Rutherford Times

No. 24 Middle Tennessee women's basketball had to grit it out, but came out victorious in a thrilling home finale to cap off the 2022-23 C-USA Regular Season Championship, defeating UTEP 72-68 in overtime on Saturday at the Murphy Center.  

The Lady Raiders (25-4, 18-2 C-USA) led by as many as 15 in the third quarter against the Miners (19-10, 12-8 C-USA), thanks to an active postgame that sustained several mini-runs in the middle 20 minutes of the game. But UTEP came roaring back in the fourth quarter to take a five-point lead. Free throws from Jalynn Gregory and a converted and-1 from Courtney Blakely tied the game up after a five-point deficit, forcing overtime.  

In the final period, MTSU came up in the clutch, taking advantage of five missed Miner free throws, never trailing after Gregory's go-ahead free throw with 1:20 to play. The Lady Raiders sunk seven of their eight foul shots to end the game late.  

Kseniya Malashka led the team off the bench on her senior night, tying with Gregory for a team-leading 17 points, securing the rebound off a missed Miner layup and putting MTSU up two scores with the final free throw of the game. Alexis Whittington, who drew a huge offensive foul in the fourth quarter to stop a UTEP drive, scored eight points in her final home game of her Lady Raider career, leading the team with nine rebounds. Blakely, Courtney Whitson and Anastasiia Boldyreva each finished with nine points. 

By the Numbers  7-for-8: Free throws of the Lady Raiders in overtime, while UTEP was just 4-for-9 from the charity stripe The Lady Raiders were clutch in the final five minutes, taking advantage of the bonus to tie, retake and sustain their lead.  18: Assists for MTSU on Saturday, earning assists on 78.2 percent of their made field goals on the afternoon.  147: Alexis Whittington played in her 147th game as a Lady Raider on Saturday, the most games played by a single player in program history. Whittington's first game as a Lady Raider was a 65-58 win over Vanderbilt on November 9, 2018.  31: The Lady Raiders have won 31 straight games at home during the regular season, the second-longest regular season home streak in the nation (South Carolina, 38 games).  

Thoughts from Head Coach Rick Insell  "It was one of those games where you've just got to gut it out. We didn't play well, we didn't shoot well, we didn't shoot free throws well. I was surprised we missed as many free throws as we missed. But the kids just gutted it out. Courtney (Whitson), she's got a big knot on her head, good gracious, it was just one of those type of games where you've just got to hang in there and hope good things happen.  

  "I thought one of the smartest plays of the day was when we all got together, we got hit on the rebound underneath, they got the ball, we're up three, and Lex had a chance to maybe block it. And she backed off and let them get a two. We were able to call a timeout and get it to our end because we knew they were going to have foul us. Then of course, when Lex hit the two free throws, I thought that was big.  

  "Proud of our ladies, they've had a great season. 25-4, I don't think anybody out, my coaching staff and me, wouldn't have took 25-4 at the beginning of the season. It's been a long season and these young ladies have been under a lot of pressure. Every single night they've gone out and had to maintain a victory. Hopefully because we did enough to get an at-large bid, and a game like this would've taken it away from you." 

Player's Perspective – Alexis Whittington  

"Our team was definitely playing for us today. I know it. They've been so supportive through this, going through everything and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I would do it all over again if I could. This season, it's been a little crazy, up and down for sure. But we wanted to finish it with a win, especially at home, because we haven't lost here (in the regular season) in two years, so it's definitely something special that we showed pride in."

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