Lady Raiders dominate Bearkats 87-55

Saturday, January 13

Huntsville, Texas

2 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

12-4,2-0CUSA

Sam Houston

5-10,0-3CUSA

Middle Tenn.

Sam Houston

1/13/2024 4:34:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Middle Tennessee moves to 2-0 in CUSA play

HUNTSVILLE, Texas. – Middle Tennessee defeated Sam Houston 87-55 on Saturday afternoon at the Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.

The Lady Raiders (12-4, 2-0 CUSA) jumped out to a quick 12-5 lead over the Bearkats (5-10, 0-3 CUSA) to open the game. Despite some early foul trouble, MTSU took a three-point lead into the second quarter. A quick pair of triples to open the second by Savannah Wheeler and Courtney Whitson forced a Sam Houston timeout. The Lady Raiders would continue to catch fire from long range and take a 40-24 lead into the half.

Coming out of the locker room, Middle Tennessee continued to thrive from beyond the arc and Whitson drained her 260th career three-pointer, making her the all-time leader in three-point field goals at MTSU. The Lady Raiders grew their lead to 27 at the media break and took a 65-37 lead into the fourth. MTSU would continue to dominate in the final period and go on to win 87-55

Wheeler led all scorers with 16 points, seven assists and four steals. She was followed by Anastasiia Boldyreva who tallied a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double, while Jalynn Gregory and Whitson each posted 14 points, and Sifa Ineza and Iullia Grabovskaia both logged 10 points.

By the Numbers
100: Boldyreva was a perfect 7-of-7 from the field, including 1-of-1 from beyond the arc.
55: The Lady Raiders shot 55 percent from the field, including 57 percent from beyond the arc, compared to Sam Houston's 35 percent.
42-24: MTSU outrebounded the Bearkats 42-24 on the afternoon. Coming into the game Sam Houston was second in the nation in offensive boards.

Lady Raider Notes
• With 16 points Wheeler now ranks in the top 10 all-time Conference USA scorers.
• With four three-point field goals on the afternoon Whitson surpassed Kortni Jones as the all-time leader in program history with 260 career three-point field goals.
• MTSU had six players score in double figures on the afternoon. The last time five or more Lady Raiders scored in double figure was Feb. 26, 2023, against WKU.
• Double-Digits: Wheeler logged her 102nd career double-figure scoring performance, while Whitson tallied her 61st, Gregory posted her 44th, Boldyreva notched her 30th, Ineza logged her 14th and
Grabovskaia tallied her second.
• Boldyreva became the first Lady Raider to post back-to-back double-doubles since 2020 (Anastasia Hayes, TCU and Troy).
• Middle Tennessee has thrived under Coach Insell, posting a 140-18 record when making 10 or more shots from beyond the arc.
• The Lady Raiders are 165-87 overall on the road under Insell, including 64-20 on the road in CUSA play, and 122-31 in conference road games overall (CUSA & Sun Belt).

Up Next
The Lady Raiders return to Murfreesboro to host UTEP on Thursday, Jan. 18. Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. CT and the game will 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).