Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
2-1,0-0CUSA
Princeton
2-0,0-0Ivy League
Lady Raiders drop first game of the season, fall to Princeton 65-60
11/12/2023 5:20:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MTSU snaps 29-game, regular season home win streak
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee women's basketball could not overcome a poor shooting afternoon on Sunday, falling 65-60 to Princeton inside the Murphy Center.
The Lady Raiders (2-1) jumped out to a 19-12 lead after the first quarter on the backs of strong defense, holding the Tigers (2-0) to just 35.7 percent shooting (5-for-14) in the game's first ten minutes. But Princeton racketed up their defensive intensity coming out of the break, holding MTSU to just 4-for-13 shooting in the second quarter to cut the lead to 31-36 at halftime.
Princeton then caught fire offensively in the third quarter, nailing multiple tough shots while knocking down plenty of open looks to power their way to a four-point lead. The Lady Raiders would get the game as close as two points late in the fourth quarter but trailed the rest of the way as the physicality of the Tigers on the boards kept MTSU from reclaiming the ball.
Jalynn Gregory led all scorers with 21 points despite going just 5-for-17 beyond the arc. Savannah Wheeler posted the most efficient night offensively for MTSU, scoring 15 points on 6-for-11 from the floor.
By the Numbers
29: Consecutive home, regular season wins for the Lady Raiders prior this afternoon. MTSU's loss snapped the second longest streak in the nation in that category, behind only South Carolina (38 entering today).
15: Offensive rebounds for the Tigers on Sunday. MTSU's inability to secure the ball after a missed shot gave the Tigers a plethora of extra possessions, resulting in 12 second chance points for Princeton.
13-for-20: MTSU's day at the free throw line. The 65.0 percent afternoon at the charity stripe is the worst percentage the Lady Raiders have posted since shooting 8-for-14 (54.1 percent) against North Texas on March 2, 2023.
Lady Raider Notes
• Alysha Clark was honored pregame: The Lady Raiders women's basketball team room as of today will be known as the Duane and Alysha Clark Team Room, in honor of her father, to whom she dedicated the past season too.
• Today marked the first meeting in series history between Middle Tennessee and Princeton. The Tigers now lead 1-0. MTSU is now 2-2 all-time against Ivy League schools.
• Gregory and Wheeler scored in double figures for the third consecutive to open the 2023-24 season.
• Entering today's game, the Lady Raiders were 368-37 when leading at the half under Coach Insell. Despite leading 31-26 at the break, MTSU fell 65-60.
Thoughts from Head Coach Rick Insell
"Princeton has got a good ball team, better than the average ball team. They've got an NCAA Tournament team, picked to win their conference, much like us. There in the third quarter, we had a hard time defending. Usually, we pretty much instill our will on the defensive end. And instead of us instilling our will, they instilled theirs and they hit like six or seven shots in a row. We were there and had a hand on the ball, but they had the leverage and were able to do what they wanted to do. If you allow them to do what they can do, run their offense in their system, they're pretty tough. And that's what we did."
Up Next
The Lady Raiders head to the Bahamas to compete in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Their first game of the tournament is scheduled against Michigan on Saturday, November 18, with tipoff set for 4 p.m. CT.
Follow the Lady Raiders
Follow Middle Tennessee Women's Basketball on social media on Facebook (/MTSUWBB), X (Formerly known as Twitter) (@MT_WBB) and Instagram (@mt_wbb).
