LADY RAIDER BB Middle Tennessee (23-6, 15-1) at Liberty (21-6, 14-2) Thursday March 6, 6 pm. Lynchburg, VA. ESPN+

[MTFAN61]

CUSA's top 2 square off in what could be the regular season championship at stake.
Despite Middle Tennessee's nation's best defense the Raiders will need a better offensive showing than their last game to pull off a victory over the Liberty Flames in Lynchburg.

 

[SpaceRaider]

at Liberty
3/6/2025 | 6 p.m.
ESPN+
WGNS (101.9 FM | 1450 AM | 100.5 FM)

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[MTOleBlue]

Definitely going to need to be on the mark from 3 especially in this one.

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[tyler90wm]

Here were Coach Carey Green's post-game thoughts from the last match-up between these two teams where the Lady Raiders won 69-41.

 

[tyler90wm]

Liberty's Bella Smuda discusses the upcoming game on the Liberty Flames Podcast

 

[SpaceRaider]

Blue Raiders conclude regular season on the road - Middle Tennessee State University Athletics

Thursday, Mar. 6 | 6 p.m. | Liberty Arena | Lynchburg, Va. MIDDLE TENNESSEE BLUE RAIDERS 23-6, 15-1

goblueraiders.com

“You know this bunch is going to show up” - Winningest Senior Class in Women’s Basketball History still has much to play for after Senior Day - Middle Tennessee State University Athletics

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Sometimes, the numbers really do speak for themselves. And the numbers of the Blue Raider women's basketball class of 2025 speak loudly for

goblueraiders.com

 

[SpaceRaider]

WBB Game Day: Middle Tennessee - Liberty University

Game Day Coverage Liberty vs. Middle Tennessee (Liberty Arena) Tipoff: Thursday at 7:02 p.m. ET TV: ESPN+ Radio: LFSN Radio Live Stats Liberty Storylines Lib...

libertyflames.com

 

[SpaceRaider]

• MT Game Notes
• Liberty Game Notes

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[MTOleBlue]

#1 issue with the offense: GUARDS ON THE WING STARING AT BOLDYREVA OPEN IN THE PAINT AND NOT THROWING HER THE BALL. Scott in particular does not pass it inside enough when Nas has position and is ready for it. That is literally how the offense is supposed to work and they just... don't do it... baffling

 

[MTOleBlue]

Worst half of the year to date. Really need to figure out the offense big time in the second half.

 

[MTOleBlue]

Insell on halftime: "Just keep playing defense and execute"

🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

 

[MTOleBlue]

This may be the worst game we have ever played under Rick Insell. Horrific. This is where the offensive disaster catches up to us big time.

 

[blueboro007]

What an embarrassment

 

[MTFAN61]

Probably should be bothered by first half performance more than I am, but was ultimately expecting something like that to happen.
In all sports you have an offensive initiative & a defensive initiative. When you spend predominantly all of your practices on one initiative the other is sure to suffer.
As tourney time approaches we'll be facing better & better competition. This will likely not be the last time the Lady Raiders suffer a half like that this year.

 

[MTOleBlue]

Probably should be bothered by first half performance more than I am, but was ultimately expecting something like that to happen.
In all sports you have an offensive initiative & a defensive initiative. When you spend predominantly all of your practices on one initiative the other is sure to suffer.
As tourney time approaches we'll be facing better & better competition. This will likely not be the last time the Lady Raiders suffer a half like that this year.

100% agree. This is what happens when you do not focus on your offense in practice. It is, to be frank, an absolute dumpster fire right now. Insell loves to talk about defense leading to offense and defense winning championships but that is not going to save you when you have 18 POINTS near the end of the 3Q.

It is indefensible... 8 for 38 going into the last quarter. 0-9 from 3 and 50% on 4-8 FTs. We did not play South Carolina or UConn tonight, we played Liberty. Wow.

