Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Wednesday, January 11
Murfreesboro, TN
6 p.m.
Middle Tennessee
-132,60 CUSA
85
vs
56
Rice
-104,14 CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Rice
13
13
14
16
56
Middle Tenn.
16
16
33
20
85
Team Stats
Rice
MTSU
FG%
.327
.404
3FG%
.125
.375
FT%
.667
.750
RB
37
41
TO
23
11
STL
7
11
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
16
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
15
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
8
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
Photo by: Maya Lewis/MT Athletic Communications
Lady Raiders Dominate Third Quarter to Rock Owls, Sweep Season Series
1/11/2023 9:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball
It was the 11th straight win for the Lady Raiders this season.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee women's basketball embraced the physicality on Wednesday night in the Murphy Center, drawing 28 fouls to help push past Rice 85-56 in a dominant win over a C-USA foe to stretch their winning streak to 11 games.
The Lady Raiders held the advantage early, taking a 32-26 lead into the locker room at the break after a very physical first half in which 26 fouls were called between the two teams. MTSU took advantage, getting to the free throw line 23 times, knocking down 18 of them to push themselves into the lead despite shooting under 30 percent from the field as a team in the half.
It was a whole different game in the second half, however, as the Lady Raiders scored 33 points while holding the Owls to just 14 in the third quarter to run away with the game, making 11-of-18 shots in the frame, including a 4-for-8 clip beyond the arc. Playing heavy minutes for the Lady Raider bench, a modest four-point advantage in the fourth quarter gave MTSU the 85-56 final margin.
Anastasiia Boldyreva continued her excellent play from last week in the post, scoring 21 points to go with seven rebounds. The 6-foot-6 center is averaging 17.7 points over her last three games. Ksenyia Malashka and Savannah Wheeler each finished with 16 points, while Courtney Blakely followed closely behind with 15 points to go along with eight rebounds. Jalynn Gregory added 13 points to become the fifth Lady Raider to score in double figures.
By The Numbers
33: Points in the third quarter, the second most in a quarter in Lady Raider history. It's the most points MTSU has scored in a quarter since the Lady Raiders dropped 37 points in the first quarter against Troy on December 17, 2020.
33-for-44: MTSU's free throw shooting on the night, tied for the fourth most attempts in a single game from the free throw line in school history. The Lady Raiders fared far better at the free throw line on Wednesday than the last time they shot 44 free throws in a game, where MTSU went 22-for-44 on December 6, 2020 against Belmont.
6-for-10: Three point shooting in the second half for MTSU, including a 2-for-2 clip in the fourth quarter. After starting the game 0-for-6 beyond the arc, the Lady Raiders finished the night shooting 37.5 percent from behind the three-point line.
23: Owl Turnovers forced by the Lady Raiders. MTSU converted those Rice miscues into 26 points, while Owls managed only five points off of 11 Lady Raider turnovers.
Lady Raider Notes
Thoughts from Head Coach Rick Insell
"Every team has a got a plan. It's kind of like Mike Tyson says, everybody's got a plan until they get hit in the mouth. Every team has got a plan with us. So tonight, maybe coming out at halftime was that 'We need to get more aggressive.' I don't know, but it seemed that way.
"We ended up winning by 29, and we were up by six. So our kids, they're really resilient. They all come from winning programs. They know how to play the game of basketball. They take coaching.
"We've just got to trust our offense. Every now and again, we'll have one or two get out of our offense, and when we do we're not real good. But when we stay in it. Anastasiia got 21 points, seven rebounds. Courtney Blakely, 15 points, eight rebounds, stayed in the system."
Player's Perspective – Courtney Blakely
On the 18-2 third quarter run
"It was pushing the ball, getting the ball up the floor, and finding who was open. We had to find who was open. (Jalynn Gregory) was open a couple of times, and those putbacks really got us going."
Up Next
The Lady Raiders will get a short break for the holiday weekend before heading down to Birmingham for a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day tilt with UAB. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. on the Blue Raider Radio Network.
Follow the Lady Raiders
Follow Middle Tennessee Women's Basketball on social media on Facebook (/MTSUWBB), Twitter (@MT_WBB) and Instagram (@mt_wbb).
