HUNTSVILLE – Middle Tennessee State’s work on defense in practice paid off Wednesday as the No. 2 Lady Raiders shut out No. 7 Kennesaw State in the second quarter of a 73-46 win in the quarterfinal round of the CUSA women’s basketball championship tournament at Propst Arena at the Von Braun Center.
MTSU (25-7, 17-2 CUSA) moves on to the semifinal round to face the winner of today’s quarterfinal game between Western Kentucky and Florida International.
The Lady Raiders went on a 24-0 run in the second quarter – the first scoreless quarter in CUSA tournament history since switching to the quarter system at the beginning of the 2015-16 season. It’s also only the fifth time a team held an opponent to a scoreless quarter in Division I conference tournament history.
“We work really hard every day on our defensive team, like we don’t skip defensive day,” said center Anastasiia Boldyreva. “We don’t lay off the net. We feel each other, especially our point guards. They can do a great job of denying the ball and getting out there, because they know if they go backdoor or they drive, I will be there to help.”
Boldyreva led MTSU with a season-high 29 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Elina Arike chipped in 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Ta’Mia Scott also posted 13 points along with eight rebounds and three assists.
“I don’t think that game was indicative of Kennesaw State,” said MTSU Head Coach Rick Insell. “We jumped out early and made some shots. We began to turn our offense, got patient and executed, and you know they began to rush some shots, and next thing you know, we got away from them.”
Friday’s semifinal game is 8 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
Liberty 78, Sam Houston 51
The No. 1 seed Lady Flames (24-6, 17-2 CUSA) used a balanced scoring effort with three players finishing in double figures.
Or, in the words of center Bella Smuda, their “superpower.”
“I think that’s what makes our team so special this year is that we don’t have like a single star player,” said Smuda, who had 10 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots. “We have a lot of star players, and I think it’s really hard for teams to scout us. You really focus on one shooter, but then another shooter’s open or the post’s open. If you want to double in the post, we have shooters open.
“I think it gives us a lot of respect, because it’s not like you can really overly scout one person. I think that’s really our superpower in a lot of ways.”
Asia Boone led the team with 16 points, shooting 6-9 from the floor and had three assists. Avery Mills had 10 points with three assists.
Liberty held the Bearkats to 0-10 from beyond the arc and an overall field goal percentage of 32.1.
In Friday’s semifinal game, the Lady Flames will take on the winner of today’s game between No. 4 New Mexico State and No. 5 Louisiana Tech.
The semifinal tips off at 5:30 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
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