Feature photo by Erin Douglas
Story by Jacob Burgess
Middle Tennessee women’s basketball (10-4, 2-0) faced off against the Liberty Flames (8-5, 1-1) in its second conference game of the season. The two teams met for the first time since the 2024 Conference USA finals with MTSU lengthening the win streak, winning 69-41.
The Blue Raiders won big against the Flames just days after beating Florida International in the opening weekend of conference play. Both Liberty and FIU were picked to be MTSU’s biggest challengers in CUSA going into the year.
2024-25 CUSA Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll
| Rank | School (first-place votes) | Total |
| 1. | MTSU (9) | 99 |
| 2. | Liberty (1) | 88 |
| 3. | FIU | 73 |
| 4. | WKU | 61 |
| 5. | Louisiana Tech | 59 |
| 6. | NM State | 55 |
| 7. | UTEP | 43 |
| 8. | Jacksonville State | 32 |
| 9. | Kennesaw State | 22 |
| 10. | Sam Houston | 18 |
“We have come through a tough non-conference schedule,” head coach Rick Insell said. “I’ve flown these kids all over the country the past 30 days, they’re tired and we come back home and start out with FIU and Liberty. Those two are picked second and third in the conference so I’m proud of our basketball team.”
Middle Tennessee finished the non-conference slate at 8-5 with losses to the likes of Tennessee, Iowa State and Kansas State. With the loss of key pieces, the Lady Raiders looked to take a step back from the previous season form.
Defensive presence
In the opening weekend, MTSU proved to the rest of the conference why it is still the team to beat. FIU finished third in pre-season voting with preseason player of the year, Mya Kone and Tanajah Hayes expected to lead the team before both suffered injuries early.
Middle Tennessee held the injured Panthers to 38 points in a defensive win for MTSU as the Panthers averaged 74 points before playing the Lady Raiders. In FIU’s second conference game, the Panthers got back to business scoring 80 points against Western Kentucky; making the Lady Raider defense stand out even more.
MTSU found similar defensive success against Liberty holding the Flames to 41 points, never allowing more than 12 in a quarter.
Despite making defensive statements early, MTSU’s coaching staff isn’t satisfied just yet. On a scale of one to 10, Insell ranks the team defense at a four as of now, with seven being the desired result, he said.
“If we keep communicating then our defense is going to keep improving,” guard Jalynn Gregory said. “We played about 33 minutes of good defense in a game together and so I think what is going to carry us to 40 is our defense we just got to keep buying what they’ve been preaching to us.”
Bench minutes
MTSU was able to hold FIU to such a low score even with four starters in foul trouble. Ta’Mia Scott, Anastasiia Boldyreva and Courtney Blakely fouled out along with Elina Arike getting to four fouls.
Such foul trouble made Insell play his bench more than usual. Insell put in five players who didn’t put up huge numbers on the stat sheet but received valuable time on the court. Foul trouble forcing resulting in extra bench minutes could prove useful come tournament time.
Savannah Davis played 28 minutes, a career high for the freshman, and Jada Grannum the backup center to Boldyreva played 11 minutes. The post positions have the most lack of depth with Grannum usually the only sub.
Davis and Grannum will need to play tougher on defense but are getting better, Insell said.
Middle Tennessee travels to first-year conference member Kennesaw State and second-year member Jacksonville State in week two of CUSA play.
Jacob Burgess is the lead sports reporter for MTSU Sidelines
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