 

[MTFAN61]

Was at the recent UTEP home game. That game was a true warning sign. Only 28 points scored in the 1st 3 quarters. Was one of the worst examples of offensive basketball I had seen by the Lady Raiders at home in years.
This is a fine mid-major team, but not close to the quality we saw from MT the last 2-3 years. I wish them well in the post season, but with such a poorly prepared offense there's only so far this team can go.

 

[MTOleBlue]

Yep. Offensive disaster is going to really limit the potential of the team. CAB and Nas the two bright spots tonight, giving their all.

Insell finally took his first timeout with 5 minutes left in 4Q. After we've gotten down by a max of 33...

Hope the coaches realize what they need to work on and really hammer the offense, but after the WKU and UTEP games, I'm not sure.

 

[tyler90wm]

Was at the recent UTEP home game. That game was a true warning sign. Only 28 points scored in the 1st 3 quarters. Was one of the worst examples of offensive basketball I had seen by the Lady Raiders at home in years.
This is a fine mid-major team, but not close to the quality we saw from MT the last 2-3 years. I wish them well in the post season, but with such a poorly prepared offense there's only so far this team can go.

That is where I've been for a while now. Their defense play is top notch, but the offense can be non-existent for long stretches. That will either keep you in a lot of close games or result in a blowout when the other team is executing their offense and shooting well.

 

[MTOleBlue]

The thing about this game is our defense wasn't even THAT bad. Liberty only has 58 points under 3 minutes left in the game! It was quite obviously the offense that really caused this to be a total disaster. They got so many run-outs and easy offensive sets off bad misses.

 

[tyler90wm]

To be fair to the ladies, I'm sure it is really tough to play at that level of defense all game and also execute offensively, all while rarely using subs or timeouts.

 

[MTOleBlue]

To be fair to the ladies, I'm sure it is really tough to play at that level of defense all game and also execute offensively, all while rarely using subs or timeouts.

Totally agree. It is difficult and I'm sure having a rough night on one side of the game can really negatively impact the other, consciously or not.

 

[MTTim]

Defense wins championships in football, not BB.

 

[asuhatesme]

We have 23 wins. 22 are quad 4. We’re a mediocre team that has played a heinous schedule in a heinous league.
Easily Insell’s worst coaching job since he’s been here.

 

[SpaceRaider]

Rather it happen now instead of conference tourney, but won't be surprised if it doesn't happen in the tourney in Hsv.

 

[Blue Raider Lightning]

Saturday will be very interesting to see how this team bounces back. I watched a good portion of it and it was quite possibly the worst beating a CRI team has taken. Sadly, the final score was no indication of how much we were dominated.

Granted, we always have a target on our back. Liberty is a very solid team. We knew this game would be tough.

Of many concerns I have, one at the forefront now is Liberty is over the hump. Until tonight, solid as they have been, they had never beaten us. We were their kryptonite.

We have a week to figure things out. Liberty now thinks they are the team to beat in CUSA. I am not going to argue. Considering our lack of adjustments and mindset to stick with the original plan instead of adapt, this season may end sooner than later.

No doubt we are post season bound. Yet it's looking more like a WNIT run for these Raiders. Strangley that may not be too terrible. We can go a long way and have some home games. As far as the NCAA, if we are fortunate enough to punch our ticket, I just see the noise we make as being a resounding thud.

Hoping we see a different team Saturday. Next week in the tourney, we know we are capable, but both Western and Liberty know they can play with us and it has me worried. Hope they prove me wrong.

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[MTOleBlue]

Yeah the threat of WKU and Liberty in the tournament is very real. That said, it’ll help having a home court advantage down in Huntsville and hopefully the team figures it out on offense ASAP. If we do end up in WNIT, we should host every game so that’s at least a silver lining.

 

[MTFAN61]

Well said statements above. The primary concern I have for "figuring things out" is CRI being a pretty stubborn coach. Take his use of time outs as an example. For years we have brought up his lack of using them when needed. We are 30 games into the season now, & offensively we appear worse now than at the beginning of the year. It wouldn't surprise me that coach's philosophy concerning Thursday's offense meltdown would be to double down on spending more time on defense.

