Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
COLUMN: “I was a part of something a lot bigger”
3/17/2024 12:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Ta’Mia Scott exemplifies all the best qualities of her Lady Raider teammates
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Decades from now, when you look back at the 2023-24 Lady Raiders, the second ever Conference USA women's basketball team to run the table in CUSA play and then win the CUSA Tournament, it won't be hard to find many of the key contributors in both the conference and program record books.
Savannah Wheeler, named 2024 CUSA Tournament MVP after MTSU's 67-51 title game victory over Liberty on Saturday night, is already there, of course, the conference's all-time leader in free throws made and a top-three scorer in conference history as well.
"They were probably erecting a statue of her at Marshall," head coach Rick Insell said of his CUSA Player of the Year guard. "It took somebody really gritty and gutty, because she'd already scored over a thousand points there, to make a decision to leave that program and come to Middle Tennessee... Marshall's a great place. She did a great job there. But they weren't going to accomplish what she wanted. And she's not through yet."
Wheeler, who became the program's 35th 1,000 point-club member on Friday, was joined on the All-Tournament team by two other Lady Raider 1,000-point club members: Jalynn Gregory, who's rapid second quarter put MTSU in control against the Flames, and Anastasiia Boldyreva, who again proved to be the class of a loaded CUSA front court through three games in Huntsville. Meanwhile, MTSU's fourth active 1,000-point scorer, Courtney Whitson, already possesses the record for most minutes played that will likely never be broken, unless another global pandemic creates extra years of eligibility.
But it's the team's fifth starter, the one still 542 points away from joining her teammates in the 1,000-point club, that I'm going to remember this Lady Raider team by the most. Because Ta'Mia Scott represents everything this program prides itself on. On the court, it's her tenacious defense, her ability to score from the outside and at the rim, that's kept her in the starting lineup all year long. And it's her work ethic off the court that got her there in the first place.
"This year, it was kind of a relief to know that I was a part of something a lot bigger," Scott said.
Scott came into the Lady Raider program with a trophy case of prep accolades from Clarksville High School. She scored over 2,000 career points, earned multiple All-State selections and even was named a finalist for Tennessee Miss Basketball. Most programs would've started her right away. But most programs aren't Middle Tennessee, who had two entrenched starters on the wing and a third guard off the bench that could play 1-3.
As one person put it to me this week, Scott wasn't even on other team's scouting reports about the Lady Raiders last year. Not because of her lack of talent, but merely because she wanted to be amongst the best, as all Lady Raiders are. And that might mean you've got to pay your dues behind other talented players.
She won a CUSA title her freshman year, playing in just five minutes of mop-up duty against Charlotte in 2023. But it's hard to feel total ownership of a title when you're not on the court winning it, day-in and day-out.
Rick Insell, however, still had confidence in Scott. He saw the talent every day in practice, as well as the work she was putting in on her own time to fight for playing time.
"Everybody kind of got hacked off last year, when we put on the report for freshman of year (that) she didn't get much time but she's probably the best freshman in the conference," Insell said.
With the departure of some key pieces from the 2022-23 team, an opportunity opened up on the wing in the Lady Raiders' lineup. Scott has taken full advantage of it, averaging over 12 points and nearly six rebounds a game, while ranking in the top five in CUSA in blocks. She was named to the All-Conference team just this week. And on Saturday, in the fourth quarter against Liberty, she took over, scoring 10 of her 16 points in the final frame, getting her number called in offensive sets over and over again to drive to the basket or hit a three when Liberty stayed back to contain her drives.
"We wouldn't have won the ball game without Ta'Mia taking over out there," Insell said. "Right now, you might want to ask the coaches who the best sophomore in the conference is. (It's) Ta'Mia Scott."
For Scott, who earned her second ring in as many tries on Saturday, this one was all the more sweeter after knowing the road she's taken.
"Last year, I watched all the starting five do their thing," Scott said. "I knew my time was going to come. But this year, it feels so much more different and so much more appreciative of it, because I worked so hard for it on the court."
Scott's not the only Lady Raider who puts in the work. There's not a day that goes by in the slow summer months at Murphy Center that someone from the MTSU Women's Basketball program hasn't rolled out "the gun" shooting machine early in the morning as everyone else is strolling in, putting up thousands of shots on their own time. There's not a week where the team isn't conditioning in the weight room, getting ready for the gauntlet the team is put under every year. And all of that work gives them confidence to perform, as Scott and her teammates have done all season.
The book on the 2023-24 Lady Raiders is not quite over yet, of course. With the win on Saturday, MTSU awaits news of its NCAA Tournament fate tonight in the selection show. And their head coach counts them out against nobody.
"This bunch right here, they're not afraid to play anybody," Insell said. "I don't care who it is, South Carolina, it don't make any difference. They may be taller, they may have more lateral quickness. But you watch this little group, you can't measure their hearts."
But sequels, as MTSU learned on Saturday, can be even sweeter than the original. Even Savannah Wheeler, who wraps up her eligibility this season at MTSU, couldn't help but look ahead at the team's future with Scott.
