Middle Tennessee women’s basketball (9-8, 4-1 CUSA) suffered its first loss in Conference USA play at the hands of Louisiana Tech (10-5, 3-1 CUSA), 61-48.
The Lady Raiders’ undefeated streak in conference play was snapped on the back of repeated miscues on offense and a dominant showing from LA Tech in the paint.
“We’ve got to take care of the basketball; we’ve done that in the last couple of games,” head coach Rick Insell said on WGNS radio’s postgame show. “If we do that tonight, we’ll be in the game.”
Taking care of the ball was a struggle for the Lady Raiders throughout the entire game, as 20 turnovers disrupted any hope at establishing offensive momentum. LA Tech opportunistically capitalized on the mistakes, as the Lady Techsters scored 19 points off turnovers to strengthen their lead.
Middle Tennessee greatly improved its field goal percentage following a cold first quarter, but the struggles still continued for the MTSU starting five.
Freshman Macie Phifer was the only MTSU starter to end with double digit points. Phifer also led the Lady Raiders in rebounds, with six boards, along with four assists and a block.
“We didn’t play smart, but we did play hard,” Insell said on the WGNS radio postgame show. “We turned the ball over too much and we didn’t knock down our free throws.”
The Lady Techsters did not fare much better as they also committed 13 turnovers, and their percentage from beyond the arc was the same at 35%.
The key difference for LA Tech was its presence in the paint, as they scored 34 points down low in comparison to MTSU’s 18, and its complete domination in transition, as they tacked on 15 points from fast breaks.
CUSA Preseason Player of the Year, Paris Bradley had a stellar night for the Lady Techsters, scoring a game-high 17 points on 6-8 shooting, including a trio of 3-pointers. LA Tech starters Averi Aaron and Jordan Marshall tacked on 11 and 14 points respectively, with Marshall also recording a game-high eight rebounds.
With multiple starters struggling to score, the Lady Raiders got a much-needed boost from their bench, particularly from CUSA Freshman of the Week Yu Han Lin as she finished with a team high of 14 points along with three assists.
Lin’s consistency as an offensive presence has become a recurring theme recently for the Lady Raiders, as she’s scored 10 or more in her last three outings.
MTSU clawed its way back into the game in the third quarter, cutting the LA Tech lead to as few as six points, but a late flurry of buckets, including 18 points in the paint put the Lady Techsters back in firm control of the game headed into the final quarter of play.
LA Tech guard Jianna Morris scored six of her seven points in the final quarter to secure the Lady Techsters’ third win in conference play while it marks MTSU’s first loss in CUSA, following a dominant 4-game stretch.
“We got a young team; we got to learn to fight through these challenges,” Insell said. “This was one of the toughest challenges.”
The Lady Raiders will look to bounce back on the last game of their road trip against the Sam Houston Bearkats (11-4, 4-0 CUSA) at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum on Jan. 17 at 2 p.m.
