LADY RAIDER BB CUSA Championship Game: (#2) Middle Tennessee (26-7, 16-2) vs (#1) Liberty (25-6, 16-2) (CBSSN), 4:30PM, Saturday, March 15, 2025

[MTOleBlue]

Biggest boost to next year will be having a new coach in Matt who is willing and able to play the bench instead of letting starters stay in after having horrible nights, which is natural and part of being human…

 

[tyler90wm]

Boldyreva wasn’t a full-time starter until she was a junior but Dominguez is gonna play major minutes from day 1?

Straight from the player profile on GBR.com for Boldyreva

2021-22 (FRESHMAN)
• Started all 35 games of collegiate career

 

[MTFAN61]

My hope would be that CMI would be much more flexible with the whole team, & embrace using multiple players. With Davis, Scott, & hopefully Harrison coming back there will be loads of youthful talent to challenge for another title next year.
Promise you that if next year's team's in the right hands, MT women's basketball could look better than this year's squad even with 6 new freshmen. Hope most of them get a chance to show what they can do on the floor.

 

[asuhatesme]

Are you a being real right now? Nas has started all but 3 games in her career - and those off the bench were when she was injured in her sophomore season.

McClendon coming in at 6’4” will probably be a good option in the post but I’d imagine we go for Milanovic in the post, she’s also about that height.

Bad wording. She started yes. Wasn’t playing major minutes. She played 15 minutes a game. Split time with Malashka (that’s a whole other roster mismanagement tangent I’m not going on.) I don’t consider that major minutes

 

[MTOleBlue]

To be clear - I obviously think Rick should do whatever he feels is right but the writing is on the wall. Our starters are 4/5 seniors and it’ll be a brand new team next year. The time is right for Matt to take over.

 

[MTTim]

To be clear - I obviously think Rick should do whatever he feels is right but the writing is on the wall. Our starters are 4/5 seniors and it’ll be a brand new team next year. The time is right for Matt to take over.

I think the jury is still out on Matt as a head coach. His only gig was a failure at Ole Miss. He needed to recruit higher level players in the SEC and was unable to do so. If he does take over I hope he can move this program to the next level.

 

[tyler90wm]

Hey, at least we got our game in; the men's game is currently delayed due to rain leaking through the ceiling right onto the court.

 

[MTOleBlue]

I think the jury is still out on Matt as a head coach. His only gig was a failure at Ole Miss. He needed to recruit higher level players in the SEC and was unable to do so. If he does take over I hope he can move this program to the next level.

I agree on being undecided what it’ll look like long term. But the writing is on the wall of what will be happening.

 

[MTTim]

I agree on being undecided what it’ll look like long term. But the writing is on the wall of what will be happening.

Yep. It fits CMs hiring model. Take the easy route.
No dig on Matt. I believe with experience he can be good for MT.

 

[Blue Raider Lightning]

Stop drinking the KoolAid about the recruiting class.
This years freshmen weren’t good enough to play and now we’re going to start 3 next year?
We are not athletic enough. Our athleticism has been suffering for a few years.
We made a living on sub-200 teams.
We lost every time we played a team with a pulse.

I've said in earlier post I felt this team disappointed me more than any other Lady Raider team. That's not because they were bad, it's because of the expectations I had.

I truly felt this team could build on last years success. A combination of things are to blame but my #1 disappointment was the departure of Yulia. She and Nas could have been a force of the floor together.

Beyond that, we traded defense for offense. Heaven help us but I bet Courtney and Elina missed more gimmes than they hit this year. Yet they could play some D. It was basically 3 on 5 when we were on offense.

As many shots as Nas missed today or all the others for that matter, we were 2-3 baskets away from winning today. It was a struggle all year for this team on offense.

I'm not going to try and predict the starting 5 but the KoolAid has been pretty darn good. I am a victim of being spoiled. I am dissapointed but also very proud of what this team has accomplished. We aren't finished yet. They could win the WNIT.

Did I want more? Absolutely. It just didn't come together for this group but their record is still nothing to sneeze at.

In the past years we have had several solid wins. Insell has said we will take on anyone. It's not that we are afraid to try. It's moreso huge respect for the program because no one wants to play us 1-for-1. No need for us to go there if they aren't willing to come here. I commend him for taking that stance. We have one of the winningest programs in the nation playing who's willing to play us.

