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LADY RAIDER BB MIDDLE TENNESSEE (6-1) vs IOWA ST (5-2) Sat Nov 30, 12:30 pm. Fort Myers, Fl. WSN Streaming Network

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After a hard fought defensive victory over Purdue (54-49), Middle Tennessee carries a 4 game winning streak into what could be considered its most challenging game of the year. The Lady Raiders will be taking on #15 Iowa St. Middle Tennessee & Iowa St are both coming off extreme challenges in their 1st game of The Elevance Fort Myers Women's Tournament. MT had to overcome difficult shooting woes against a very aggressive defensive squad in Purdue of the B1G. Iowa St ran into a buzz saw as it had to battle South Carolina after experiencing its 1st loss in 43 straight games. After making its first 3 pointer of the game Iowa St was not able to overcome a 32 consecutive point onslaught by the Gamecocks.
ESPN Predictor has Middle Tennessee as an underdog in Saturday's matchup. They're giving a moderate 55% winning edge to Iowa St. This is a winnable game for the Lady Raiders, but they must find their shooting eye to start the game & continue their elite defensive effort as we have recently seen. Boldyreva has been playing great lately, & will need to continue doing so against one of the nation's premier centers in Iowa State's Audi Crooks.
 
I think it’ll be interesting to see whether ISU tries to match up Crooks 1-on-1 defensively on Boldyreva because I think that’s a matchup Nas will win. Gonna be key to have our guards actually hit their shots tomorrow.
 
Have been on a cruise all week, so connectivity has been a challenge. GBR.com claims our game Saturday concludes our involvement. Yet, on ESPN.com they have both a consolation and championship games Saturday evening for the other side of the bracket.
Sunday evening they list both a consolation & championship games Sunday evening for our bracket.
Assuming we lose to Iowa St Saturday, does that mean we would play Purdue again?
Which would mean SC would play Iowa St for the championship?
I can’t imagine any of the coaches would think playing the same team twice in 4 days would be a good idea.🤔😳
 
Have been on a cruise all week, so connectivity has been a challenge. GBR.com claims our game Saturday concludes our involvement. Yet, on ESPN.com they have both a consolation and championship games Saturday evening for the other side of the bracket.
Sunday evening they list both a consolation & championship games Sunday evening for our bracket.
Assuming we lose to Iowa St Saturday, does that mean we would play Purdue again?
Which would mean SC would play Iowa St for the championship?
I can’t imagine any of the coaches would think playing the same team twice in 4 days would be a good idea.🤔😳
Our side of the bracket is matchups only, no championship games. This is our final game. The other side of the bracket is in the different format. If we were the same, we’d be facing South Carolina tomorrow (we beat Purdue and they beat ISU) so I’m glad we don’t lol
 
JMO, seems a waste to bring 8 quality programs to one locale and half of them only play 2 games?
Only half joking, but I would lean towards believing what’s on the ESPN site than what our communication department puts out 😎
Our side of the bracket is matchups only, no championship games. This is our final game. The other side of the bracket is in the different format. If we were the same, we’d be facing South Carolina tomorrow (we beat Purdue and they beat ISU) so I’m glad we don’t lol
 
The above Iowa State primer has literally zero scouting information on Middle Tennessee. Don't think I've ever seen that before. I take it the Cyclones are anticipating a walk through the park tomorrow. Hope the Iowa State team has the same apparent feelings as their media department.
 
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Good and honest observations from their fans - clearly much more respect for the opponent amongst them but who knows about the actual staff given the article they put out about us. I like our chances tomorrow.
 
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Funny how this upcoming game for MT vs. Iowa St. could be seen as parallel to Iowa State's game to South Carolina.
The Cyclones faced a very angry SC team because of their loss to UCLA, & pounded Iowa State in return for their 1st loss in over 2 years.
Could MT face an angry Iowa State team bent on taking out their frustrations because of their loss to SC? It's possible, but their are differences between those 2 situations.
1) Iowa St has had 3 very tough games in a row. 2 of their last 3 games have been against fellow G5 schools in which they struggled with the opposition. Their confidence could be somewhat shaken because of that. That being said look for Iowa State to fight back hard tomorrow trying to get their swag back.
2) I don't look for MT to walk into the same wide eyed situation as Iowa State did against Carolina. The good thing for the Lady Raiders is they will come in hopefully a bit angry themselves. The Raiders just came off one of the worst shooting % games they've had in years, & will be looking for a much improved showing Saturday. While they & the coaches are proud for the win over Purdue I'm sure the coaches have addressed their being locked in when shooting the ball, & don't want to see that same type of performance again.

I look for both teams as having something to prove tomorrow. A hard fought competitive loss will not be the end of the world. But on the other hand, if the Lady Raiders play the kind of game we know they're capable of producing they can have a significant statement win. If so we'll continue building more top 25 votes, & likely see ESPN move us up to a 6 or 7 seed in next week's Bracketology forecast.
 
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Looking forward to this game tomorrow; I really hope the stream is better this time around. I think it was specifically the feed inside the arena as the commercials played smoothly.
 
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Looking forward to this game tomorrow; I really hope the stream is better this time around. I think it was specifically the feed inside the arena as the commercials played smoothly.
Watched some of the stream from Virginia Tech game. Seemed much better
 
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