MTSU dominates Sam Houston; inches closer to NCAA Tournament

Featured photo by Preston Todd

Story by Calvin White

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MURFREESBORO, Tenn- Middle Tennessee women’s basketball (24-4, 14-0 CUSA) dominated in typical fashion Saturday afternoon in the Murphy Center, dismantling Sam Houston (7-19, 2-12 CUSA) 93-62 behind 73 combined points from Ta’Mia Scott, Jalynn Gregory, Savannah Wheeler and Anastasiia Boldyreva.

With two regular season games remaining, MTSU leads Conference USA in 12 different statistics, including total offense, total defense and scoring margin. Head coach Rick Insell’s squad has won 13 of 14 games in conference play by double digits.  The Lady Raiders have been a well-oiled machine the entire season, even if head coach Rick Insell always demanded more.

For the second consecutive season, MTSU hoisted the CUSA Championship trophy on its home floor after locking up the regular season title last week in a win over Western Kentucky. Insell invited every fan in the stands to come down to the court and take a celebratory picture with the team and trophy.

“That’s a feeling you can’t top,” Courtney Whitson said. “That’s what you work for. It’s all the memories of being together. We preach all the time about being unified so that feeling of being able to celebrate that on our home court is pretty special.”

MTSU has maintained its one-game-at-a-time approach all season and has not lost since Dec. 30 at Grand Canyon. The Lady Raiders have won their conference games by an average of 24.1 points, the highest scoring margin in CUSA. Liberty is second at 6.9.

Whitson and Savannah Wheeler were honored postgame for senior day ceremonies. Whitson is a future Blue Raider Hall of Famer and Wheeler is one of the best players in CUSA history. Both stood on the court after the game with their attention on the Murphy Center jumbotron as videos from their family, friends and former coaches echoed throughout the arena.

“As far as the emotions, just a very special day,” Wheeler said. “We had great fans. I had family and friends come down from back home. I’m just very blessed and thankful and I give all the credit to these girls that I play with. Every single day we go at it in practice and we compete and we get better and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

MTSU is on rapid pace to play in its third NCAA Tournament in four seasons but the program has not won a game in the Big Dance since 2007 when it beat Gonzaga 85-46. The regular season is just a steppingstone towards MTSU’s ultimate goal of competing and winning in the NCAA Tournament.

Rick Insell’s expectations are clear when he recruits players. If a player comes to play at MTSU, they will play in the NCAA Tournament. So far, his statement has held true. Since Insell was hired in 2005, MTSU has made the NCAA Tournament 11 times and has never gone longer than three seasons without an appearance, excluding when there was no tournament in 2020. MTSU has never missed the postseason in 18 seasons under Insell.

Rick Insell has built a powerhouse in Murfreesboro. Dominance is the expectation and the result. Barring a Cinderella run by another team in CUSA, MTSU will roll through the conference tournament and await its opponent from the NCAA selection committee. The Lady Raiders haven’t advanced to the second round since 2007 but as the saying goes, anything can happen in March.