The Lady Raiders held the advantage early, taking a 32-26 lead into the locker room at the break after a very physical first half in which 26 fouls were called between the two teams. MTSU took advantage, getting to the free throw line 23 times, knocking down 18 of them to push themselves into the lead despite shooting under 30 percent from the field as a team in the half.
It was a whole different game in the second half, however, as the Lady Raiders scored 33 points while holding the Owls to just 14 in the third quarter to run away with the game, making 11-of-18 shots in the frame, including a 4-for-8 clip beyond the arc. Playing heavy minutes for the Lady Raider bench, a modest four-point advantage in the fourth quarter gave MTSU the 85-56 final margin.
Anastasiia Boldyreva continued her excellent play from last week in the post, scoring 21 points to go with seven rebounds. The 6-foot-6 center is averaging 17.7 points over her last three games. Ksenyia Malashka and Savannah Wheeler each finished with 16 points, while Courtney Blakely followed closely behind with 15 points to go along with eight rebounds. Jalynn Gregory added 13 points to become the fifth Lady Raider to score in double figures.
By The Numbers
33: Points in the third quarter, the second most in a quarter in Lady Raider history. It's the most points MTSU has scored in a quarter since the Lady Raiders dropped 37 points in the first quarter against Troy on December 17, 2020.
33-for-44: MTSU's free throw shooting on the night, tied for the fourth most attempts in a single game from the free throw line in school history. The Lady Raiders fared far better at the free throw line on Wednesday than the last time they shot 44 free throws in a game, where MTSU went 22-for-44 on December 6, 2020 against Belmont.
6-for-10: Three point shooting in the second half for MTSU, including a 2-for-2 clip in the fourth quarter. After starting the game 0-for-6 beyond the arc, the Lady Raiders finished the night shooting 37.5 percent from behind the three-point line.
23: Owl Turnovers forced by the Lady Raiders. MTSU converted those Rice miscues into 26 points, while Owls managed only five points off of 11 Lady Raider turnovers.
Lady Raider Notes
- Eleven straight wins ties for the most by a Lady Raider team since Feb. 8, 2014 - March 23, 2014.
- Middle Tennessee extends its home winning streak to seven and its home court conference winning streak to 13.
- It was the 10th straight game that the Lady Raiders have gone on a scoring run of at least 10 unanswered points (11-0 run in the third quarter).
- Middle Tennessee has scored 105 points in the second half this season vs. Rice.
- The Lady Raiders forced over 20 turnovers for the sixth time this season.
- MTSU held Rice to just two made threes, which is a season-low for a Lady Raider opponent.
- Tonight was the second time in three games and the fourth time this season that five Lady Raiders scored double figures.
- Anastasiia Boldyreva (21) and Courtney Blakely (15) each set new season highs in points. Blakely's eight free throws broke her previous career high of five while her eight rebounds tied her career high. Boldyreva's seven free throws set a new career high in her third straight game of 16-or-more points.
- Kseniya Malashka matched her career high with five steals.
Thoughts from Head Coach Rick Insell
"Every team has a got a plan. It's kind of like Mike Tyson says, everybody's got a plan until they get hit in the mouth. Every team has got a plan with us. So tonight, maybe coming out at halftime was that 'We need to get more aggressive.' I don't know, but it seemed that way.
"We ended up winning by 29, and we were up by six. So our kids, they're really resilient. They all come from winning programs. They know how to play the game of basketball. They take coaching.
"We've just got to trust our offense. Every now and again, we'll have one or two get out of our offense, and when we do we're not real good. But when we stay in it. Anastasiia got 21 points, seven rebounds. Courtney Blakely, 15 points, eight rebounds, stayed in the system."
Player's Perspective – Courtney Blakely
On the 18-2 third quarter run
"It was pushing the ball, getting the ball up the floor, and finding who was open. We had to find who was open. (Jalynn Gregory) was open a couple of times, and those putbacks really got us going."
Up Next
The Lady Raiders will get a short break for the holiday weekend before heading down to Birmingham for a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day tilt with UAB. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. on the Blue Raider Radio Network.
Follow the Lady Raiders
Follow Middle Tennessee Women's Basketball on social media on Facebook (/MTSUWBB), Twitter (@MT_WBB) and Instagram (@mt_wbb).
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