Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
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Florida A&M
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Lady Raiders take Rattlers to school, 93-48
11/9/2023 2:09:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MTSU dominates annual education day in front of thousands of Murfreesboro City Schools students
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee women's basketball woke up and didn't miss a beat on Thursday morning, racing out to a 22-point lead after one quarter of play and never looking back, trouncing Florida A&M 93-48 in Murphy Center during the program's annual Education Day Game.
The Lady Raiders (2-0) shot 20-for-29 in the first half, including a 9-for-11 second quarter, while making 11-of-14 first half three-pointers to indubitably take a commanding 62-18 lead into the locker room at halftime. After stretching their lead to as much as 74-18 halfway through the third quarter on a Ta'Mia Scott layup, capping off a 16-point scoring run between the two frames, the bench was emptied the rest of the night for MTSU, with no player recording more than 29 minutes on the court on Monday.
Savannah Wheeler just missed going perfect shooting on the day, finishing the morning with a team-leading 23 points on 8-for-9 shooting, including a 2-for-2 day beyond the arc. Wheeler also went a perfect 5-for-5 at the free throw line while grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out six assists. Courtney Whitson tied her career high for three pointers made in a game with six, all of them coming in the first half. The forward finished the day with 22 points.
By the Numbers
1,000: With the win, MTSU became the 25th NCAA Division I Women's Basketball program to hit 1,000 wins in program history.
+53: The Plus/Minus of Savannah Wheeler against the Rattlers, one better than that of her teammates Courtney Whitson (+52). Ta'Mia Scott (+43) and Jalynn Gregory (+41) each finished with plus/minues over +40 on the morning.
12: Lady Raiders who checked into the game on Thursday. MTSU never played 12 players in any game in the 2022-23 season and only played 11 players in a game just twice last season.
Lady Raider Notes
• Courtney Whitson went 6-of-7 from beyond the arc, tying her career high in 3-point field goals made.
• Savannah Wheeler logged her 92nd career double-digit performance and 30th career 20-point outing against the Rattlers.
• The Lady Raiders shot .444 percent from 3-point range. This marked the first time MTSU has made 10 or more 3-pointers in a game since they made 11 against WKU on March 11, 2023.
• Zahira Arizmendi Rubio, Gracie Hamby, Meioshe Mason and Dora Van Rijs made their collegiate debut against Florida A&M.
Thoughts from Head Coach Rick Insell
"We came out and played great defense. I know we shot the ball well, but I know we can shoot the ball. My big thing has been working on the defensive end. We were a little wary of this team because they were leading Tennessee in the first quarter, then Kellie (Harper) made some adjustments and substituted and they ended up with about a 15 or 20 point halftime lead. And then it kind of stayed (at) 20-25 points up there with them.
"I don't know how good Tennessee is. When we did our evaluations, looking at the game film, we just couldn't take a chance of not being as focused on this game that we were as we were on Memphis and as we will be on Princeton. I thought the crowd might've affected them a little bit. I thought our players came our and shot the ball extremely well. And I thought we played great defense."
Player's Perspective – Courtney Whitson
On Education Day
"It's always one of those special moments, because you realize that you are playing for those people in the stands, the little kids, to hopefully spark a light in them that they want to play basketball. It's a much bigger platform than we realize on a day-to-day basis.
Up Next
The Lady Raiders wrap up their three-game homestand to start the 2023-24 season on Sunday, November 12, hosting the Princeton Tigers. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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).
