Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
WKU
Lady Raiders head to Bowling Green to face WKU
2/23/2024 1:58:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Saturday, Feb. 24 | 11 a.m. | E.A. Diddle Arena | Bowling Green, Ky. |
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MIDDLE TENNESSEE LADY RAIDERS 22-4, 12-0 CUSA |
at | WKU LADY TOPPERS 15-12, 6-6 CUSA |
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| WATCH: ESPNU | STATS: LINK | RADIO: WGNS (LINK) | MEDIA CENTER: LINK | ||||
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Middle Tennessee travels to Conference USA rival WKU for a matchup on Saturday, Feb. 24. Tipoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT. The game will air on the Blue Raider Network and broadcast on ESPNU.
GAME 27
» Saturday, February 24 - 11 a.m.
» E.A. Diddle Arena
» Bowling Green, Ky.
SERIES HISTORY
» This marks the 75th meeting in series history between the Middle Tennessee Lady Raiders and WKU Lady Toppers.
» Middle Tennessee owns a 42-32 lead over WKU in the all-time series.
» MTSU won the previous meeting against its Conference USA rival this season 80-48 at the Murphy Center. This marked the eighth win over the last nine contests against Western Kentucky, and the most dominant win over the Lady Toppers in the series history.
LADY RAIDER NOTES
» With a win Saturday, Middle Tennessee would move to 23-4 overall and 13-0 in CUSA play, clinching the regular season championship.
» Savannah Wheeler graduated this December with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Integrated Studies and plans to pursue another degree in Health and Human Performance.
» With a pair of triples against GCU, Wheeler became just the 16th player in CUSA history to eclipse 200 career made three-point field goals.
» With four three-point field goals against Sam Houston, Courtney Whitson became the all-time record holder at Middle Tennessee with 260.
» The Lady Raiders are coming off a 66-40 win over Jax State. Despite a slow start, Middle Tennessee's stout defense shut the Gamecock's offense down in the second half. Anastasiia Boldyreva led the way with 27 points on 12-of-15 shooting (80 percent).
» Wheeler was named the Conference USA Player of the Week. This marks back-to-back weeks she has taken home that honor and her fourth of the season. The graduate helped lead MTSU to its 11th consecutive victory as she logged 43 points on 12-of-26 shooting, including 6-of-11 from beyond the arc. This marks the ninth weekly CUSA accolade picked up by a Lady Raider this season.
» With five rebounds against FIU, Courtney Whitson joined Ebony Rowe as the only Lady Raiders in program history to eclipse 1,000 career rebounds and 1,000 career points.
» With 18 points against the Miners, Savannah Wheeler became the 10th player in Conference USA history to eclipse 2,000 career points.
» With 13 free throws against the Aggies, Wheeler became the CUSA all-time leader in career free throws made with 579.
» With eight points against the Aggies, Jalynn Gregory became just the 34th Lady Raider to eclipse 1,000 career points.
» With a career-high eight triples against the Gamecocks, Jalynn Gregory became the 17th player in CUSA history to eclipse 200 career made three-pointers. She joins Savannah Wheeler and Courtney Whitson as the only Lady Raiders to accomplish that feat.
» Anastasiia Boldyreva has established herself as one of the top defenders in the nation. She currently leads the league and ranks fourth in the nation with 80 blocks on the season.
» Middle Tennessee became just the 25th school in NCAA Division I women's basketball history and the third in Conference USA to reach 1,000 program wins on Thursday, Nov. 9 when the Lady Raiders defeated the Florida A&M Rattlers 93-48.
» The 2023-24 roster boasts seven international players: Jada Grannum (Canada); Dora Van Rijs (Hungary); Anastasiia Boldyreva, Iullia Grabovskaia and Stanislava Kabernick (Russia); Sifa Ineza (Rwanda); Zahira Arizmendi Rubio(Spain). Entering this season the Lady Raiders have only had 10 international players in program history.
» Head Coach Rick Insell has led the Lady Raiders to 17 consecutive post-seasons. He has tallied a 455-155 record at his alma mater.
» Paint Huntsville #TrueBlue again! Get your all session passes for the Conference USA Basketball Tournament (March 12-16) in Huntsville, Alabama today by contacting the MTSU Ticket Office at 615-898-5261. For just $175 you can attend both the men's and women's games.
SCOUTING THE LADY TOPPERS
» WKU is 6-6 in league play with wins against Liberty, Sam Houston, UTEP, Louisiana Tech and a sweep against Jacksonville State. The Lady Toppers are in fourth place in the Conference USA standings.
» Alexis Mead is the conference's steals leader with 54 on the season. She's third in the league in assists with 104.
» WKU is forcing teams into 20.07 turnovers per game this season, which is the second highest average in CUSA and 30th highest in the nation. On those turnovers, the Lady Toppers are averaging 10.9 steals per game which is the most in the league and 23rd in the NCAA.
» The Lady Toppers have three players in the top five in CUSA in steals per game. Mead is averaging 2.00 which is second and Teresa Faustino and Josie Gilvin are averaging 1.70 per game which is tied for fifth in the league.
» The Lady Toppers finished non-conference play with wins against Mercer, Southern Utah, Cornell, Miami (OH), Bucknell, Vermont, Abilene Christian, Nevada and West Virginia State for a 9-6 record.
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).
