The Lady Raiders closed out the regular season at home Sunday afternoon against rival Western Kentucky.

While it was not the prettiest performance by the team on the year, the team did pull of a 64-56 win, thanks in large part to senior Anne Marie Lanning.

Lanning led all players with 23 points. Her 11 points from the free throw line were one more than the entire Western Kentucky team.

The game was scoreless in the first two minutes before WKU’s Arnika Brown made a layup to give the Lady Toppers the game’s first lead.

Ebony Rowe got things going on offense for the Raiders early in the game thanks to her ability to grab offensive boards. Rowe had six of the first eight Middle Tennessee points before Western Kentucky called their first timeout.

It was an up and down half for Middle as they watched their lead grow to 10 before being cut back to six twice before the break. Going into halftime The Raiders led the game 33-27.

“Inside they’re very athletic and they’re very aggressive and they give us a lot of problems,” Raider coach Rick Insell said.

The second half saw Western make a push very early on to cut the Middle Tennessee lead to three. Western’s run was halted when Lanning hit a three-point shot to halt the momentum swing.

“I wanted the ball in her hands,” Insell said. “She’s a winner. I’ve been very fortunate to have coached her.”

Middle Tennessee rebuilt their lead over the next few minutes until they stood with an 11-point advantage and 4:50 remaining in the game.

Western quickly cut the lead back down, and a steal by Amy McNear, followed by a made layup, put the score at 54-50.

Another clutch three pulled Middle Tennessee out of yet another slump, this time it was Tina Stewart who delivered.

The shot was Stewarts only field goal of the game. Middle would finish things up with free throws from Stewart and Lanning, finishing the season with a 14-2 Sun Belt record, 23-6 overall.

“Not pretty, but we’ll take it,” Insell said. “You’ve got to give them credit, they played hard.”

Middle finished the game with three players in double digits as far as scoring is concerned. In addition to Lanning’s 23, Rowe had 16 points, 13 boards, and Icelyn Elie added 14, nine rebounds.

“When Ice comes to play, we usually win,” Insell said. “

Now Middle must turn their attention the conference tournament.

“It looks like we’re going to play Arkansas State first game,” Insell said. “We’ll start getting ready for Arkansas State Tuesday or Wednesday.”

“We get to rest our bodies, then come in on Wednesday and go at it,” Lanning said. “It’s just going to come down to a battle. It’s going to be important that we all believe we’re a great team and that we can go out there and come home with the championship.”

Sunday also marked Lanning’s final game in her home town of Murfreesboro.

“It was a memorable game and one I won’t forget,” Lanning said. “We went out there and I think we fought and battle all the way to the end.”