#21 Middle Tennessee cruises over New Orleans

The Blue Raiders get defensive and stretch their winning streak to 12 games. Chrissy Given led the team with a school record 11 steals and the Blue Raiders followed her lead, setting another school record with 28 total steals.

The biggest question coming into this game was whether 3 games in five days on the road was taking its toll on the Lady Blue Raiders. At the beginning of the game, the Blue Raiders seemed to have a hard time getting started, but once the engines got burning, they laid the smack down on the Privateers from New Orleans. The surprising part of this game was at about the 12 minute mark of the second half. Coach Rick Insell seemed to take the foot off the gas and give our girls a rest. It did not reflect in the final score, 78-50. However, questions about whether the Blue Raiders had the conditioning for three games in five days were definitely answered.

The Blue Raiders were led by Monroe, LA product Chrissy Givens who paced the team with 17 points and an incredible 11 steals, and she only played about half the game. Three other Blue Raiders scored in double figures. Amber Holt scored 14, Brandi Brown scored 12, and Starr Orr scored 10 points. The Blue Raiders as a team forced 40 turnovers and stole the ball a school-record 28 times, turning that into 51 points. The Privateers were led by Jada Frazier with 17 points.

The Blue Raiders run their record to 15-3 and 7-0 in the SunBelt conference. The Middle Tennessee Lady Blue Raiders take their 12-game winning streak into Thursday’s game with Arkansas State at 7:00PM. This will be a big game against a team that is receiving votes in the top 25.