Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
5-2,0-0CUSA
SIUE
1-6,0-0OVC
Lady Raiders top Cougars on the road 81-74
11/26/2023 4:39:00 PM | Women's Basketball
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – After a slow start, Middle Tennessee found its groove in the second half and defeated SIUE 81-74 on Sunday afternoon at First Community Arena.
The Lady Raiders (5-2) found themselves in a battle with the Cougars (1-6) right out of the gate. After a tightly contested first quarter, SIUE immediately grabbed a 31-22 lead to begin the second. MTSU chipped away at SIUE's and thanks to six points from Iullia Grabovskaia to close out the half, the Lady Raiders went into the break down just 40-39.
Middle Tennessee opened the second half with an 8-0 run and extended its lead to 57-49 at the first media break. MTSU took a 67-53 lead into the fourth. Despite a late effort by the Cougars, the Lady Raiders would go on to win 81-74.
Ta'Mia Scott led MTSU with a career-high 21 points and four rebounds. She was followed by Courtney Whitson with 16 points and six rebounds, Jalynn Gregory with 14 points and Savannah Wheeler with 10 points and six assists. Grabovskaia added eight points and a team-high seven boards.
By the Numbers
19-11: SIUE had 19 turnovers on the afternoon to Middle Tennessee's 11.
65: Middle Tennessee attempted a season-high 65 field goals on the afternoon.
4: Four Lady Raiders scored in double figures on the afternoon. This marks the second time this season that four players have done so.
Lady Raider Notes
• Sifa Ineza logged her first points as a Lady Raider on the afternoon. The transfer from FIU tallied six points in 12 minutes of action.
• Ta'Mia Scott tallied a career-high 21 points on the afternoon. She went 8-of-15 from the field, including 4-of-6 from three.
• Double-Digits: Wheeler logged her 95th career double-figure outing, while Whitson tallied her 59th, Gregory posted her 40th and Scott notched her fifth.
Thoughts from Head Coach Rick Insell
"Coach Earl told me about 19 years ago, that anytime you get an NCAA Division I win on the road, you better be thankful. We were favored in this game and SIUE set the tempo. I think they came out and started knocking down threes and grabbing every loose ball and converting those chances. They were ready to play and we were not… We took this team for granted and they just came out here and stuck it to us… It's not going to get any easier. I thought they got really aggressive with Anastasiia (Boldyreva) inside and they'll be doing that at Houston too. We have to get back down to the basics over the next couple of days."
Up Next
The Lady Raiders travel to Houston, Texas to take on the Houston Cougars on Wednesday, Nov. 29. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
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).
