Middle Tennessee women’s basketball (18-6, 10-1 CUSA) seems to have found its footing with the 100 Miles of Hate rematch on the horizon.
Middle Tennessee lost to Western Kentucky on the road on Jan. 18 with a bad third quarter, fueled by the Blue Raiders’ poor shooting and getting into foul trouble.
The Lady Raiders have faced a zone defense for most of conference play so far and with one conference loss to this point, it seems like the zone doesn’t work against Middle Tennessee.
One such team to play a zone defense against the Lady Raiders was Louisiana Tech in which MTSU won 61-43.
If the Lady Raiders lose to a zone defense it’s because they beat themselves, guard Jalynn Gregory said after the LA Tech game.
Take MTSU’s latest contest against Kennesaw State for example, where the Owls played a man defense and a 3-2 zone. The Lady Raiders shot 55% in the first half with a halftime lead of 42-11.
Have the Lady Raiders played well against multiple defensive types? Well, the Hilltoppers played multiple defenses in the third quarter of the previous meeting, and Middle Tennessee never got comfortable.
Western Kentucky played a man defense in the first half ultimately trailing by nine after the first 20 minutes. The third quarter saw WKU switch between a man defense, 2-3 zone and hybrid look.
The hybrid defense works by the on-ball defender playing man defense and the rest of the defense playing zone. The on-ball defender stays with the ball until a pass happens then becomes a part of the zone defense.
Western Kentucky relies on showing a mixture of defensive fronts to force Middle Tennessee into finding a solution every time down the court.
The Lady Raiders’ hot streak will need to continue with no mid-week game before a home stand against the Hilltoppers.
As of now the team is shooting the ball well around the perimeter from Gregory to Savannah Davis, head coach Rich Insell said.
Guard Ta’Mia Scott scored 20 plus points in the last three games with a career-high 30 points against Jacksonville State.
The Lady Raiders have seven games remaining before the Conference USA post season and possibly a third straight trip to the NCAA tournament.
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