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LADY RAIDER BB Middle Tennessee (18-3, 11-1) @ UTSA (5-16, 3-9), 2PM, Saturday, February 4, 2023

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General Information

Location:
San Antonio, Texas
Founded: 1969 Enrollment: 34,734
Colors: Blue, Orange & White Nickname: Roadrunners
Series: MTSU leads 9-0
Facility: Convocation Center
Head Coach: Karen Aston
Record at UTSA: 7-23 (1) Overall: 292-169 (14)
2021-22 Record: 7-23 2022 Postseason: None
Starters Ret./Lost: 2/3 Letterwinners R/L: 6/10


Radio: WGNS 100.5 FM, 101.9 FM; 1450-AM
Talent: Dick Palmer (pxp)
TV: ESPN+
Talent: TBA
 
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Up 11-9 at the end of the 1st quarter but still struggling offensively. Living and dying by the 3. Not sure I have seen so many shot in one quarter. 18 of our 20 shots beyond the arc. Unfortunately we only hit three.
 
MT only leads 22-21 at halftime...

They need to get their heads out of where ever they have them...

This is ugly. 5 of 33 for 15% from 3, 8 of 38 overall including an 8 minute scoring drought. UTSA meanwhile has 9 of their points coming from the FT line. Good thing they struggle there because they have been 15 times to our 2. That said, hard to get fouled when we refuse to go inside and chuck up long range bombs every trip.
 
Something has really shaken this team up. Confidence level in their playing ability has dropped off the charts. Or did this team peak too early?
 
Something has really shaken this team up. Confidence level in their playing ability has dropped off the charts. Or did this team peak too early?
Not sure what has happened but my personal opinion is they never peaked. I don't think they've put together 4 complete quarters all year. We can look like a top 5 team one quarter, a junior pro team the next. Defense has been solid throughout and separated us from the pack. But the offensive inconsistency is puzzling. Instead of putting a complete game together, we've gone the other direction. Maybe CRI thinks we can work out our shooting woes and still win today. He's definitely intent on us shooting the 3 and not pushing it inside. That's more concerning to me, the lack of adjustments.
 
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Not sure what has happened but my personal opinion is they never peaked. I don't think they've put together 4 complete quarters all year. We can look like a top 5 team one quarter, a junior pro team the next. Defense has been solid throughout and separated us from the pack. But the offensive inconsistency is puzzling. Instead of putting a complete game together, we've gone the other direction. Maybe CRI thinks we can work out our shooting woes and still win today. He's definitely intent on us shooting the 3 and not pushing it inside. That's more concerning to me, the lack of adjustments.
Absolutely! 28 off 33 shots in one half from beyond the arc. That's 85% of your shots, & here we go again. No doubt this is Rick's strategy, abandon the inside game & shoot from the rafters all night. My only thoughts are "what the hell is going on???" At least they've hit more in the 2nd half than the 1st, but as Charlie Brown said, "good grief".
 
Yes, & would add it even feels more that the coaching direction is so awful it is Rick's intent to lose more than the ladies.
 
We probably will win this game, but honestly UTSA probably deserves the win
 
May be this year's biggest collapse in college basketball for either men or women. Congratulations UTSA
Agree. I know we have lost two in a row numerous occasions but not after jumping into both polls. UTEP is a very average team. Decent record but weak schedule. UTSA is the bottom of the barrel. To come out 0-2 on this road trip looking like this is just unbelievable. WKU just beat UTEP. They'll be coming to Murfreesboro Thursday ready to play. We better figure this out quick or it's going to be three L's in a row.
 
After having a few hours to clear the cobwebs from the Texas trip would like to hear from our handful of panelists on what each of you think is going on with the ladies team.
Internal player issues? Coaches fault? Player discipline? Players losing confidence in coaching direction? Players exhausted from being overworked? An over reaction & nothing really to be upset about. It'll all work out in the end? Or something else altogether?
Seems like a plethora of thoughts choose from
 
First and foremost, let me state that this team is fabulous. Despite this rough stretch, they have been a pleasure to watch and I still believe they have the tools to make a run in the NCAA Tournament.

However, in a matter of three days we have gone from a NCAA lock with a chance of hosting a NCAA game to a bubble team that may need to win the CUSA Tournament to get in the Big Dance. My two cents as to why? First, what I don’t think the issue is.

  • While I have been an advocate for Insell to use the bench more in the past, I don’t think we have lost our legs yet. This year, he has done better and while I would still like to see more substitutions, I can’t imagine we are out of gas with this many games left.
  • Trouble within? Really have seen no obvious chemistry issues to make me think that there are internal issues. Just last week I believe I mentioned something about loving this “team”. They seem to not care about themselves and anyone is willing to do whatever it takes to win.
  • Coaching? Hard to argue that it hasn’t been good. A glance at our record is one most teams would trade for in a second.
So, what is the problem?

  • Bad timing. Seems everyone has hit a brick wall at the same time. One person goes cold, someone picks up the slack. But not now. Everyone seems ice cold.
  • This was overdue. We have seriously not played well for several games now. I remember after leaving the La Tech game I though to myself, there is no way we go undefeated. Maybe the pressure to win and rise in the polls coupled with the fact we are everyone’s Super Bowl game finally caught up to us. I think we are emotionally spent. Got to get that mojo back. Spanking WKU would be a start. I am not sure how we get our confidence back but I assure you that WKU is licking their chops. They overcame a 19 point 4th quarter deficit at UTEP Saturday to win and pull within a game of us in the conference standings.
  • Coaching? While I admitted that it’s hard to argue with the record above, I find myself beating my head wondering why the heck we don’t try something else. Why not put in TaMia Scott and give her a shot when the guards aren’t hitting? Maybe put in Anastasiia and Kseniya at the same time? Heck, why not even try going to the post instead of firing away bomb after bomb like yesterday. Granted, when you aren’t hitting they will pack the paint. But trust me, we didn’t even try yesterday. It was like pass the potato around the perimeter and toss it up if you were open. Miss after miss, there was absolutely no coaching adjustment. And this is concerning. We have the horses to win the race, and most nights talent alone does the trick. But it is painstakingly obvious that we struggle when it’s a chess match and seem hell bent on winning our way or losing via trying to win our way.
What Happens Next?

We lay down and continue to crumble, end up in the WNIT and players like Scott transfer out because of lack of playing time or we get pissed off and play basketball and make a Sweet 16 run. At this point that 8-9 seed match-up may be too high for us to achieve and that’s not a bad thing. No reason we can’t handle a good seeded team if we get things together but I’d rather avoid that #1 for a few rounds if we can. Thursday will be interesting. WKU is on our tail with all the momentum. The longer this spell goes on, the deeper the hole we dig to get out of.
 
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There's time to right the ship, but these two losses just about kill any chance of rankings, at large bid, hosting tourney sites, etc. I'd rather this team lost now and start a new streak than an inopportune loss in the tournament, but these kids and coaches better get their problems sorted out now.
 
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