MTSU women’s basketball (16-14, 11-7 CUSA) earned the N0. 3 seed in the Conference USA tournament, and is set to face off against the No. 6 seed Missouri State University (19-12, 11-7 CUSA). 

The Lady Raiders and Lady Bears split their regular season matchups, with both teams winning at home. MTSU beat Missouri State in the final regular season game, 86-75, after losing on the road 60-54 on Feb. 5. The quarterfinals match will be the third time in just over a month the two teams will play.  

“I’ve done that my whole career,” Insell said. “You come out in high school and sometimes you got to play the same team. In some cases you got to play two or three teams twice or three times. In this case it’ll be Missouri State for the third time.” 

The first game was the Kaemyn Bekemeier show as the junior guard scored 25 points for the Lady Bears. Bekemeier was the only player in double digits for Missouri State, while the other four starters combined for 13 points.  

MTSU’s inconsistent offense could not recover with Alayna Contreras and Blair Baugus combining for 37-of-54 Lady Raider points.  

The game in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, was all Contreras and Baugus, dropping 31 and 29 points, respectively. Missouri State, even with four players, including Bekemeier, in double digits couldn’t slow the Lady Raiders down.  

Keys for MTSU  

Head coach Rick Insell changed his starting lineup for the final game, bringing Carsyn Swaney in to start over Savannah Davis.  

It was Swaney’s fourth start of the year after playing 24 minutes against FIU.  

“…So the other night [against FIU], she had a good game, so I decided I’d come back and start her,” Insell said. “We’ll just see about the practice. Come down to Tuesday’s practice and Wednesday’s practice and then we’ll take it from there.” 

Swaney’s primary addition to the lineup is on the defensive end, while providing a secondary ball handler and up to 10 points a game.  

Baugus’s presence in the paint has been crucial for Middle Tennessee all year. The CUSA Freshman of the Year averages 13 points per game, second on the team, regularly going up against taller players.  

“I’ve been playing them all year,” Baugus said. “So, I mean it’s nothing new. Just play my game, go around them, shoot over them, do whatever I need to do.”  

Keys for Missouri State  

Attacking Baugus and getting her in foul trouble early will be crucial for the Lady Bears. In the second matchup, Baugus had four fouls throughout the first three quarters and still played for the entire fourth quarter.  

“I’m always trying to limit the fouls, but it’s difficult down there in the paint that we’re constantly battling and with me being undersized that makes it even harder,” Baugus said. 

Insell showed throughout the season that he is comfortable keeping players in the game with foul trouble. Attacking Baugus early and getting her into foul trouble forces Macie Phifer and the bench to carry the weight.  

On the offensive end, Missouri State needs to do the same as in game two. In conference play, MTSU has the third-ranked defense, just behind Missouri State, allowing 58.8 points per game.  

Middle Tennessee and Missouri State tip off at 2 p.m. CDT in Huntsville, Alabama, at the Propst Arena on Thursday. 

To contact the sports editor, email [email protected].

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