Middle Tennessee Falls 75-59 to No. 15 Iowa State in Fort Myers Tip-Off Finale

Saturday, November 30

Fort Myers, Fla.

12:30 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

6-2,0-0CUSA

Iowa State

6-2,0-0Big 12

Middle Tenn.

Iowa St.

11/30/2024 3:28:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Ta’Mia Scott led all scorers with 24 points in loss

By: Zach Brown, MTSU Athletic Communications

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (6-2) ended their road stretch in Fort Myers, Fla. with a 75-59 loss to the No. 15 Iowa State Cyclones (6-2) in the Elevance Health Women's Fort Myers Tip-Off at Suncoast Arena.

Despite shooting just 24% from the floor in the first quarter, the Blue Raiders led the 15^th ranked Cyclones 17-16 behind seven points from both Anastasiia Boldyreva and Ta'Mia Scott. Middle Tennessee led by as many as five in the opening quarter of play.

Middle Tennessee and Iowa State traded baskets, as well as scoring runs, in the start of the second quarter. The Blue Raiders' struggles from the field continued, shooting just 28%, but increased its opportunities from the three-point line and the free throw line, shooting 50% and 92% for the quarter, respectively. The Cyclones ended the half on an 8-2 run to take a 41-33 lead into the halftime break.

Iowa State began to pull away in the third quarter, extending their lead to 13 heading into the fourth. The Cyclones bounced back with a win following their 40-point loss to No. 4 South Carolina with a 75-59 result over Middle Tennessee to close out the Fort Myers Tip-Off.

Scott led the Blue Raiders with 24 points, along with five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Boldyreva and Jalynn Gregory also finished in double-figures with 14 points each.

Despite their struggled from the field, shooting just 31%, the Blue Raiders converted all but one of their attempts from the charity stripe, shooting 19-20 from the line. MTSU also came up with 10 steals on the defensive end, leading to 13 points off 18 Iowa State turnovers.

By the Numbers
24: Ta'Mia Scott led all scorers with 24 points, tying her season-high.
54.7: Iowa State shot 54.7% from the field in the win, as well as 42% from three and 81% from the free throw line.
20: The Cyclones picked up 20 points off their bench, led by Sydney Harris with nine.

Thoughts from Head Coach Rick Insell
"When we ran our offense early, and didn't freelance, we either scored or got fouled. Then we got away from that and started freelancing and taking shots that we don't normally take. They got up by eight or 10 points, hit a three before half, and the game got away from us."

"That's why you play games like this, teams that are as good or better to get you better. You have to have some different strategies both offensively and defensively. That will help when we start conference play."

Blue Raider Notes
Middle Tennessee drops their second contest through the first eight games of the 2024-25 season today vs. the fifteenth-ranked Cyclones. The Blue Raiders have now started 6-2 in each of the last two seasons.

Up Next
Following their spell of games in Fort Myers, Fla., the Blue Raiders will return to Murfreesboro for a meeting with the SIUE Cougars on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at the Murphy Center at 11 A.M.

Upcoming Home Game Promotion: Murfreesboro City Schools Education Day December 4th

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