Middle Tennessee Routes Jacksonville State 69-35 for Fourth Consecutive Win

Saturday, January 11

Jacksonville, Ala.

1:30 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

12-5,4-0CUSA

Jax State

7-7,1-2CUSA

Middle Tenn.

Jacksonville St.

1/11/2025 4:46:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Three Blue Raiders score in double figures in 34-point win over the Gamecocks

By: Zach Brown, MTSU Athletic Communications

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (12-5, 4-0 CUSA) continued their perfect start to the 2025 CUSA campaign with their fourth consecutive victory today, defeating the Jacksonville State Gamecocks (7-7, 1-2 CUSA) 69-35 in the second of three straight games on the road.

Middle Tennessee opened the game on a 14-2 scoring run behind seven early points from Ta'Mia Scott. The Blue Raiders' defense was stifling early on and seemed to set the tone from the opening tip, allowing just four first-quarter points to Jacksonville State, tying their season-low. The Blue Raiders domination of Jacksonville State led into the second quarter, extending their lead to 15 heading into the halftime break.

Middle Tennessee continued to shoot the ball well from the floor in the second half, with Anastasiia Boldyreva, Courtney Blakley and Elina Arike, all of which would finish the game in double figures, each added eight points to their tallies during the third quarter, including a pair of threes from Arike. The lead would grow to 26 by the end of the third. MTSU closed out their convincing performance in Jacksonville by outscoring the Gamecocks 15-7 over the final 10 minutes of the afternoon, resulting in a 34-point win on the road.

Boldyreva led all scorers with 21 points, shooting an efficient 8-13 from the field, to go with 13 rebounds and an impressive six blocked shots. Today's performance marked Boldyreva's fifth double-double of the season and her eighth game with 3+ blocks. In her third double-double of the season, Scott added 18 points, including a perfect 7-7 mark from the free throw line, and 11 rebounds.

As a team, Middle Tennessee held Jacksonville State to just 21% shooting from the field, the Blue Raiders' lowest opposing field goal percentage of the season.

By the Numbers
266: In their opening four games of conference play, MTSU has outscored their opponents 266-161, resulting in four consecutive wins, all coming by double digits.
10: The Blue Raiders tied their single-game season high in blocks today against the Gamecocks with 10, led by Boldyreva with six.
21 & 7: Middle Tennessee recorded seven steals, leading to 21 points off turnovers with Jalynn Gregory and Blakely both picking up three take aways.

Thoughts from Head Coach Rick Insell
"We've done a good job, and that includes our entire coaching staff, working on our defensive principles. We held their leading scorer to eight points."
"I'm really proud of the girls. They played hard and shared the ball."

Player's Perspective with Ta'Mia Scott
"Defensive is definitely what kept us in this game, and kept the score where we needed it to be. We found ourselves offensively in the second half, but that would not have come without our defensive intensity."

Blue Raider Notes
The Conference USA win streak extends to 33 for the Blue Raiders with the win today over Jacksonville State, as they continue to sit atop the conference standings with a perfect 4-0 start to league play.

Up Next
The Blue Raiders will close out their three-game road trip next weekend, as they are set to take on the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 2 p.m. at E.A. Diddle Arena.

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).