Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
“We've got a team here, we haven't got individuals” - Monson, Kabernick step up for Blue Raiders
1/24/2025 4:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Injury to Elina Arike created an opportunity for two reserves to make their mark in CUSA play
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Emily Monson got the word early from Matt Insell she'd be needed this week. With starting forward Elina Arike dealing with a lower body injury, she sustained late in the game against Western Kentucky last week, the Middle Tennessee Associate Head Coach let Monson know early in the week she was going to get the nod at the four for her team.
With one minor caveat, Monson said.
"If I don't mess anything up," the sophomore recalled with a laugh.
It wasn't a perfect game for Monson on Thursday night against Sam Houston, though rarely any night of basketball even for the most experienced of players. The same was true for Stanislava Kabernick, who played most of the minutes at the four for Monson when she was out of the game. But in the absence of Arike, the two Blue Raiders combined to give MTSU the energy they needed to dominate the Bearkats, 66-38, on Thursday evening.
"Tonight, I thought Emily and Stacy both did pretty well," Head Coach Rick Insell said. "Not as well as I'd like, not as well as they'd like, but well enough that we got an (almost) 30-point win out there tonight."
The elder Insell's standards are appropriately high, but it was hard not to see the flashes both players showed on the court. Both Monson and Kabernick showed defensive intensity, with each picking up a block while doing a solid job guarding Nyla Inmon as the primary defender, who was held to just 3-for-16 from the field on Thursday. Both players ended up scoring, with Monson finding herself wide open near the basket in the second quarter for an easy layup, while Kabernick drained a corner three off an assist from Courtney Blakely.
𝙏𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮'𝙧𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 🫵 pic.twitter.com/HdkUXWZ2FT
— Middle Tennessee Women's Basketball (@MT_WBB) January 24, 2025
𝗕𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻' 𝗨𝗽 🔥
— Middle Tennessee Women's Basketball (@MT_WBB) January 24, 2025
Stacy hits a corner @LeeCompany three!#TrueBlue | #Team50 pic.twitter.com/CH6V9KVL1S
In total, across a combined 30 minutes on the court, Monson and Kabernick teamed up for five points, five rebounds and one assist while playing good defense on the other end. Arike entered the week averaging 6.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. A night not that far off from what the Blue Raiders were accustomed to at the four, then, though one Insell wants his reserves to continue to build on.
Monson and Kabernick, for their part, seemed ready from the jump, with Monson saying her nerves were gone as soon as lineup introductions were over from her first start.
"As soon as the ball tipped, I was good," said Monson, who has played in just nine of MTSU's 18 games prior to the win over Sam Houston. "I was just trying to focus on defense and rebounding and stuff like that. I was just excited."
Kabernick, who appeared in just the sixth contest of her career on Thursday, relished the opportunity to contribute after a redshirt season last year.
"It was a good opportunity for me today and I took advantage of it," the Russian international said. "Last year, I was a redshirt, so this year I'm finally glad to help my team on the court."
The energy both Monson and Kabernick provide, teammate Ta'Mia Scott said, is evident every day in practice, even with the limited time both have gotten in games this season.
"They just come in with good energy and they're just willing to learn," Scott said. "They have good attitudes, and the coaches see that and they watch that every day.
Thursday, it helped that many of the usual suspects for the Blue Raiders, from Ta'Mia Scott (14 points, four rebounds, three blocks) to Courtney Blakely (team-high 18 points and four assists, to go with three steals) and Anastasiia Boldyreva (just four points, but 15 rebounds and seven blocks) showed up in a big way to help MTSU return to their dominant standards, particularly on defense, where the Bearkats were held under 20 percent from the floor. But when opportunity knocked, Monson and Kabernick answered. Something Insell reminds his players at practice every day.
"You've got to go to that next person and get them ready. We've got a team here; we haven't got individuals," Insell said. "The last time I had a situation like that, there was a young lady by the name of Charity Savage. And she started every game in her career the rest of her life and ended up getting 14 or 15 rebounds a night."
