MTSU women’s basketball (8-7, 3-0 CUSA) toppled Texas-El Paso (9-5, 1-2 CUSA) led by freshman Kirston Verhulst’s career night, winning 86-43.
Verhulst came out firing on all cylinders scoring 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting with five three pointers in the first half against the Miners. The freshman from De Soto, Kansas, set a new personal best in points, field goals and three pointers.
Head coach Rick Insell was quick to point out how much confidence Verhulst was showing but still seeks more from his starting point guard and Verhulst backed his statements.
“I think everything he [Insell] said is probably right,” Verhulst said. “Shouldn’t have had some turnovers that I had but I’m just proud of my teammates for finding the open passes and dishing it out to me on the three because I owe a lot of my shots to them.”
Verhulst wasn’t the only guard to get in on the action as the Lady Raiders were led by the quartet of Verhulst, Alayna Contreras, Yu Han Lin and Savannah Davis.
The game plan was based around the guards playing good since UTEP has height to them, but the success just came from what the Miners gave, Verhulst said.
“Every time we’d get it into Blair [Baugus], Stacy [Kabernick] or anyone was driving, a lot of them were collapsing, so I think kicking it out was definitely a big focus,” Verhulst said. “I think it was just kind of what we were reading based on their defense.”
Contreras continued her hot start to Conference USA play scoring 16 points, her third straight double-digit scoring performance in a row.
Insell said on Dec. 16, 2025 that Contreras has the green light to shoot the ball and the senior guard has started to listen. Contreras took 12 shot attempts against UTEP with three attempts from behind the arc.
Lin and Davis both had sneaky good performances against the Miners. Lin, off the bench, scored 18 points in 15 minutes while Davis scored nine points and led the team with 39 in plus-minus.
Though the game plan was based around the guard quartet, Baugus still scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, her third straight double-double. The Waynesboro, Tennessee, native is one double-double away from setting the program record.
“I’ve said before, I love rebounding and that’s something I want to do, and scoring just comes,” Baugus said. “If i get the ball, I’m going to try to put it in the hole the best I can.”
On the defensive end of the ball, Middle Tennessee gave up its fewest points of the year forcing UTEP to shoot 26% from the field.
The Lady Raiders are growing out on the court, starting to make rotations on defense and being coachable, Insell said.
“That is one of the main things that have helped our offense is our defense in these past couple games,” Contreras said. “I think the way we focused on our defense and getting the ices and things like that have took the pressure off of the offense.”
MTSU hosts New Mexico State at the Murphy Center on Jan. 10 before a two-game road trip west where Insell could pick up his 500th win at the Division I level.
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