Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
Stephen F. Austin
Lady Raiders set to host Ladyjacks
12/16/2023 4:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Middle Tennessee returns to the Glass House to host SFA
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee returns to the Glass House after an eight game road/neutral site stretch. The Lady Raiders are set to host the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks on Sunday afternoon. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT. The game will air on the Blue Raider Network and broadcast on ESPN+.
Game 12: Middle Tennessee (8-3, 0-0 CUSA) vs. SFA (6-3, 2-0 WAC)
» Sunday, December 17 - 2 p.m.
» Murphy Center
» Murfreesboro, Tennessee
All-Time Against SFA
» This marks the first meeting in series history between Middle Tennessee and Stephen F. Austin
Lady Raider Notes
» Today's meeting marks the first of two games for the 2023-24 Conference USA/WAC scheduling initiative.
» Today's matchup marks the first home game for the Lady Raiders since they fell to Princeton 60-65 on Nov. 12. Over the past 35 days, Middle Tennessee has played eight games in four states (Alabama, Illinois, Tennessee and Texas) and two countries (Bahamas and United States).
» Savannah Wheeler graduated on Saturday with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Integrated Studies and plans to pursue another degree in Health and Human Performance.
» With the start against Tennessee Tech, Courtney Whitson became the all-time record holder for most career starts at Middle Tennessee with 132 consecutive starts.
» Entering today's game, Wheeler is 28 free throws away from becoming the Conference USA all-time leader in career free throws made.
» Courtney Whitson currently leads the league and ranks 36th in the country in 3-pointers with 26.
» Anastasiia Boldyreva currently leads the league and ranks fourth in the country in blocks with 33.
» Jalynn Gregory became the fourth Lady Raider in five weeks to be crowned Conference USA Player of the Week after leading MTSU to a 2-0 week, with a pair of wins over in-state opponents.
» Gregory also became just the fourth Lady Raider in program history to earn Ann Meyers Drysdale USBWA National Player of the Week honors. She joins Ty Petty (2017), Brea Edwards (2016) and Cheyenne Parker (2015).
» Middle Tennessee became just the 25th school in NCAA Division I women's basketball history and the third in Conference USA to reach 1,000 program wins on Thursday, Nov. 9 when the Lady Raiders defeated the Florida A&M Rattlers 93-48.
» 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 (Spain). Entering this season the Lady Raiders have only had 10 international players in program history.
» Head Coach Rick Insell has led the Lady Raiders to 17 consecutive post-seasons. He has tallied a 441-154 record at his alma mater.
Scouting the Ladyjacks
» SFA heads to Tennessee for three games before the Christmas holidays starting with Middle Tennessee. The Ladyjacks are coming off a near upset of Alabama on the 9th.
» The Ladyjack offense formed a three-headed monster against Alabama as Trinity Moore, Destini Lombard, and Kurstyn Harden all scored in double-digits for the 'Jacks. Moore was a monster today as she led the team with 21 points, which was a new career-high in points, had a team-leading nine rebounds falling one rebound short of a double-double, and led the defensive effort with three steals. Destini Lombard led the team with three three-pointers in route to a 19-point performance, where she also dished out three assists and pulled down three rebounds. Kurstyn Harden continued her strong start to the season as she had 14 points and has now recorded double-digit points in nine straight games to start the season for SFA. Kyla Deck led the team with five assists, while Tyler McCliment-Call finished second on the team in rebounds with seven.
» The 'Jacks are ranked 26th in the nation in steals per game with 11.7, and 19th in free throws made per game (16.33). Sophomore guard Kyla Deck currently ranks 22nd in the nation with 3.00 steals per game and 32nd with 32 total steals. Kurstyn Harden is 13th in the nation in free throws made with 52 and 58th in points per game with 18.0.
» Kyla Deck has been named WAC Player of the Week twice this season and Kurstyn Harden has earned WAC Player of the week once this season.
» Mele Finau transfers to SFA from UC Riverside coming off a season where she scored double digit points against a pair of ranked Pac-12 teams in UCLA and Utah. Mimi Gatewood comes to SFA from Kansas State and was not only a three-star prospect out of high school but was also ranked the no. 38 point guard in the entire nation during her high school career.
» Jasmyne Boles comes to SFA as her third school she's played for so far in her collegiate career. Her freshman and sophomore years were spent at College of Southern Idaho in which she helped lead CSI to back-to-back Region 18 Titles and attended University of North Texas last year.
» Trinity Moore transfers to SFA from Oral Roberts and will add a strong inside scoring presence while also providing an active member on defense for SFA. Her twin sister currently plays at West Virginia for former Ladyjack Head Coach Mark Kellogg.
» Trinity Slocum starts her SFA career as a transfer from Whatcom Community College, in which Slocum was a key piece in helping lead Whatcom to the NWAC Championship Quarterfinals last season. Ituau Tuisaula spent her previous two seasons at Peninsula College, Tuisaula started in all but two games for the Pirates and recorded 23 double-doubles in two seasons.
» Bishop added plenty of experience and knowledge to his staff as he added a pair of former assistant head coaches in Patrick Harrison to serve as his associate head coach and Lexi Murphy to serve in an assistant coach position, a former Director of Player Development in Jordynn Hernandez, a former Ladyjack head manager in Anika Collins who will serve as Director of Basketball Operations, and a graduate assistant, Bo Butler, who comes from Oklahoma State University.
Follow the Blue Raiders
Follow Middle Tennessee Women's Basketball on social media on Facebook (/MTSUWBB), X (Formerly known as Twitter) (@MT_WBB) and Instagram (@mt_wbb).
