Five Middle Tennessee
players reached double figures on Wednesday as the No. 19 Lady Raiders (20-3, 12-0) corralled
Denver
University 82-58. MT was
victorious for the 17th consecutive contest, extending a school record. The
ladies in blue also won their 27th straight Sun Belt Conference home
game.
Pacing the balanced MTSU
attack was All-America candidate Chrissy Givens, who tallied 16 points and 4
assists in just 27 minutes of action. Givens is rumored to be a potential
first-round WNBA draft pick.
"Downtown" Brandi Brown
nailed 3 trifectas and garnered 15 points, while www.BlueRaiderZone.com Player of the
Game Amber Holt netted 13. Holt, a junior transfer from Southeastern Illinois College, hit 6-of-8 field goals, cleaned 8
boards, and dished out 4 assists. Starr Orr shined defensively once again, but
also added 11 points offensively. Jackie "Triple" Pickel rounded out the double
digit scorers with 10, while Johnna Abney came off the bench to swish three
3-pointers, accounting for all of her 9 points.
Denver (12-9, 7-5) was led by junior
Alisha Godette, a 6-0 transfer from Arizona State, with 15 points and 8 boards. Jenna
Cole added 11 points for the Lady Pioneers. Tyesha Lowery, a Preseason Second
Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection, was held to just 4 points, 8 below her
average. Lowery failed to score in last season's contest, also a Middle
Tennessee victory.
The Pioneers, one of the
nation's top ranked teams in scoring defense, gave MTSU a scare in the first
half. DU led 10-4 at the 16:18 mark of the first half, and MT did not get its
first lead until the 12:13 mark of that half. Once the ladies in blue gained the
advantage, they never looked back, going on a 21-3 run in a 7-minute stretch
that included the end of the first half and the beginning of the
second.
Middle Tennessee led by 31 (80-49) with 3:10 left in the
ballgame, but Denver made a nice run at the end to cut the
final deficit to 24.
"We are leaving
everything we've got on the floor," said MTSU headman Rick Insell. "We are
running a 26-mile marathon and we've still got a few more miles to
go."
The Lady Raiders are
ranked in the Top 10 nationally in several NCAA statistical
categories:
- 1st in three-point field goals
made per game (9.2)
- 4th in scoring offense
(80.8)
- 4th in steals per game
(13.9)
- 7th in scoring margin
(20.0)
- Chrissy Givens is 4th nationally
in points per game (22.2)
Middle Tennessee plays host to South Alabama's Lady
Jaguars on Saturday, while Denver travels to
non-conference foe Northern Colorado on
Sunday.