Records: Western 6-3, 2-0 Middle Tennessee 9-3, 2-0
7:00 Murphy Center-Murfreesboro, TN
About Western: MTSU’s arch nemesis is back and this time
right after Christmas. The Hilltoppers are a team on a mission with a chip on
their shoulder. Last year at the SunBelt Championships, the Lady Raiders
embarrassed them by coming back from an 18 point deficit to win. Granted, they
should have gone to the NCAA’s, but alas, they got to watch Middle Tennessee
instead. This is a good team with a lot of speed. There are some old names
like Tiffany Zaragoza and Dominique Duck as well as some news ones like Alicia
Bunton. This will be a streetfight with the win going to who wants it most.
Players to watch for Western Kentucky: The good news is
you will not see Tiffany Porter-Talbot on the floor. The bad news is you will
see all you want of Crystal Kelly. She is the leading scorer at 22.1 PPG, and
the leading rebounder. Dominique Duck, who is just a sophomore is the second
leading scorer at 12.4 PPG. They have a freshman that starts at guard by the
name of Kenzie Rick, but Tiffany Zaragoza still gets plenty of playing time.
Players to watch for Middle Tennessee: Krystle Horton had
her first breakout game against ODU and look for it to continue as Chrissy Givens and Amber Holt draw most of the attention on the inside. Johnna Abney
got into foul trouble early and we got to see a lot of Chelsea Lymon. With
Jackie Pickel, the game will be broken open early!
Intangibles: It is no secret that Mary Taylor-Cowles and
Rick Insell did not exchange Christmas gifts this year and look for the
pleasantries to be kept to a minimum. These two teams look to be the ones that
will battle for supremacy in a conference that should send two teams to the big
dance this year. Who will draw first blood? Come 9:00 on Wednesday night, we
will know.