Murfreesboro Post
MURFREESBORO WEATHER

Lady Raiders smoke Tennessee Tech 83-45





MTSU sophomore guard Courtney Blakely had 11 points and five assists in a 83-45 home win over Tennessee Tech Thursday. MT ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

MTSU sophomore guard Courtney Blakely had 11 points and five assists in a 83-45 home win over Tennessee Tech Thursday. MT ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

The Middle Tennessee women’s basketball team dominated defensively, twice holding Tennessee Tech under 10 points in a quarter on Thursday morning, as the Lady Raiders soared past the Golden Eagles 83-45 at the Murphy Center.

It was the largest win ever for MTSU against Tennessee Tech in 84 games in the series against the former OVC rival. The victory came before a crowd of 6,000 on Education Day.

MTSU (4-2) was dominant in the paint, outscoring Tennessee Tech (3-3) 38 to 14 inside to set the tone offensively in the route.

The Lady Raiders used their superior size to their advantage, outrebounding the Golden Eagles 38 to 23 in the Glass House, scoring nine second chance points on the offensive glass. Turnovers were also key, as MTSU took advantage of 17 TTU turnovers (11 on MTSU steals) to score 24 points off of turnovers.

After trailing by one at the end of the first quarter, the Lady Raiders took a 39-27 lead into the locker room at halftime, buoyed by a second quarter where MTSU short 9-for-11 from the field and held the Golden Eagles to just eight points in the frame. Middle Tennessee was a perfect 15-for-15 from the foul line in the game’s first 20 minutes.

“We have been doing an average job at the free throw line,” MTSU coach Rick Insell said. “The more you talk about free throws guys, the more it gets in their head. You just don’t talk about it. You go to practice, you work on it, you try to set up some type of game type situation. That’s one of the toughest things to do in a practice, is to set up a game type situation for free throws.

“And you know, that just comes down to mental toughness. You’ve just got to get up there. If you’re a good free throw shooter, you’ve got to get you rhythm, you’ve got to the same thing every time. Approach, alignment, same way every time. When you do that, you’re going to increase your percentages shooting free throws.”

Five Lady Raiders finished the game with at least 10 points, led by Kseniya Malashka, who was dominant at forward, shooting 7-for-9 from the field and a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line for 19 points. Savannah Wheeler was close behind with 16 points, 10 coming at the charity stripe.

Middle Tennessee has won 16 straight regular season home games.

The Lady Raiders stay at the Glass House over the weekend for a Top 25 matchup with No. 18 Lousiville on Sunday. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. on ESPN+ and the Blue Raider Radio Network.

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