I don't think we will win CUSA next year, but wouldn't be surprised if we did. Certainly there is no reason to think we will struggle to be .500. The bench is bare? Some talent is there and talent is coming in. Who will step up? We'll see.

Feel free to come back next year and say "see, I told you" if we finish around .500. Truth be told, I'm wrong a lot. But past history along with the accolades of both present and incoming players give me hope that the rebuild - and it will be a rebuild - will have a solid foundation and a bright future.

 

[MTFAN61]

I've said in earlier post I felt this team disappointed me more than any other Lady Raider team. That's not because they were bad, it's because of the expectations I had.

I truly felt this team could build on last years success. A combination of things are to blame but my #1 disappointment was the departure of Yulia. She and Nas could have been a force of the floor together.

Beyond that, we traded defense for offense. Heaven help us but I bet Courtney and Elina missed more gimmes than they hit this year. Yet they could play some D. It was basically 3 on 5 when we were on offense.

As many shots as Nas missed today or all the others for that matter, we were 2-3 baskets away from winning today. It was a struggle all year for this team on offense.

I'm not going to try and predict the starting 5 but the KoolAid has been pretty darn good. I am a victim of being spoiled. I am dissapointed but also very proud of what this team has accomplished. We aren't finished yet. They could win the WNIT.

Did I want more? Absolutely. It just didn't come together for this group but their record is still nothing to sneeze at.

In the past years we have had several solid wins. Insell has said we will take on anyone. It's not that we are afraid to try. It's moreso huge respect for the program because no one wants to play us 1-for-1. No need for us to go there if they aren't willing to come here. I commend him for taking that stance. We have one of the winningest programs in the nation playing who's willing to play us.

I don't think we will win CUSA next year, but wouldn't be surprised if we did. Certainly there is no reason to think we will struggle to be .500. The bench is bare? Some talent is there and talent is coming in. Who will step up? We'll see.

Feel free to come back next year and say "see, I told you" if we finish around .500. Truth be told, I'm wrong a lot. But past history along with the accolades of both present and incoming players give me hope that the rebuild - and it will be a rebuild - will have a solid foundation and a bright future.

Good post, 100% agree on everything said.

 

[SpaceRaider]

Blue Raiders fall in CUSA Championship - Middle Tennessee State University Athletics

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Middle Tennessee women's basketball's (26-8) Conference USA Championship run ended in the final game against Liberty (26-6) on Saturday, 53-48.

goblueraiders.com

 

[MTOleBlue]

I've said in earlier post I felt this team disappointed me more than any other Lady Raider team. That's not because they were bad, it's because of the expectations I had.

I truly felt this team could build on last years success. A combination of things are to blame but my #1 disappointment was the departure of Yulia. She and Nas could have been a force of the floor together.

Beyond that, we traded defense for offense. Heaven help us but I bet Courtney and Elina missed more gimmes than they hit this year. Yet they could play some D. It was basically 3 on 5 when we were on offense.

As many shots as Nas missed today or all the others for that matter, we were 2-3 baskets away from winning today. It was a struggle all year for this team on offense.

I'm not going to try and predict the starting 5 but the KoolAid has been pretty darn good. I am a victim of being spoiled. I am dissapointed but also very proud of what this team has accomplished. We aren't finished yet. They could win the WNIT.

Did I want more? Absolutely. It just didn't come together for this group but their record is still nothing to sneeze at.

In the past years we have had several solid wins. Insell has said we will take on anyone. It's not that we are afraid to try. It's moreso huge respect for the program because no one wants to play us 1-for-1. No need for us to go there if they aren't willing to come here. I commend him for taking that stance. We have one of the winningest programs in the nation playing who's willing to play us.

I don't think we will win CUSA next year, but wouldn't be surprised if we did. Certainly there is no reason to think we will struggle to be .500. The bench is bare? Some talent is there and talent is coming in. Who will step up? We'll see.

Feel free to come back next year and say "see, I told you" if we finish around .500. Truth be told, I'm wrong a lot. But past history along with the accolades of both present and incoming players give me hope that the rebuild - and it will be a rebuild - will have a solid foundation and a bright future.

Well said. Also agree with all of this.