Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Lady Raiders Head to Sunshine State to Face Owls
2/15/2023 7:17:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BOCA RATON, Fla.–– Middle Tennessee women's basketball goes back on the road for two games in Florida starting at Florida Atlantic Thursday night. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CDT at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.
The game will air on the Blue Raider Network and CUSA.TV.
The Lady Raiders won both their games last week against WKU and UAB, led by Conference USA's Player of the Week Savannah Wheeler, who averaged 28.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
LAST TIME OUT
Middle Tennessee women's basketball suffocated UAB on Saturday in the Murphy Center, holding the Blazers to just 42 points in a 63-42 win for the Lady Raiders' 20th victory of the season.
MTSU (20-4, 13-2 C-USA) overcame a slow start early with active defensive pressure all night, forcing UAB (11-13, 3-12 C-USA) into a plethora of turnovers, resulting in plenty of easy points for the Lady Raiders. Heading into the fourth quarter, the Blazers were shooting just 22.6 percent as a team, before a more relaxed pace in the fourth quarter with the game in hand allowed UAB to push their game shooting percentage to 30.2 percent (13-for-43).
Offensively for MTSU, the Lady Raiders were very balanced, scoring 14 points at the free throw line, 21 points from beyond the arc and 28 points from inside the three-point line, with six players scoring at least five of MTSU's points.
Savannah Wheeler led all scorers for the second game in a row, just missing out on a double-double with a 20-point, nine-rebound performance. Jalynn Gregory was a big threat as always from outside, making two of her five three-point attempts en route to 15 points, four rebounds and two steals. Courtney Blakely scored nine points, making seven of her eight attempts at the charity stripe. Anastasiia Boldyreva scored six points and grabbed six rebounds, while also swatting three blocks.
ON THE COURT
Overall Stat Leaders
Points - Savannah Wheeler (16.4 PPG)
Rebounds - Courtney Whitson (8 RPG)
Assists - Savannah Wheeler (3.2 APG)
Steals - Jalynn Gregory (1.8 SPG)
LADY RAIDER NOTES
● Savannah Wheeler, who won her third Conference USA Player of the Week award this season Monday, finished the week with 57 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and five assists. Wheeler tied the most points by a Conference USA player in a game this season and set her own career high in a C-USA game.
● Saturday's win over UAB marked the 20th win of the season for the Lady Raiders. MTSU has won at least 20 games in four of the last five seasons and 29 overall in program history. Rick Insell has won 20-or-more games in 16 of his 18 seasons leading Middle Tennessee.
● Middle Tennessee leads all of Conference USA and ranks 13th in the nation with a 17.6 scoring margin. In their 20 wins, the Lady Raiders are averaging a 21.8 point differential.
● The Lady Raiders rank 21st nationally and lead C-USA in field goal percentage defense, holding teams to 36 percent shooting. In overall scoring defense, Middle Tennessee's opponents are scoring just 55.5 points per game, which ranks 24th in the country and first in the conference. In addition, the Lady Raiders are forcing 18 turnovers per game and 9.1 steals per game.
OBSERVING THE OWLS
● Middle Tennessee leads the all-time series 30-1, including 24 straight wins. The Lady Raiders defeated the Owls, 63-48 Jan. 26 at the Murphy Center.
● Florida Atlantic has dropped four of its last five games since playing the Lady Raiders. The lone win came vs. UAB Feb. 2. The Owls come into Thursday on a three-game skid with all losses coming by at least a 12-point margin.
● Aniya Hubbard leads Conference USA in steals (64) and averages a team-leading 13.8 points per game. The freshman guard has 60 steals and 133 rebounds in 24 games played.
● The Owls are second in C-USA in rebounding margin (4.5) and third in 3-point percentage defense (29.1 percent).
The game will air on the Blue Raider Network and CUSA.TV.
The Lady Raiders won both their games last week against WKU and UAB, led by Conference USA's Player of the Week Savannah Wheeler, who averaged 28.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
LAST TIME OUT
Middle Tennessee women's basketball suffocated UAB on Saturday in the Murphy Center, holding the Blazers to just 42 points in a 63-42 win for the Lady Raiders' 20th victory of the season.
MTSU (20-4, 13-2 C-USA) overcame a slow start early with active defensive pressure all night, forcing UAB (11-13, 3-12 C-USA) into a plethora of turnovers, resulting in plenty of easy points for the Lady Raiders. Heading into the fourth quarter, the Blazers were shooting just 22.6 percent as a team, before a more relaxed pace in the fourth quarter with the game in hand allowed UAB to push their game shooting percentage to 30.2 percent (13-for-43).
Offensively for MTSU, the Lady Raiders were very balanced, scoring 14 points at the free throw line, 21 points from beyond the arc and 28 points from inside the three-point line, with six players scoring at least five of MTSU's points.
Savannah Wheeler led all scorers for the second game in a row, just missing out on a double-double with a 20-point, nine-rebound performance. Jalynn Gregory was a big threat as always from outside, making two of her five three-point attempts en route to 15 points, four rebounds and two steals. Courtney Blakely scored nine points, making seven of her eight attempts at the charity stripe. Anastasiia Boldyreva scored six points and grabbed six rebounds, while also swatting three blocks.
ON THE COURT
Overall Stat Leaders
Points - Savannah Wheeler (16.4 PPG)
Rebounds - Courtney Whitson (8 RPG)
Assists - Savannah Wheeler (3.2 APG)
Steals - Jalynn Gregory (1.8 SPG)
LADY RAIDER NOTES
● Savannah Wheeler, who won her third Conference USA Player of the Week award this season Monday, finished the week with 57 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and five assists. Wheeler tied the most points by a Conference USA player in a game this season and set her own career high in a C-USA game.
● Saturday's win over UAB marked the 20th win of the season for the Lady Raiders. MTSU has won at least 20 games in four of the last five seasons and 29 overall in program history. Rick Insell has won 20-or-more games in 16 of his 18 seasons leading Middle Tennessee.
● Middle Tennessee leads all of Conference USA and ranks 13th in the nation with a 17.6 scoring margin. In their 20 wins, the Lady Raiders are averaging a 21.8 point differential.
● The Lady Raiders rank 21st nationally and lead C-USA in field goal percentage defense, holding teams to 36 percent shooting. In overall scoring defense, Middle Tennessee's opponents are scoring just 55.5 points per game, which ranks 24th in the country and first in the conference. In addition, the Lady Raiders are forcing 18 turnovers per game and 9.1 steals per game.
OBSERVING THE OWLS
● Middle Tennessee leads the all-time series 30-1, including 24 straight wins. The Lady Raiders defeated the Owls, 63-48 Jan. 26 at the Murphy Center.
● Florida Atlantic has dropped four of its last five games since playing the Lady Raiders. The lone win came vs. UAB Feb. 2. The Owls come into Thursday on a three-game skid with all losses coming by at least a 12-point margin.
● Aniya Hubbard leads Conference USA in steals (64) and averages a team-leading 13.8 points per game. The freshman guard has 60 steals and 133 rebounds in 24 games played.
● The Owls are second in C-USA in rebounding margin (4.5) and third in 3-point percentage defense (29.1 percent).
Players Mentioned
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