Second-seeded Middle Tennessee’s remarkable run has continued into the title game of the C-USA Championship, following its 69-41 romp against Marshall in Friday’s semifinal at Legacy Arena.
Middle Tennessee (24-8) will face No. 5 seed Old Dominion in the championship game Saturday at 7 p.m. with a berth into the NCAA Tournament at stake. It marks the Blue Raiders’ second appearance in the C-USA title game in its three years in the conference. Middle Tennessee won the 2014 championship.
Middle Tennessee has won five straight, 14 of its last 15, and has been building momentum during the second half of the season.
“I’m so proud of this basketball team,” Blue Raider Head Coach Rick Insell said. “I know I have said that a lot, but I don’t feel I can say it enough. These young ladies never cease to amaze me. They have one more game to go to achieve their goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament.”
The Blue Raiders are making their 22nd appearance in a conference tournament championship game overall and the ninth in 11 years under Insell, who enjoyed a milestone with his 275th career win at Middle Tennessee. Combined with his 775 wins at Shelbyville Central High School, it was also Insell’s 1,050th career win.
Freshman Alex Johnson was brilliant once again with a game-high 22 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Sophomore Abbey Sissom joined Johnson in double figures with 10 points and four assists.
Johnson and Sissom were the only players in double figures but the Blue Raiders once again showed their mettle with another impressive team performance as nine different players scored and five had seven or more.
“We have been having four or five players in double figures because we have played team basketball and shared the ball,” Insell said. “We only had two in double figures today but we had several players who made significant contributions to this win.”
Junior guard Ty Petty continued to do what she does so well – play make. Petty scored nine points, dished six assists, had no turnovers, five steals and five rebounds in 38 minutes. Senior Brea Edwards scored eight points and pulled a game-high 14 rebounds. Sophomore Gabby Lyon tallied seven points, and TiAnna Porter finished with five.
Upset-minded Marshall (21-11) started strong and led 7-2 after Kiana Evans’ 3-pointer, but the Blue Raiders battled back and built a 20-15 lead by the end of the quarter. Johnson was huge with eight points in the frame as the Blue Raiders established their inside attack and a strong post presence. The Blue Raiders post players combined for 39 points and 17 rebounds.
“My teammates told me they were coming inside to me early,” Johnson said. “I knew I had to catch the basketball and put it against the glass. I am just glad to be able to help the team. This was a great win for us to get into the championship game.”
The strong post presence also opened up the Blue Raider guards.
“We kept feeding the ball down low and once they doubled on the post, our post did a good job of finding the guards on the outside,” Edwards said. “Our goal is the NCAA Tournament and so we are focused on Old Dominion and reaching our goal.”
Middle Tennessee stretched its lead to 38-24 by intermission and appeared to be on the verge of blowing the game open early in the third quarter when it took a 42-24 lead on Lyon’s free throws. Marshall, however, fought back and cut the deficit to 12, 42-30, on Shayna Gore’s shot with 5:53 remaining in the third quarter.
That’s when Middle Tennessee flexed its muscle and answered with a 10-0 run, capped by Petty’s 3-pointer, to take a 52-30 lead with 3:24 left in the third quarter. The Blue Raiders wouldn’t allow Marshall to get closer than 19 the remainder of the way.
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Recap: No. 5 Old Dominion’s C-USA All-Conference First Team guard Jennie Simms led the Lady Monarchs past UTEP, 66-54, on Friday afternoon at Legacy Arena, earning a spot in the Conference USA Championship game on Saturday.
Simms earned her second double-double of the year and led the Lady Monarchs with a game-best 21 points and 10 boards. Ije Ajemba and Gianna Smith both added 14 and 10, respectively, while Destinee Young reeled in a game-high 12 boards. A 23-10 lead at the 5:34 mark in the second proved to be enough as the Lady Monarchs’ first half showing was too much for the Miners to overcome. To open the contest, Old Dominion shot 41.2 percent while holding UTEP to a mere 4-of-22 showing (18.2 percent).
With 4:02 to play in the opening half, the Monarchs extended its lead to 17 points, its largest of the day.
UTEP refused to go quietly as it used a 12-5 run to cut the ODU lead to four, 38-34, to open the third period. The Miners were on fire, shooting 4-of-7 from the floor, while forcing five ODU turnovers.
With 2:37 to play in the third, Jenzel Nash, an All-C-USA First Team selection, tied the game at 40-all. Neither squad refused to back down, going bucket for bucket to close out the third.
In the final 10 minutes, ODU fought tooth and nail to regain its lead as it outscored UTEP 20-12 to take down the No. 1 seed, 66-54.
