MTSU women’s basketball (11-9, 6-2) defeated Liberty University (9-9, 3-4), 63-54, for head coach Rick Insell’s 500th career win.  

“When I got hired at Shelbyville, do you think for a second I ever thought about I’d be in a hall of fame?” Insell said. “…Or I’m going to get up to a college job and win 500 games. No. Never crossed my mind.” 

Insell has said repeatedly that the only game he cares about is the next one. After Middle Tennessee’s loss to the University of Delaware 24 hours prior, the Lady Raiders had to turn around quickly due to inclement weather forcing a schedule change.  

“Honestly, I think it was kind of helpful,” freshman guard Macie Phifer said. “We didn’t really have time to think about our performance last night.” 

The Lady Raiders flipped the switch from the previous night as MTSU led Liberty for 37 minutes of the game. The Flames only lead came during the first minute of the second half as they went on an 11-point run before halftime to take a 29-27 advantage.  

“We let them hit a three to go up one or two at halftime and I’m thinking ‘man’ but we went out at halftime and spent about half of it not happy and then spent the other half ‘hey lets get it together, this is what we have got to do,’” Insell said.  

Out of halftime, MTSU had its two best quarters of basketball, scoring 36 points while holding Liberty to 25. The Flames made it close multiple times in the second half, pulling within a possession of Middle Tennessee on three separate occasions.  

Liberty threatened the Lady Raiders’ lead with 8:57 left in the fourth quarter by cutting its deficit to three. MTSU then hit three straight shots to extend its lead back to 10 points and closed the door on the Flames.  

MTSU held Liberty’s Avery Mills and Emmy Stout well below their averages on the year. The duo entered the contest averaging 30 points per game but were held to 20 points by Middle Tennessee.  

“She [Mills] is a great player and keeping the mentality of I’m not going to let my man get the ball,” sophomore guard Savannah Davis said. “I’m not going to let her score or rebound, and I feel like me and Kirsten both just kind of kept her from doing that.” 

MTSU went up by 14 points with 3:49 left to play in the game, however the last minutes weren’t without some stress as four Lady Raiders were on the court with four fouls. Freshmen Blair Baugus and Kirston Verhulst fouled out of the game in the final minute.  

“I told him [Insell] whenever I came out of the game, I said, ‘500 baby, let’s go,’” Baugus said.  

With the victory, Insell became the 24th coach in NCAA women’s basketball history and sixth active coach to win 500 games. He’s also the first coach to win 500 games at both the college and high school levels, according to MTSU Athletics.

After playing two games in two days, MTSU has a week off before hosting its rival, Western Kentucky University for a double header. Both the Blue Raiders and Lady Raiders will welcome the Hilltoppers to the Murphy Center on Saturday, Jan. 31.