Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
UT Southern (Exh.)
Lady Raiders set to host UT Southern in Exhibition
10/26/2023 5:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee women's basketball is set to host UT Southern on Friday evening for an exhibition. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Murphy Center. The game will air on the Blue Raider Network.
On The Court
The Lady Raiders return four starters and seven total letter winners from last year's squad that went 28-5, claimed the Conference USA regular season and tournament titles, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. As the preseason Conference USA favorites, MTSU featured three student-athletes on the league's preseason team, including the CUSA Preseason Player of the Year Savannah Wheeler, experienced forward Courtney Whitson, and sharpshooter Jalynn Gregory.
All three are expected to play significant roles on this season's Lady Raider team. MTSU also returns junior Anastasiia Boldyreva and sophomore Ta'Mia Scott who are expected to play bigger roles.
Lady Raider Notes:
• The Lady Raiders return four starters from last year's squad that went 28-5, claimed the Conference USA regular season and tournament titles, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
The 2023-24 returning roster has:
• Scored 4,416 career points in 466 games played with 346 career starts
• Hit 584 career three-point field goals
• Shot 872-of-1081 free throws in their careers, 80.6 percent
• For the third consecutive season, Middle Tennessee returns four of the top five leading scorers from the previous season
• The 2023-24 roster boasts seven international players: Jada Grannum (Canada); Dora Van Rijs (Hungary); Anastasiia Boldyreva, Iullia Grabovskaia and Stanislava Kabernick (Russia); Sifa Ineza (Rwanda); Zahira Arizmendi Rubio (Spain). Entering this season the Lady Raiders have only had 10 international players in program history.
• Alongside South Carolina, MTSU is one of just two teams in the nation to finish the regular season with a perfect record at home in each of the last two seasons.
• Currently sitting at 998 wins, Middle Tennessee will soon join an elite list of women's basketball programs in the nation to secure 1,000 wins.
• Head Coach Rick Insell has led the Lady Raiders to 18 consecutive post-seasons. He has tallied a 433-151 record at his alma mater.
Savannah Wheeler
• Tabbed the Preseason CUSA Player of the Year by the conference and by ESPN
• Enters the 2023-24 season ranked 16th in league history for points scored and just 253 points shy of becoming the 10th player in league history with 2,000 career points
• Needs just 20 3-point field goals to become the 17th player in CUSA history with 200 or more made three-point field goals
• Enters the 2023-24 season with a .846 career free throw percentage, ranking in the top 10 in CUSA history
• Enters the 2023-24 season with 509 made free throws, ranking fourth in CUSA history
• Enters the 2023-24 season with 602 free throw attempts, ranking just outside the top 15 in CUSA history
Courtney Whitson
• Name preseason All-Conference USA
• Just the fifth player in program history to reach the 1,000-point/800 rebound milestone
• Ranks third all-time in program history with 121 consecutive starts
• Enters the 2023-24 season with 4169 minutes played, ranking third in program history
• Enter the 2023-24 season with 855 boards, ranking fifth in program history
Jalynn Gregory
• Name preseason All-Conference USA
• Led CUSA in 3-point shooting (.336) and 3-point field goals per game (2.6) during the 2022-23 season
• Has connected on three or more treys in 23 games over the previous two seasons, including a career-high seven against Memphis on 12/10/22
• One of the nation's top free-throw shooters, connected for 86.4 percent (89-of-103) from the charity stripe
• Scored double-figures in 22 of 33 games played; tallied 442 points in 2022-23 and has 794 for her career
