Middle Tennessee was pushed to the limit Wednesday night, outscoring Western Kentucky by four in the final minute and grabbing crucial rebounds to hold off its chief rival, 67-64, inside the historic Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The win is the 14th straight for the Blue Raiders and improves their home conference record under head coach Rick Insell to 59-1 during the last seven seasons.
Insell was honored pregame for the recent announcement of him joining the 2012 class of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. Wednesday he led Middle Tennessee (20-5, 12-0 SBC) to its ninth-straight 20-win season and 35th consecutive home conference victory in addition to remaining the lone unbeaten Sun Belt program in either women’s or men’s basketball this season.
Also highlighting the night was junior Kortni Jones, who not only finished with a game-high 23 points, but also became the Blue Raiders’ single-season record holder for 3-pointers. With her first of a career-high tying six triples on the night dropping in at the 15:33 mark of the first half, Jones surpassed Sandy Brown’s mark which had stood since 1988. Jones raised the bar to 90 with her half dozen and inched herself to within six of the single-season Sun Belt standard, established in 2003 by Leslie Logsdon of Western Kentucky.
Jones finished the night by making eight field goals, also equaling a career best, to go along with four assists, game-high tying three steals and a blocked shot in 40 minutes.
Classmate Icelyn Elie nearly matched Jones’ output, pouring in 20 of her own with a team-best nine rebounds and a career-high tying three blocked shots. Elie and Jones are the first set of MT teammates to score at least 20 points apiece since they both accomplished it in the last home game, Jan. 25 against Troy.
Sophomore Laken Leonard chipped in 13 points on the strength of three 3-pointers and added a career-best five assists.
LaTiera Owens led the Lady Toppers with a double-double of 18 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. She was joined in double-figure scoring by Chaney Means (12 points) and Alexis Govan (11).
In a close game throughout, with neither team able to build a double-digit cushion, Leonard buried her final triple of the night at the 5:35 mark to give the Blue Raiders their largest lead, 59-50. However, six-straight WKU points in just over two minutes brought the deficit to a one-possession game, 59-56, with 3:12 to play.
Just under a minute later, Elie grabbed a defensive rebound then was rewarded on the other end with one of Leonard’s helpers to push the edge back to five. Owens would then counter with a layup of her own and Jasmine Johnson converted 1-of-2 free throws to pull the Lady Toppers within two, 61-59, with 1:41 left.
Following a Jones miss from long range, consecutive Western Kentucky (6-17, 3-8 SBC) shots were missed. Sophomore Ebony Rowe secured the defensive board on the second attempt, but her possession was short lived as Owens stole the ball right back. A Teranie Thomas pass located Means standing behind the arc and Means drained the triple to give WKU its first lead, 62-61, since a 25-23 advantage at the 5:24 mark of the first half.
Rowe then drew a foul with 46 seconds remaining and hit both free throws, putting MT back on top by one. Following an Owens miss at the other end, Elie again picked up the loose rebound and forced a foul to be called. She hit 1-of-2, keeping it a one-possession difference, 64-62, with 27 seconds left.
After she missed the second, Leonard rushed the lane to grab the carom, drawing another Western Kentucky foul. Leonard then knocked down both of her attempts, extending the lead to four with 22 seconds to go. A careless foul by Rowe allowed the Lady Toppers to make a pair of free throws of their own, by Owens, with five seconds to play before a final trip to the charity stripe by freshman Shanice Cason sealed the triumph with just 3.9 seconds on the clock.
Cason opened the game with a quick 3-pointer, but a 9-5 Western Kentucky, capped by a Vanessa Obafemi trey put WKU ahead, 9-8, with 14:15 left first half. The two teams battled back and forth for the next eight minutes before a Chastity Gooch jumper and Danay Fothergill triple provided the Lady Toppers with their largest advantage at five points, 25-20, with 5:52 remaining.
Jones connected on a 3-pointer 30 seconds later and added another at the 3:13 mark to give MT a one-point lead and ignite a half-closing 9-2 spurt, sending Middle Tennessee into the intermission ahead five, 32-27.
Leonard’s 3-pointer at the 16:26 mark of the second half pushed the difference to seven, 40-33, and it would remain that just over a minute a later. However, Govan converted an old fashioned three-point play and Means tallied a triple at 14:18 to pull Western Kentucky within one, 42-41.
Cason ended a three-minute scoring drought for the Blue Raiders with a layup at 12:05, but Owens answered with one of her own and 1-of-2 free throws to knot the score at 44-44. Jones and Leonard tallied back-to-back treys as Middle Tennessee built its nine-point edge with a 12-3 run, setting up the final stretch.
Wednesday’s victory was the eighth straight in the series for the Blue Raiders, their longest consecutive streak against the Lady Toppers. The 14-straight wins overall is the fifth best in program history, including four under Insell’s watch.
Middle Tennessee will return to action at 3 p.m. Sunday when it plays host to UALR in the annual Play4Kay game live on the Sun Belt TV Network, shown locally on Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast (CSS).
Dick Palmer and Duane Hickey will call all the action on the Blue Raider Network of WMOT (89.5 FM) and WGNS (1450 AM, 100.5 FM, 101.9 FM). |
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