Middle Tennessee State University Athletics

Lady Raiders Tasked with Southern Miss in C-USA Quarterfinals
3/9/2022 4:26:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Blue Raiders found out who their first opponent of the Conference USA Championship Tournament is today after the Golden Eagles of Southern Miss topped the Florida International Panthers in the second round.
Thursday's game against Southern Miss is set to tip-off at 2:00 p.m. CT in Frisco, Texas.
Middle Tennessee (14-4, 22-6) handed Old Dominion a loss in a defensive battle that ended with a one-sided score. MT swept their season-series with the number one-seeded team, Charlotte, a game before but ended the season with a second seed in the division falling one win short in conference play of the 49ers.
Last Time Out – March 4 vs. ODU – (W, 62-44) RECAP
The Lady Raiders held the Monarchs to a 26.8 percent shooting percentage from the floor (15-for-56) while smothering ODU beyond the arc, where the Monarchs shot a sub-par 12.5 percent (2-for-16). ODU also struggled to knock down free throws shooting 12-for-23 at the line.
Courtney Whitson led all scorers with 16 points and led the Lady Raiders with eight rebounds, battling through early second-half foul trouble to start. She hit two of her three 3-point attempts in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach late.
Anastasiia Boldyreva was excellent in the post, scoring 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting while securing seven rebounds.
Dor Saar was steady at the point despite cold shooting early, making all six of her free-throw attempts and drilling two threes for 12 points alongside seven boards and a team-high six assists.
Lady Raider Notes
- Rick Insell is Middle Tennessee's all-time winningest basketball coach with 400 wins.
- The Lady Raiders had a C-USA best six players represented on All C-USA postseason teams. All-Conference: Kseniya Malashka, Dor Saar, Courtney Whitson; Sixth Player of the Year: Malashka; All-Defensive Team: Alexis Whittington; All-Freshman Team: Anastasiia Boldyreva, Jalynn Gregory.
- MT secured its 950th all-time win at Lipscomb (12/6), becoming just the 28th Division I women's basketball team (out of 351) with 950 all-time victories.
- The Lady Raiders are 13-2 in opening tournament games under HC Rick Insell
- MT has won eight of its 16 conference tournament championships under HC Rick Insell (the 2020 C-USA Tournament was canceled due to COVID-19).
Previewing the Southern Miss Golden Eagles (9-8, 18-11)
The Golden Eagles earned their first win of the Conference USA Championship Tournament since making the finals in 2016-17 on Wednesday after beating Florida International 78-60. Southern Miss lead's the conference in field-goal percentage with 43.2% and assists with an average of 14.2 per game.
The last time the two teams met was Saturday, January 22, when the Lady Raiders outshot the Golden Eagles in an 81-71 win. Courtney Whitson had a banner day as she supplied a double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds for MT. The Lady Raiders went on a late 20-2 run in the fourth quarter to secure the win.
The last time the two teams battled in the C-USA tournament was the 2016-17 season when Southern Miss got the better of the Lady Raiders with a 59-54 win in Birmingham, Ala.
Junior Dominique Davis leads the Golden Eagles in scoring with 14.6 points per game and rebounds with 3.9 rebounds per game.
Sophomore Melyia Grayson, a 6-3 center out of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, leads Southern Miss with 6.1 rebounds per game and 1.3 blocks per game.
Redshirt senior Kelsey Jones had an impressive showing against FIU in their last game out with a 24-point and 12-rebound double-double. Jones ended the game with a +26 +/- in 28 minutes played.
Follow Along on Game Day
- The Golden Eagles matchup will be live on ESPN+
- Both games will have audio available on WGNS 1450 AM, 100.5 FM, 101.9 FM, or GoBlueRaiders.com/Watch.
- Fans can also follow along on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.