Featured photo by Erin Douglas
Story by Calvin White
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HUNTSVILLE, Ala- After only leading by five at halftime, Middle Tennessee women’s basketball (27-4) ran away from UTEP (12-19) in the second half, outscoring the Miners 48-25 in the final 20 minutes on its way to a 78-50 win in the quarterfinal round of the Conference USA Tournament.
“We didn’t show up in the first, second or third quarter but the fourth quarter is more like what we’ve been seeing all year long,” MTSU head coach Rick Insell said. “I can’t explain why we had that type of start because we usually don’t have that kind of start.”
The lid was on the basket early for both teams as the first quarter ended in an 11-11 tie. Anastasiia Boldyreva picked up two fouls in the first five minutes of the first quarter so MTSU relied on production from Iullia Grabovskaia and Jada Grannum for much of the first half.
Grabovskaia and Grannum combined for 10 points and four rebounds in the first half. Grannum was mainly used as a replacement for Courtney Whitson, who was 0-of-6 shooting for zero points in the first half.
MTSU ended the first half shooting 9-of-32 from the field, including 1-of-17 from beyond the arc. Other than the Jalynn Gregory made 3-pointer at the 4:39 mark of the second quarter, all of MTSU’s first-half points came from inside the paint or at the free-throw line to take a 30-25 lead into the locker room.
The Lady Raiders, led by Courtney Whitson, lit the nets on fire in the second half, draining 10 3-pointers. Whitson was 7-of-13 shooting and 6-of-11 from deep in the second half to score 21 points in the final two quarters. Whitson was four points shy of matching UTEP’s team total of 25 second-half points.
“Credit to my teammates,” Whitson said. “If I didn’t have Jada (Grannum), Iullia (Grabovskaia) and Jalynn (Gregory) stepping in and giving me that stability that I could come back in and have better second half, then I wouldn’t have been able to do it. We wouldn’t be in the ball game. I can’t, personally as a leader, start like out like that.
Whitson and Gregory combined to hit all 10 of MTSU’s 3-pointers and the Lady Raiders held UTEP to 9-of-31 shooting from the floor. The Miners played MTSU close for a large portion of the game in all three of the meetings between the two teams this season until MTSU pulled away.
UTEP gave MTSU a close game until the Lady Raiders began their 3-point barrage.
“Against Middle Tennessee, we proved that we played them tough for about 30 minutes,” UTEP head coach Keitha Adams said. “For three quarters, we played tough then it got away from us like a freight train.”
MTSU has shown its duality all season. The Lady Raiders have won games with their offense and defense. But tonight, it needed both to stay in the game and eventually pull away.
MTSU advances to the semifinal round of the CUSA Tournament where it will play the winner of the Louisiana Tech/Jacksonville State game. MTSU is 2-0 against both teams this season but the Bulldogs gave MTSU by far its closest game in conference play this season, a 64-61 win in Ruston.
Calvin White is the sports editor for MTSU Sidelines. For more news, visit www.mtsusidelines.com, and follow us on Facebook at MTSU Sidelines and on X and Instagram at @mtsusidelines. Also, sign up for our weekly newsletter here.
