance with 19 points, a game-high nine rebounds, two steals and one assist. Whitson connected for five of Middle Tennessee's 11 3-pointers. Alexis Whittington was also stellar, stuffing the stat sheet with 13 points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals and one blocked shot.
Freshman standout Courtney Blakely was essential to victory, sparking the Lady Raiders with a sensational second half on her way to 11 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Fellow frosh Anastasiia Boldyreva and Jalynn Gregory also came up big. Boldyreva continued her strong second half to the season with eight points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots, while Gregory netted nine points on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range.
Remaining undefeated in Huntington was not an easy task.
The Lady Raiders bolted out to a 25-14 lead after one quarter, but Marshall (13-12, 8-8) charged back and used an 11-0 run to take its only lead, 38-37, on Aailyah Dunham's 3-pointer with 5:07 remaining in the third quarter.
That's when Blakely began her superlative performance that proved noteworthy in sparking the Lady Raiders. Blakely scored nine of her 11 in the final 15 minutes, coming up with clutch rebounds and steals to put Middle Tennessee back in position to secure victory.
"Marshall is a good team that is well-coached and plays hard and this is not an easy place to win," Insell said. "They came back and took the lead, but we never panicked and that's says a lot about our leadership. We played three freshmen and had two on the court the whole game. It would be easy for a young team to get rattled when Marshall put together that run, but we didn't.
"In fact, it was (Blakley) that really provided a big-time spark. That's a dynamic performance by a freshman on the road."
Middle Tennessee followed Marshall's 11-0 run with a 9-0 run of its own to jump back in front 47-41 and never looked back. Clutch 3-pointers from Whittington and Whitson where also pivotal as Middle Tennessee regained the lead.
The Lady Raiders continued to show improvement in the rebounding department, winning the battle of the boards, 32-27. They also had 13 assists on 19 field goals, led by Whitting's four.
The Lady Raiders will conclude their regular season road slate when they play rival WKU in Bowling Green, Ky., Saturday. Tipoff is 2 PM.
Chalking up 20-win seasons is also no easy task.
Middle Tennessee (20-5, 12-3) achieved both, using a strong finish to surge past Marshall, 65-57, here Thursday night.
The defending Conference USA champion Lady Raiders remained one game behind East-Division leader Charlotte with three league games remaining. The two teams play one another next week.
It marks the 15th time in 17 seasons that the Lady Raiders have won 20 or more under Head Coach Rick Insell.
"I'm so proud of this team. I don't think words can really put into perspective how proud I am of this bunch of winners," Insell said. "It's not easy to win 20 games in college basketball so this a nice achievement for this team, but we still have work to do. We are not satisfied by any means."
Courtney Whitson had another monster performance with 19 points, a game-high nine rebounds, two steals and one assist. Whitson connected for five of Middle Tennessee's 11 3-pointers. Alexis Whittington was also stellar, stuffing the stat sheet with 13 points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals and one blocked shot.
Freshman standout Courtney Blakely was essential to victory, sparking the Lady Raiders with a sensational second half on her way to 11 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Fellow frosh Anastasiia Boldyreva and Jalynn Gregory also came up big. Boldyreva continued her strong second half to the season with eight points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots, while Gregory netted nine points on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range.
Remaining undefeated in Huntington was not an easy task.
The Lady Raiders bolted out to a 25-14 lead after one quarter, but Marshall (13-12, 8-8) charged back and used an 11-0 run to take its only lead, 38-37, on Aailyah Dunham's 3-pointer with 5:07 remaining in the third quarter.
That's when Blakely began her superlative performance that proved noteworthy in sparking the Lady Raiders. Blakely scored nine of her 11 in the final 15 minutes, coming up with clutch rebounds and steals to put Middle Tennessee back in position to secure victory.
"Marshall is a good team that is well-coached and plays hard and this is not an easy place to win," Insell said. "They came back and took the lead, but we never panicked and that's says a lot about our leadership. We played three freshmen and had two on the court the whole game. It would be easy for a young team to get rattled when Marshall put together that run, but we didn't.
"In fact, it was (Blakley) that really provided a big-time spark. That's a dynamic performance by a freshman on the road."
Middle Tennessee followed Marshall's 11-0 run with a 9-0 run of its own to jump back in front 47-41 and never looked back. Clutch 3-pointers from Whittington and Whitson where also pivotal as Middle Tennessee regained the lead.
The Lady Raiders continued to show improvement in the rebounding department, winning the battle of the boards, 32-27. They also had 13 assists on 19 field goals, led by Whitting's four.
The Lady Raiders will conclude their regular season road slate when they play rival WKU in Bowling Green, Ky., Saturday. Tipoff is 2 PM.
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
