LADY RAIDER BB Middle Tennessee (22-4, 12-0) @ Western Kentucky (15-12, 6-6) ESPNU, 11AM, Saturday, February 24, 2024

[SpaceRaider]

Lady Raiders head to Bowling Green to face WKU - Middle Tennessee State University Athletics

Saturday, Feb. 24 | 11 a.m. | E.A. Diddle Arena | Bowling Green, Ky. MIDDLE TENNESSEE LADY RAIDERS 22-4,

goblueraiders.com

TV: ESPNU PxP: Tiffany GreeneAnalyst: Brooke Weisbrod
RADIO: PxP: Dick PalmerAnalyst: Kyle Turnham,
WGNS 101.9 FM/1450 AM/ 100.5FM

SERIES AT A GLANCE: MT Leads 42-32 (This marks the 75th meeting in series history)
Insell vs. WKU - 27-12
Collins vs. MT - 3-9

LAST FIVE MEETINGS

2/26/22 Bowling Green L, 97-92 (OT)

12/31/22 Bowling Green W, 80-75
2/9/23 Murfreesboro W, 94-81
3/11/23 Frisco, Texas (CUSAT) W, 82-70

2/3/24 Murfreesboro W, 80-48

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• WKU GAME NOTES

 

[SpaceRaider]

Lady Toppers Set for Battle Against Middle Tennessee on Saturday - Western Kentucky University Athletics

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU women's basketball will host rival Middle Tennessee on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 11 a.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU, the first...

wkusports.com

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[MTFAN61]

WKU will be going all out to win this with red out promotion. CRI said during Monday Coaches show we're having excellent ticket sales & hoping to match their turn-out.
Top's have had a whole week to prepare. Glad we had a Wed game instead of Thursday to rest our legs.
Wll be a much tougher match in Bowling Green. As like all our other opponents we will get their best shot this Saturday. Should be a war, but hope we punch them in the face early & keep it up all game.

 

[MTOleBlue]

Hopefully we have a huge showing of Blue Raider fans. The 11am game time makes it easy to head to BG for the game then back to the Murphy Center for the men's game (or, you know, just watching the ladies and then sitting the evening torture out). Gonna be a battle, that's for sure! Would love another 30+ point win...

 

[SpaceRaider]

I wonder if Hayes will return from her injury.

Will Mead want to continue her trash talk with CRI?

 

[blue rai]

A win at Western will give us the regular season championship! Would love to see us cut down some nets at Diddle……

 

[MTFAN61]

I wonder if Hayes will return from her injury.

Will Mead want to continue her trash talk with CRI?

Would be very surprised if their coach risked that. Unless he was relaying false info in video seemed like he was saying she has not played or even attended a single practice the last few weeks. If that's true one would think her conditioning would have to be very weak right now.

 

[tyler90wm]

I'm not sure if this would be considered a trap game, but this is an early in the day, televised game on the road against a rival on a 2 game losing streak. I could see them being slightly out of rhythm at the start.

 

[MTOleBlue]

I think the team will be ready. Insell mentioned during the coaches show that Massaro told them to stay at a hotel in KY last night because he didn’t want to risk losing to them! Which was a great move, early tip off means a short morning to get ready. And I think we’ll be ready. Have a feeling the team has been looking forward to this one all week.

 

[MTFAN61]

The time for this game is not too dissimilar to our Rutherford County Students appreciation day games we have each year. We've always performed petty well in those early hour contests. Of course the Lady Raiders always had the benefit of 10,000 wild banshees screaming them on. So the atmosphere will be a bit different in Bowling Green. CRI puts such motivation into his dislike of anything & everything Western I expect to see a likewise motivated Blue Raider squad on the court. And if he doesn't it may be the one time we see an early time out called by him in like forever.

