Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
“We don't like them, they don't like us” - Blue Raider Basketball relishes Saturday sweep over WKU
2/17/2025 12:00:00 PM | General, Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball
Both the men’s and women’s programs dispatched their rival intense games on Saturday
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — By the strictest of definitions, Courtney Blakley's final layup of the afternoon was entirely unnecessary.
But when Anastasiia Boldyreva pulled down a rebound with just over 90 seconds left in a game MTSU led by 10 points, Western Kentucky didn't have to double team the post player. Josie Gilvin didn't have to flopping on a clear out move from the Russian, for that matter. And Alexis Mead, with four fouls, didn't have to reach in when Blakely drove into the paint and make it all too easy for the point guard to finish with an And-1 and foul out the Lady Topper point guard.
"I usually don't do celebrations," Blakely said of running along the entire MTSU bench after her layup. "But I get really hype for Western, I don't know why. It was just a really good feeling."
The Blue Raider point guard did know why, however, this game has a little extra motivation for everyone involved, whether they're wearing red or blue.
"What do they call it?" Blakely asked reporters rhetorically in the press conference post-game. The Daily News Journal's Cecil Joyce played along: '100 Miles of Hate.' "Yes!" Blakely said. "That's what they call it. It's kind of like that for me, I guess mentally."
Middle Tennessee women's basketball didn't need any extra motivation in their 73-63 win over WKU on Saturday afternoon, but avenging their only loss in CUSA play, taken last month in Bowling Green, didn't hurt as an added bit of sourness to a game that featured two teams that clearly wanted to get after one another.
"If you paid your money to get in today, you saw a heck of a game," head coach Rick Insell said. "They played hard, we played hard, it's what it's all about."
It was remarkable to see post-game just how closely contested many of the stats were between the two sides. The Lady Toppers outrebounded the Blue Raiders by three, 35-32, but turned the ball over 17 times to MTSU's 12, resulting in 10 more points off turnovers for the home team. While MTSU made their mark inside, nearly doubling WKU in points in the paint (32-18), the visitors had the better day from outside, making 11 threes to MTSU's seven. Each team also was balanced offensively, with four players apiece scoring in double figures. Though only MTSU had three players score at least 15 points (24 from Ta'Mia Scott, 21 from Boldyreva and 15 from Blakely).
The Blue Raiders even trailed after the first quarter, thanks in large part to scalding start from the outside for WKU, who made 6-of-7 three-point attempts in the game's first 10 minutes. But MTSU stayed aggressive, eventually getting two first half fouls on Mead, Gilvin and Destiny Salary, all of whom sat the final eight minutes of the half. That gave MTSU space to take the lead by one at the break and ride that momentum to a comfortable win, one that gave MTSU some breathing room at the top of the CUSA standings.
"We're excited to be where we're at," Insell said. "That gave us a little separation on those two automatic (byes)."
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — When Camryn Weston first got to Middle Tennessee in 2021, he's not sure who told him this fact. But he hasn't forgotten it in nearly four years.
"I remember somebody told me, 'I don't care if you beat nobody else, as long as you beat WKU,'" Weston said. "The hate runs deep, for sure."
Three hours later from the end of the game in Murfreesboro, the men picked up where the women left off, battling back and forth in the first half before comfortably controlling the entire second half at E.A. Diddle Arena for an 87-77 victory over the Hilltoppers. It was Weston's sixth win over WKU as a Blue Raider, and his second ever regular season sweep, having also knocked off WKU twice in the 2021-2022 season. Weston finished the night as one of three 20-point scorers for the Blue Raiders, adding in a team-high seven assists.
"They're going to talk their trash, as they were earlier today too," Weston said of the "proud" WKU fanbase. "(We're) a mature team, so I didn't really have to tell them too much. They'd been in this type of environment, so they've already known."
Jlynn Counter, who scored the first 10 points of the night for MTSU en route to a 20-point evening overall, said that his first half heater took him back to his junior college days. Essam Mostafa, who finished with a team-high 21 points and 16 rebounds, relished the intensity of the environment on the road on a stormy night just across the state line.
"It's definitely first," the Coastal Carolina and TCU transfer said of MTSU-WKU's rivalry's intensity ranking among everywhere he's played. "I love it, I love the pressure, I love the rivalry. I love the atmosphere of it."
Head Coach Nick McDevitt, who picked up win No. 100 of his MTSU career on Saturday, said the game was fast and physical. But his team was never rattled down the stretch, even as WKU cut leads down one-point multiple times in the final minutes.
"Every time they did, we still looked poised," McDevitt said. "There were times where you're thinking, 'we don't look rattled. We don't need to call a timeout right now. We're doing some good things, they've made a couple of good shots, they're good too.'"
The 19-0 advantage in points off turnovers was massive, of course, in large part due to MTSU only turning the ball over five times all night, including just once in the second half. Ultimately, a 10-0 Blue Raider run sandwiched around the final media timeout proved decisive, sparked by a Torey Alston posterization off a flip from Weston and iced by Mostafa finding space in the post to finish three times during the run, the final smooth layup forcing a desperation timeout from WKU head coach Hank Plona.
Weston's done a good job fulfilling that promise from earlier in his career, he's 6-3 against the Hilltoppers in his career, 4-2 if you count the games he's actually played in since he missed most of the 2023-24 season due to injury. But for first-year rivalry mates Mostafa and Counter, they hold even bigger bragging rights.
"We don't like them, they don't like us," Counter said. "I'm glad that we were able to (go) 2-0 and sweep them."
The challenge now, McDevitt pointed out, is defending the Blue Raiders' home court in the final three weeks of the season, with MTSU just one loss back of CUSA leaders Jacksonville State.
