The Lady Raiders trailed by one at the 16:52 mark when KeKe Stewart drew a shooting foul for Middle Tennessee, knocking down both free throws to give her team the lead.

From that point on the game belonged to Middle, thanks in large part to freshman Jordyn Luffman putting in her best performance with the Raiders over the game’s first 10 minutes on the way to a 103-52 blowout of Troy at home.

“I just got going, it was like the ball kept falling to me and I really don’t know how to describe it,” Luffman said.

The true freshman scored the first basket of the game when she stole the ball and pump-faked a defender into the air, creating an open look.

She really started heating up after a timeout at the 15:57 mark. Kortni Jones assisted on Luffman’s first three of the night. Jones then stole a Troy pass and got it to Luffman for another open shot, Luffman missed the shot but got her own rebound and put it back in for the score.

Luffman either scored or assisted on eight of 12 Raider possessions at one point, adding three rebounds and two steals during that stretch. She finished the game with a career-high 19 points, five rebounds and four steals.

“She’s a player, she’s just got to step out of her shell,” coach Rick Insell said. “She has been a role player all of her life and we’re wanting her wanting her to be a primary player. I think when she hit those first couple shots it gave her a little confidence and hopefully that will carry her the rest of the year.”

Luffman went to the bench at the 9:26 mark in the first half, returning to an ovation from the crowd with 4:31 remaining before halftime.

“I think Jordyn can be awesome,” senior Anne Marie Lanning said. “Jordyn could do whatever she wants. She’s a rebounder, she’s got the body, she can shoot, she’s got it all. She proved to herself and everyone else what she can do, now she just has to believe in herself.”

The Raiders defensive pressure gave Troy trouble all night, forcing 32 turnovers in the game. They outrebounded the Trojans 38-24 and held the opponent to three offensive boards while grabbing 17 themselves.

“I was pretty well satisfied with everybody tonight, the second half imparticular,” Insell said. “We went out and tried to do a better job on the boards and we did, we tried to do better on our defensive movements and we did.”

Insell was able to give some bench players minutes down the stretch and was not disappointed with the way they performed. Jamila Ajanaku, Laken Leonard and Janay Brinkley entered the game with 4:55 remaining and the team seven points away from the 100 mark.

“When our last group went in I thought they played pretty good defense,” Insell said. “I told them if you go in there and start playing the scoreboard you’re coming out. Forget about scoring 100 points, just run our offense.”

With 1:49 left Brinkley grabbed a defensive rebound and took it down court where she found Laken open for a three-point try. Laken knocked the shot down to put the Raiders score at 101 and both the crowd and Middle Tennessee bench erupted.

The Lady Raiders will play Denver Sunday at noon in the Murphy Center and the game will be televised by CSS. Lanning will enter the game eight points away from becoming the 25^th Lady Raider to score 1,000 points.

“I’ve worked hard,” Lanning said. “(Insell) has always planted that seed for me to have a goal to reach. Now I’m almost there.