 

[MTFAN61]

There is a motivational tool for both MT & WKU we haven't mentioned yet. Pretty flattering that a couple of local G5 women's programs have been selected to play in front of a nationally televised audience on a SATURDAY of all things. This is some "great" exposure. If the Lady Raiders can perform well it could provide a great opportunity to elevate our rankings in the NET & for tournament seeding

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[MTOleBlue]

There is a motivational tool for both MT & WKU we haven't mentioned yet. Pretty flattering that a couple of local G5 women's programs have been selected to play in front of a nationally televised audience on a SATURDAY of all things. This is some "great" exposure. If the Lady Raiders can perform well it could provide a great opportunity to elevate our rankings in the NET & for tournament seeding

Yeah that's very true. Not often do we get the chance to make a statement on national TV.

 

[SpaceRaider]

I didn't know that this is the 4th straight game our opponent has had the whole week off before our game.

 

[MTOleBlue]

I didn't know that this is the 4th straight game our opponent has had the whole week off before our game.

Certainly keeping us battle-tested.

 

[SpaceRaider]

In its last game, Western Kentucky lost away to New Mexico State 64-61, with Alexis Mead (17 PTS, 2 STL, 60 FG%) and Ana Teresa Faustino (8 PTS, 28.57 FG%)

• Western Kentucky has a 3-6-0 record against the spread this season.
• The Hilltoppers put up 65.7 points per game, 11 more points than the 54.7 the Raiders give up.
• Western Kentucky is 3-5 against the spread and 14-9 overall when scoring more than 54.7 points.
• Middle Tennessee's ATS record is 5-4-0 this year.
• The Raiders score an average of 71.8 points per game, 8.4 more points than the 63.4 the Hilltoppers allow.
• Middle Tennessee is 4-1 against the spread and 20-0 overall when it scores more than 63.4 points.

 

[SpaceRaider]

Western Kentucky Leaders​

• Mead: 11.4 PTS, 2 STL, 43.5 FG%, 36.9 3PT% (41-for-111)
• Faustino: 8.9 PTS, 1.7 STL, 36.1 FG%, 28.7 3PT% (29-for-101)
• Acacia Hayes: 15.3 PTS, 1.3 STL, 42.7 FG%, 33.3 3PT% (37-for-111)
• Odeth Betancourt: 6.1 PTS, 1.2 STL, 45.3 FG%
• Karris Allen: 5.6 PTS, 1.1 STL, 38.2 FG%, 34.2 3PT% (13-for-38)

 

[SpaceRaider]

Pitts, Mead, Faustino, Betancourt, Gilbin to start for wku.

https://www.si.com/tv/college-basketball/2024/02/24/middle-tennessee-western-kentucky-stream-womens-basketball-live

 

[MTOleBlue]

Pretty good start, 9-2. And Blue Raider fans in big numbers and very loud (looks like more MT than WKU today in their own arena...)

 

[SpaceRaider]

14-4 1st qtr

Team Comparison

STATISTIC
FG%	36%	11%
FGs	4-11	2-19
3FG%	38%	0%
3FGs	3-8	0-10
FT%	75%	0%
FTs	3-4	0-0
TOs	2	4
PtsOffTO	3	0
TotReb	10	13
DefReb	9	6
Off Reb	1	7
2ndChPts	3	4
BenchPts	0	2
PtsPaint	2	4
FstBkPt	0	0
Blocks	1	0
Steals	1	0
Assts	3	1
Times Tied:	0
Lead Chg:	0
LeadTime	8:49	0:00

 

[MTOleBlue]

Boldyreva taking this game over... AGAIN! Love it!

 

[SpaceRaider]

MT being outrebounded 13-20

 

[SpaceRaider]

31-20 Ha;ftime

Team Comparison

STATISTIC	MT	WKU
FG%	38%	27%
FGs	10-26	9-33
3FG%	35%	8%
3FGs	6-17	1-13
FT%	71%	50%
FTs	5-7	1-2
TOs	7	9
PtsOffTO	11	6
TotReb	18	22
DefReb	12	11
Off Reb	6	11
2ndChPts	9	8
BenchPts	0	8
PtsPaint	8	12
FstBkPt	3	1
Blocks	1	1
Steals	4	3
Assts	5	6
Times Tied:	0
Lead Chg:	0
LeadTime	19:13	0:00

 

[MTOleBlue]

MT being outrebounded 13-20

Yeah that's not so great.

