Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Tuesday, November 19
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
6:30 p.m.
Middle Tennessee
4-1,0-0CUSA
69
vs
52
Tennessee Tech
4-1,0-0OVC
1
2
3
4
F
Tennessee Tech
10
15
14
13
52
Middle Tenn.
16
15
19
19
69
Blue Raiders Continue Strong Start to New Season, Roll Past Tennessee Tech 69-52
11/19/2024 10:36:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Blue Raiders improve to 4-1 with the win over the Golden Eagles
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (4-1) continued their strong start to the 2024-25 season with another win on their home floor, defeating the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (4-1) 69-52 in a battle of in-state foes at the Murphy Center on Tuesday night.
The win tonight improves the Blue Raiders' overall record to 4-1 through the first five games, with double digit wins over Northern Kentucky, Grand Canyon, Alcorn State and Tennessee Tech.
The Blue Raiders battled their way through the first quarter behind two early field goals from Ta'Mia Scott and a solid effort on the defensive end. The defense once again set the tone early for Middle Tennessee, forcing turnovers at an efficient rate, creating easy transition opportunities for their offense. The Blue Raiders controlled a 16-10 advantage after the first quarter, led by six points from both Scott and Jalynn Gregory.
Middle Tennessee started to pull away early in the second period, opening the quarter on a 9-3 run, forcing the Golden Eagles to use their first timeout of the half. Following the timeout, Tennessee Tech slowly found their way back into the game, closing out the first half by outscoring the home side 12-6 over the final six minutes of play, cutting the deficit to 31-25 heading into the halftime break.
The Blue Raiders came out of the intermission with a reenergized offense, extending their lead back to double digits at the 7:41 mark of the third quarter after a pair of layups from Scott and Elina Arike and a three pointer from point-guard Courtney Blakely. The Middle Tennessee lead would remain at 11 going into the final 10 minutes of the game, as the Blue Raiders' defense continued to keep Tennessee Tech from finding any sort of rhythm on the offensive end.
Scott, who finished as tonight's Player of the Game, capped off her 23-point performance with five more in the fourth quarter, as well as adding a pair of steals to her stat-line. The Blue Raiders would see out a 17-point win over Tennessee Tech on their home floor, remaining unbeaten at the Murphy Center in the 2024 calendar year.
By the Numbers
86.4: Middle Tennessee shot 86%, 19-22, from the charity stripe, making the most of their foul line opportunities, including a perfect 10-10 night for Gregory.
52: The Blue Raiders held Tennessee Tech to just 52 points, shooting 34% from the field, the fourth time this season MTSU has held their opponent under 60 points for the game.
23: MTSU scored 23 points off 18 Tennessee Tech turnovers, forced by 12 steals from the Blue Raiders.
Thoughts from Head Coach Rick Insell
"It was a hard-fought game, like most of them are. Every game we have with Tech, no matter what their record is, it's hard fought. They played tough. I wish them all the luck in the world. We didn't play one of our better games, and a lot of it was because of them. They got in there early and blocked three or four shots. I thought our perimeter guards, especially Ta'Mia Scott, I thought she was absolutely phenomenal tonight. She just continues to get better and better."
"We had way too any turnovers. We had 15 turnovers. We have to do a better job with that."
Blue Raider Notes
Scott (23 points), Gregory (20 points) and Boldyreva all logged to full 40 minutes of tonight's contest, with Blakely also clocking in with 39 minutes spent on the floor.
Up Next
Following the brief homestand, the Blue Raiders will begin a three-game road trip in the state of Florida, starting in Tallahassee against the Florida A&M Rattlers on Tuesday, Nov. 26. The time for opening tipoff is currently TBD.
Upcoming Game Promotion: Murfreesboro City Schools Education Day December 4th vs. SIUE | 11 A.M.
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).
The win tonight improves the Blue Raiders' overall record to 4-1 through the first five games, with double digit wins over Northern Kentucky, Grand Canyon, Alcorn State and Tennessee Tech.
The Blue Raiders battled their way through the first quarter behind two early field goals from Ta'Mia Scott and a solid effort on the defensive end. The defense once again set the tone early for Middle Tennessee, forcing turnovers at an efficient rate, creating easy transition opportunities for their offense. The Blue Raiders controlled a 16-10 advantage after the first quarter, led by six points from both Scott and Jalynn Gregory.
Middle Tennessee started to pull away early in the second period, opening the quarter on a 9-3 run, forcing the Golden Eagles to use their first timeout of the half. Following the timeout, Tennessee Tech slowly found their way back into the game, closing out the first half by outscoring the home side 12-6 over the final six minutes of play, cutting the deficit to 31-25 heading into the halftime break.
The Blue Raiders came out of the intermission with a reenergized offense, extending their lead back to double digits at the 7:41 mark of the third quarter after a pair of layups from Scott and Elina Arike and a three pointer from point-guard Courtney Blakely. The Middle Tennessee lead would remain at 11 going into the final 10 minutes of the game, as the Blue Raiders' defense continued to keep Tennessee Tech from finding any sort of rhythm on the offensive end.
Scott, who finished as tonight's Player of the Game, capped off her 23-point performance with five more in the fourth quarter, as well as adding a pair of steals to her stat-line. The Blue Raiders would see out a 17-point win over Tennessee Tech on their home floor, remaining unbeaten at the Murphy Center in the 2024 calendar year.
By the Numbers
86.4: Middle Tennessee shot 86%, 19-22, from the charity stripe, making the most of their foul line opportunities, including a perfect 10-10 night for Gregory.
52: The Blue Raiders held Tennessee Tech to just 52 points, shooting 34% from the field, the fourth time this season MTSU has held their opponent under 60 points for the game.
23: MTSU scored 23 points off 18 Tennessee Tech turnovers, forced by 12 steals from the Blue Raiders.
Thoughts from Head Coach Rick Insell
"It was a hard-fought game, like most of them are. Every game we have with Tech, no matter what their record is, it's hard fought. They played tough. I wish them all the luck in the world. We didn't play one of our better games, and a lot of it was because of them. They got in there early and blocked three or four shots. I thought our perimeter guards, especially Ta'Mia Scott, I thought she was absolutely phenomenal tonight. She just continues to get better and better."
"We had way too any turnovers. We had 15 turnovers. We have to do a better job with that."
Blue Raider Notes
Scott (23 points), Gregory (20 points) and Boldyreva all logged to full 40 minutes of tonight's contest, with Blakely also clocking in with 39 minutes spent on the floor.
Up Next
Following the brief homestand, the Blue Raiders will begin a three-game road trip in the state of Florida, starting in Tallahassee against the Florida A&M Rattlers on Tuesday, Nov. 26. The time for opening tipoff is currently TBD.
Upcoming Game Promotion: Murfreesboro City Schools Education Day December 4th vs. SIUE | 11 A.M.
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).
Team Stats
TNTech
MTSU
FG%
.345
.400
3FG%
.318
.300
FT%
.538
.864
RB
36
37
TO
18
15
STL
8
12
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
8
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
20
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
10
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
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