Middle Tennessee women’s basketball (22-6, 14-1 CUSA) shut down New Mexico State (15-13, 8-7 CUSA) and especially star guard Molly Kaiser, winning 63-41.  

Kaiser ended the night with a season low seven points on 10 shot attempts in 27 minutes.  

The graduate student sat for the majority of the second quarter after picking up two fouls early on. MTSU’s Jalynn Gregory was the primary defender on Kaiser, a role that Gregory has grown accustomed to guarding the other team’s best player.  

“It’s a responsibility that they have placed on me, and they trust me to hold that role,” Gregory said. “It’s a big honor to take but she [Kaiser] is also a great player, she’s one of the best I’ve ever guarded.”  

Offensively, Middle Tennessee rolled as Gregory and fellow guard Ta’Mia Scott scored 16 and 20 points respectively.  

The spotlight of the night for the Lady Raiders was Elina Arike who had a season high 12 rebounds, with five on the offensive glass.  

“I haven’t been in a good mood all week, this put me in a better mood tonight,” head coach Rick Insell said. “Because of her [Arike], she went and rebounded the ball if she does that, we will be a pretty good basketball team.” 

MTSU looks to combine all the key components in the final two weeks before the postseason to win the conference and attempt to reach the NCAA tournament for the third  consecutive eason. 

With Gregory, Scott and Arike running the show, center Anastasiia Boldyreva took a backseat compared to the rest of the season.  

Boldyreva had nine points against an undersized New Mexico State team, but if she scores near her average of 15 points then the Lady Raiders could be a threat late into March Madness.  

Middle Tennessee hosts UTEP (10-16, 3-12 CUSA) in its final home game of the season on March 1.  

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