Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
“They couldn't guard her” - Career-high for Scott powers Blue Raiders past Gamecocks
2/7/2025 2:28:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The MTSU forward dropped 30 points, 23 of which came in the second half, to push MTSU to a their ninth CUSA win of the year
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Ta'Mia Scott had to tie her shoes a lot on Thursday night against Jacksonville State. While breaking in new shoes isn't an uncommon occurrence in the middle of a college basketball season, even Scott was a little miffed the shoes wouldn't stayed tied during the game.
"I think the laces are little slippery or something," Scott said. "I don't know, I've got to get used to the laces."
She better get used to the laces, given those shoes are what she wore when she set a career-high with 30 points and 14 rebounds against the Gamecocks, powering Middle Tennessee women's basketball to a 63-46 win on Thursday night in Murphy Center. Scott made 11 of her 16 shots, including two of three beyond the arc, missing just one shot the entire second half in a dominant offensive performance.
"We're a very superstitious team, so I'll have to keep wearing these," Scott said.
Her head coach, Rick Insell, couldn't even sit down at the press conference table before praising the junior wing.
"Ta'Mia Scott is a horse," Insell said as he was sitting down. "And not a little bitty horse either, a big one. They couldn't guard her. She just got the basketball; she made some fantastic moves."
Scott's offensive outburst was about as flashy as a player could be in the highly-structured system Insell runs, one that relies on set plays designed to get specific players open for shots. A few plays were run for Scott in that regard, but most of her production came on her own, taking Gamecocks on one-on-one to rim, for a midrange jumper or pulling up from the outside.
"I had a lot of confidence tonight," Scott said. "They put their four player on me, (she) couldn't really stop me. Honestly, that's truthful. I just kept attacking and took what the defense gave me."
Playing one of the better teams in Conference USA on the defensive side of the ball, Insell tipped his cap to the gameplan Jax State had. They did a good job denying Jalynn Gregory the space to shoot threes, while also containing Anastasiia Boldyreva relatively well given their size disadvantage inside, regularly giving up half a foot to the 6-foot-7 Russian in the paint. Boldyreva still finished the night with 17 points and nine rebounds, but didn't get as many touches as one might expect inside given the size disparity.
"They're not going to let Jalynn shoot the ball outside, they're just not going to do it," Insell said. "And then Nas, you saw what they were doing inside. They might as well of had a shovel in there hitting on Nas. Every time she turned, they pushed her here, pushed her there."
The heavy focus on those players, however, left opportunity for other Blue Raiders. Throw in Savannah Davis making a trio of three-pointers off the bench, moving Scott to the four when Davis was in the game, and you had the perfect storm to set up Scott's big night.
"They don't really help off," Scott said of Davis. "If I'm driving and she's my ball side corner, they can't help off her, she's a shooter. She has that green light; she has that quick release."
Scott said the second half was a big confidence booster post-game, perhaps the spark to continue her elite scoring into the second half of conference play, cementing her place as one of the elite perimeter players in CUSA. For her head coach's part, Insell wants Scott to continue staying aggressive, both on offense and on the boards.
"I'd take that every night," Insell said.