"She's not done yet, she's got two more years too," Wheeler said. "Think about how she is right now. Can you imagine what she's going to be next year and the year after that?"
Perhaps their head coach put it best on Saturday.
"I guess we'll be destined to win it again."
Savannah Wheeler, named 2024 CUSA Tournament MVP after MTSU's 67-51 title game victory over Liberty on Saturday night, is already there, of course, the conference's all-time leader in free throws made and a top-three scorer in conference history as well.
"They were probably erecting a statue of her at Marshall," head coach Rick Insell said of his CUSA Player of the Year guard. "It took somebody really gritty and gutty, because she'd already scored over a thousand points there, to make a decision to leave that program and come to Middle Tennessee... Marshall's a great place. She did a great job there. But they weren't going to accomplish what she wanted. And she's not through yet."
Wheeler, who became the program's 35th 1,000 point-club member on Friday, was joined on the All-Tournament team by two other Lady Raider 1,000-point club members: Jalynn Gregory, who's rapid second quarter put MTSU in control against the Flames, and Anastasiia Boldyreva, who again proved to be the class of a loaded CUSA front court through three games in Huntsville. Meanwhile, MTSU's fourth active 1,000-point scorer, Courtney Whitson, already possesses the record for most minutes played that will likely never be broken, unless another global pandemic creates extra years of eligibility.
But it's the team's fifth starter, the one still 542 points away from joining her teammates in the 1,000-point club, that I'm going to remember this Lady Raider team by the most. Because Ta'Mia Scott represents everything this program prides itself on. On the court, it's her tenacious defense, her ability to score from the outside and at the rim, that's kept her in the starting lineup all year long. And it's her work ethic off the court that got her there in the first place.
"This year, it was kind of a relief to know that I was a part of something a lot bigger," Scott said.
Scott came into the Lady Raider program with a trophy case of prep accolades from Clarksville High School. She scored over 2,000 career points, earned multiple All-State selections and even was named a finalist for Tennessee Miss Basketball. Most programs would've started her right away. But most programs aren't Middle Tennessee, who had two entrenched starters on the wing and a third guard off the bench that could play 1-3.
As one person put it to me this week, Scott wasn't even on other team's scouting reports about the Lady Raiders last year. Not because of her lack of talent, but merely because she wanted to be amongst the best, as all Lady Raiders are. And that might mean you've got to pay your dues behind other talented players.
She won a CUSA title her freshman year, playing in just five minutes of mop-up duty against Charlotte in 2023. But it's hard to feel total ownership of a title when you're not on the court winning it, day-in and day-out.
Rick Insell, however, still had confidence in Scott. He saw the talent every day in practice, as well as the work she was putting in on her own time to fight for playing time.
"Everybody kind of got hacked off last year, when we put on the report for freshman of year (that) she didn't get much time but she's probably the best freshman in the conference," Insell said.
With the departure of some key pieces from the 2022-23 team, an opportunity opened up on the wing in the Lady Raiders' lineup. Scott has taken full advantage of it, averaging over 12 points and nearly six rebounds a game, while ranking in the top five in CUSA in blocks. She was named to the All-Conference team just this week. And on Saturday, in the fourth quarter against Liberty, she took over, scoring 10 of her 16 points in the final frame, getting her number called in offensive sets over and over again to drive to the basket or hit a three when Liberty stayed back to contain her drives.
"We wouldn't have won the ball game without Ta'Mia taking over out there," Insell said. "Right now, you might want to ask the coaches who the best sophomore in the conference is. (It's) Ta'Mia Scott."
For Scott, who earned her second ring in as many tries on Saturday, this one was all the more sweeter after knowing the road she's taken.
"Last year, I watched all the starting five do their thing," Scott said. "I knew my time was going to come. But this year, it feels so much more different and so much more appreciative of it, because I worked so hard for it on the court."
Scott's not the only Lady Raider who puts in the work. There's not a day that goes by in the slow summer months at Murphy Center that someone from the MTSU Women's Basketball program hasn't rolled out "the gun" shooting machine early in the morning as everyone else is strolling in, putting up thousands of shots on their own time. There's not a week where the team isn't conditioning in the weight room, getting ready for the gauntlet the team is put under every year. And all of that work gives them confidence to perform, as Scott and her teammates have done all season.
The book on the 2023-24 Lady Raiders is not quite over yet, of course. With the win on Saturday, MTSU awaits news of its NCAA Tournament fate tonight in the selection show. And their head coach counts them out against nobody.
"This bunch right here, they're not afraid to play anybody," Insell said. "I don't care who it is, South Carolina, it don't make any difference. They may be taller, they may have more lateral quickness. But you watch this little group, you can't measure their hearts."
But sequels, as MTSU learned on Saturday, can be even sweeter than the original. Even Savannah Wheeler, who wraps up her eligibility this season at MTSU, couldn't help but look ahead at the team's future with Scott.
"She's not done yet, she's got two more years too," Wheeler said. "Think about how she is right now. Can you imagine what she's going to be next year and the year after that?"
Perhaps their head coach put it best on Saturday.
"I guess we'll be destined to win it again."
Players Mentioned
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