 

[blueboro007]

thought a complete rebuild for next year was bad news but now could be a blessing

 

[MTFAN61]

thought a complete rebuild for next year was bad news but now could be a blessing

Would really like to see what Matt could do with next year's team.

 

[asuhatesme]

Would really like to see what Matt could do with next year's team.

Next year will be bad. 75 percent of our roster has never played a meaningful minute. What’s that tell you? If they were good enough they would play. We lose four of our starting five. And I’ll be stunned if Scott doesn’t enter the portal. Maybe Harrison too and I wouldn’t blame them one bit.
We played four of the five starters more than 34 minutes last night. One FG attempt from a bench player. We don’t develop depth. The last 7 players on the bench are just there for practice apparently with no intent of ever playing them.
We won’t win 20 games next year, even with a schedule as weak as this years was.
Rick wanted his 500 wins, and he’s going to get it, but he’s going to leave a smoldering crater when he retires.

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[jakeboldenbrp]

Next year will be bad. 75 percent of our roster has never played a meaningful minute. What’s that tell you? If they were good enough they would play. We lose four of our starting five. And I’ll be stunned if Scott doesn’t enter the portal. Maybe Harrison too and I wouldn’t blame them one bit.
We played four of the five starters more than 34 minutes last night. One FG attempt from a bench player. We don’t develop depth. The last 7 players on the bench are just there for practice apparently with no intent of ever playing them.
We won’t win 20 games next year, even with a schedule as weak as this years was.
Rick wanted his 500 wins, and he’s going to get it, but he’s going to leave a smoldering crater when he retires.

We’re all just as disappointed as you are about last night, but let’s not lose our heads.

1. CRI, for every bit of his 2 decades here, has played a lineup consisting of 7-8 rotating players. Whether it’s signing HS or transfers, he has the “depth” or lack thereof to win 20+.

2. CRI has eclipsed 20 wins in every season but twice. One season was a shortened ‘20-‘21 post-COVID.

3. “Weak schedule” played the 75th toughest Non-conference schedule in CBB including 6 projected NCAAT teams. Will go 24-7 against a 102nd SOS. Outside of WKU, all losses are to Top 85 NET teams. Objectively not weak.

They haven’t won the “big game” this year that we have grown accustomed to in years past. Their great defense doesn’t overshadow their bad offense this year, unfortunately. However, they can still win their 3rd straight CUSA regular season title on Saturday (with help from WKU) and will be the favorites in Huntsville.

 

[MTOleBlue]

I agree. One other thing - I'm glad this sort of disaster happened NOW versus in the CUSA Tournament next week. Much better to have that sort of performance sooner than later.

 

[MTOleBlue]

Next year will be bad. 75 percent of our roster has never played a meaningful minute. What’s that tell you? If they were good enough they would play. We lose four of our starting five. And I’ll be stunned if Scott doesn’t enter the portal. Maybe Harrison too and I wouldn’t blame them one bit.
We played four of the five starters more than 34 minutes last night. One FG attempt from a bench player. We don’t develop depth. The last 7 players on the bench are just there for practice apparently with no intent of ever playing them.
We won’t win 20 games next year, even with a schedule as weak as this years was.
Rick wanted his 500 wins, and he’s going to get it, but he’s going to leave a smoldering crater when he retires.

I don't necessarily see things as big of a disaster as you do, given the quality of the recruiting classes we've got coming in.

 

[MTFAN61]

I don't necessarily see things as big of a disaster as you do, given the quality of the recruiting classes we've got coming in.

Yes, this could be our best freshmen class ever. I think they can do great things in the future. The one thing I would like to see is equal coaching on offense & defense.

 

[MTOleBlue]

Yes, this could be our best freshmen class ever. I think they can do great things in the future. The one thing I would like to see is equal coaching on offense & defense.

Agreed. I hope we see that next year with Matt as HC.

 

[MTTim]

Agreed. I hope we see that next year with Matt as HC.

I don't have the trust some do in Matt as a HC. I think when Rick retires we should pursue a proven winner who can take us to the next level. Matt is unproven.