"Beating your rival, it's fun and special," McDevitt said. "But, you've got to keep going."
But when Anastasiia Boldyreva pulled down a rebound with just over 90 seconds left in a game MTSU led by 10 points, Western Kentucky didn't have to double team the post player. Josie Gilvin didn't have to flopping on a clear out move from the Russian, for that matter. And Alexis Mead, with four fouls, didn't have to reach in when Blakely drove into the paint and make it all too easy for the point guard to finish with an And-1 and foul out the Lady Topper point guard.
"I usually don't do celebrations," Blakely said of running along the entire MTSU bench after her layup. "But I get really hype for Western, I don't know why. It was just a really good feeling."
The Blue Raider point guard did know why, however, this game has a little extra motivation for everyone involved, whether they're wearing red or blue.
"What do they call it?" Blakely asked reporters rhetorically in the press conference post-game. The Daily News Journal's Cecil Joyce played along: '100 Miles of Hate.' "Yes!" Blakely said. "That's what they call it. It's kind of like that for me, I guess mentally."
Middle Tennessee women's basketball didn't need any extra motivation in their 73-63 win over WKU on Saturday afternoon, but avenging their only loss in CUSA play, taken last month in Bowling Green, didn't hurt as an added bit of sourness to a game that featured two teams that clearly wanted to get after one another.
"If you paid your money to get in today, you saw a heck of a game," head coach Rick Insell said. "They played hard, we played hard, it's what it's all about."
It was remarkable to see post-game just how closely contested many of the stats were between the two sides. The Lady Toppers outrebounded the Blue Raiders by three, 35-32, but turned the ball over 17 times to MTSU's 12, resulting in 10 more points off turnovers for the home team. While MTSU made their mark inside, nearly doubling WKU in points in the paint (32-18), the visitors had the better day from outside, making 11 threes to MTSU's seven. Each team also was balanced offensively, with four players apiece scoring in double figures. Though only MTSU had three players score at least 15 points (24 from Ta'Mia Scott, 21 from Boldyreva and 15 from Blakely).
The Blue Raiders even trailed after the first quarter, thanks in large part to scalding start from the outside for WKU, who made 6-of-7 three-point attempts in the game's first 10 minutes. But MTSU stayed aggressive, eventually getting two first half fouls on Mead, Gilvin and Destiny Salary, all of whom sat the final eight minutes of the half. That gave MTSU space to take the lead by one at the break and ride that momentum to a comfortable win, one that gave MTSU some breathing room at the top of the CUSA standings.
"We're excited to be where we're at," Insell said. "That gave us a little separation on those two automatic (byes)."
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — When Camryn Weston first got to Middle Tennessee in 2021, he's not sure who told him this fact. But he hasn't forgotten it in nearly four years.
"I remember somebody told me, 'I don't care if you beat nobody else, as long as you beat WKU,'" Weston said. "The hate runs deep, for sure."
Three hours later from the end of the game in Murfreesboro, the men picked up where the women left off, battling back and forth in the first half before comfortably controlling the entire second half at E.A. Diddle Arena for an 87-77 victory over the Hilltoppers. It was Weston's sixth win over WKU as a Blue Raider, and his second ever regular season sweep, having also knocked off WKU twice in the 2021-2022 season. Weston finished the night as one of three 20-point scorers for the Blue Raiders, adding in a team-high seven assists.
"They're going to talk their trash, as they were earlier today too," Weston said of the "proud" WKU fanbase. "(We're) a mature team, so I didn't really have to tell them too much. They'd been in this type of environment, so they've already known."
Jlynn Counter, who scored the first 10 points of the night for MTSU en route to a 20-point evening overall, said that his first half heater took him back to his junior college days. Essam Mostafa, who finished with a team-high 21 points and 16 rebounds, relished the intensity of the environment on the road on a stormy night just across the state line.
"It's definitely first," the Coastal Carolina and TCU transfer said of MTSU-WKU's rivalry's intensity ranking among everywhere he's played. "I love it, I love the pressure, I love the rivalry. I love the atmosphere of it."
Head Coach Nick McDevitt, who picked up win No. 100 of his MTSU career on Saturday, said the game was fast and physical. But his team was never rattled down the stretch, even as WKU cut leads down one-point multiple times in the final minutes.
"Every time they did, we still looked poised," McDevitt said. "There were times where you're thinking, 'we don't look rattled. We don't need to call a timeout right now. We're doing some good things, they've made a couple of good shots, they're good too.'"
The 19-0 advantage in points off turnovers was massive, of course, in large part due to MTSU only turning the ball over five times all night, including just once in the second half. Ultimately, a 10-0 Blue Raider run sandwiched around the final media timeout proved decisive, sparked by a Torey Alston posterization off a flip from Weston and iced by Mostafa finding space in the post to finish three times during the run, the final smooth layup forcing a desperation timeout from WKU head coach Hank Plona.
Weston's done a good job fulfilling that promise from earlier in his career, he's 6-3 against the Hilltoppers in his career, 4-2 if you count the games he's actually played in since he missed most of the 2023-24 season due to injury. But for first-year rivalry mates Mostafa and Counter, they hold even bigger bragging rights.
"We don't like them, they don't like us," Counter said. "I'm glad that we were able to (go) 2-0 and sweep them."
The challenge now, McDevitt pointed out, is defending the Blue Raiders' home court in the final three weeks of the season, with MTSU just one loss back of CUSA leaders Jacksonville State.
"Beating your rival, it's fun and special," McDevitt said. "But, you've got to keep going."
Players Mentioned
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