 

[SpaceRaider]

Boldyreva on her way to a double double.

 

[Blue Raider Lightning]

Hard to argue with an 11 point lead on the road but the offense still seems in a bit of a funk. Six treys are a good thing yet a lot of our misses have been uncontested, open looks. Hoping we can get Gregory back on track in the second half.

Shout out to the faithful who were able to make the trip. I have a friend from Bowling Green that texted and said "half of Murfreesboro is here today!"

 

[MTFAN61]

Bad time of year for Gregory to lose her touch from 3. This is now 2 straight games her shot is totally off.

 

[MTOleBlue]

Hard to argue with an 11 point lead on the road but the offense still seems in a bit of a funk. Six treys are a good thing yet a lot of our misses have been uncontested, open looks. Hoping we can get Gregory back on track in the second half.

Shout out to the faithful who were able to make the trip. I have a friend from Bowling Green that texted and said "half of Murfreesboro is here today!"

Yep. Great showing of Blue Raider fans at the game today. Tough fought game but nice to be up 15 with how poorly we've shot WIDE OPEN all game. And agree with the others -- not good timing for Gregory to be shooting so poorly -- hope she gets back on track ASAP

 

[SpaceRaider]

Score by Period

TEAM	1	2	3	T
MT	14	17	15	46
WKU	4	16	6	26

 

[SpaceRaider]

59-41 FINAL

Score by Period

TEAM	1	2	3	4	T
MT	14	17	15	13	59
WKU	4	16	6	15	41

 

[MTOleBlue]

Nice win and that means... WE ARE THE CUSA REGULAR SEASON CHAMPS!!!

 

[SpaceRaider]

Team Comparison

STATISTIC	MT	WKU
FG%	42%	27%
FGs	21-50	17-64
3FG%	29%	16%
3FGs	8-28	4-25
FT%	69%	60%
FTs	9-13	3-5
TOs	13	15
PtsOffTO	19	7
TotReb	35	42
DefReb	27	23
Off Reb	8	19
2ndChPts	11	13
BenchPts	0	8
PtsPaint	22	16
FstBkPt	7	6
Blocks	3	3
Steals	10	5
Assts	8	11
Times Tied:	0
Lead Chg:	0
LeadTime	39:12	0:00

 

[Blue Raider Lightning]

Any time you leave Bowling Green with a win is a good day. Bringing the regular season championship home from there is even sweeter. Now a week of rest and into the home stretch full speed. Two games at home and a big road test at Liberty - who is playing very well right now - stand in the way of a perfect conference slate. I like that there is something to play for to keep us focused.

 

[blueboro007]

I will never complain about an almost 20 point win against WKU, but this offense has been really out of sync it seems recently.

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[MTFAN61]

MT Women's basketball may have the most dedicated fan base in CUSA. As mentioned before I also am concerned our offense peeked too early. I agree 4 straight games at the end of the year in which our competition has a week to prepare while MT gets only 1 to 2 days prep is crap scheduling on the conferences part. Hopefully Gregory can get herself back in rhythm by next Saturday. With her normal minimum input we would have put 70 on the board, possibly more. I think we were dragging a bit. A weeks rest will be key to finish the season.
Even with the offensive struggles our defense has been stellar the last few weeks. Today was no exception.

 

[MTFAN61]

BTW had to work today. Caught post game interviews though. Who has the eye injury? Any idea how serious?

 

[MTOleBlue]

BTW had to work today. Caught post game interviews though. Who has the eye injury? Any idea how serious?

Ta'Mia and a WKU player collided. Didn't seem too bad bc she came back into the game later in the quarter

 

[MidTennFootball]

When your starters average 35+ min/game, they are going to be nights where perimeter shooting is off. MT has too many games where 60% (or more) of their shots are from 3. Attack the basket and utilize one of the top strengths of this team (FT Shooting)