Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
"It’s a win. We've got to be happy” — Much to work on for the Blue Raiders after steady win over Golden Eagles
11/20/2024 3:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MTSU was never truly in trouble on Tuesday night but could not pull away against an in-state foe.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — It speaks well to the standard set by Middle Tennessee women's basketball that after a 17-point win over an in-state rival Tennessee Tech in which the Blue Raiders led all but 38 seconds of the game that head coach Rick Insell was clearly unsatisfied with his team's performance.
"We won't have a week off," Insell said of the team's upcoming schedule. "We've got a week off of playing games, but I can promise you...we've got to play a lot better there and at that game in Florida than we played here, or we'll get beat before we get there."
Like with any win, one that Insell said he'll ultimately be "happy" with, there was plenty MTSU did well on Tuesday night in Murphy Center. Forcing the Golden Eagles into 18 turnovers, 12 of which came on MTSU steals, ultimately led to 23 points off turnovers for the Blue Raiders, many of which were part of the team's 21 fast break points on the night. And while MTSU made just three more field goals than TTU did on the night, they got to the free throw line nine more times than the Golden Eagles, making 19 of 22 at the charity stripe.
Perhaps the best performance for the Blue Raiders came from Ta'Mia Scott, who Insell praised as "phenomenal" on offense on Tuesday. The junior wing finished with 23 points, including a 3-for-5 night from three, with eight rebounds, two steals, a block and no turnovers. Jalynn Gregory's 20-point night, including a 10-for-10 evening on free throws, didn't hurt the home team's efforts either.
But while the Blue Raiders maintained a steady double-digit lead most of the second half, they could never pull away from Tennessee Tech like they had done to so many opponents in Insell's tenure in Murfreesboro. That's a credit to the Golden Eagles, Insell said, but also something that MTSU needs to work on.
"Every time we got a 13, 14, 15 point lead and it looked like we were going to separate ourselves," Insell said, "they'd hit a three or hit two threes or we'd do something, throw the ball away, didn't get into our offense, force a shot, just do something that we've got to do a better job with. We can't do that."
The 15 turnovers the Blue Raiders committed on Tuesday, seven from Courtney Blakely and six from Anastasiia Boldyreva, are an immediate concern for Insell. As is the team's shot selection at times, with Insell highlighting he'd prefer bigs Boldyreva and Elina Arike not take a combined eight three-pointers, particularly if all eight were going to miss.
"I've definitely got to get the gym in more, get that right," Arike said. "With the team, we've got to execute more, execute better. We're known to be an unselfish team. I think we still get that, but we've still got to move the ball more to find the easier shots for us."
With seven days until the team's next game, on the road at Florida A&M before the program's MTE against Purdue and Iowa State in Ft. Myers over Thanksgiving break, Insell challenged his team to get into the gym on their own time away from practice, from the starters like Scott, Gregory and Blakely, who played 39-40 minutes on Tuesday, to players off the bench like Jada Harrison and Savannah Davis. It's something that Scott is looking forward to for not only herself, but the entire team.
"It just gives me time to go in there to do stuff outside of practice," Scott said of the upcoming week. "It's a good opportunity for my teammates to step up and go to the gym and find out what that does for them and our team."
