The Blue Raiders enter the contest winners of three straight, including a 98-69 victory over Chattanooga Friday night at Murphy Center. Senior Chrissy Givens netted a season-high 29 points and junior Amber Holt added her second double-double of the year with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Jackie Pickel also hit five of the team's 12 3-pointers in the contest for 15 points.

Middle Tennessee head coach Rick Insell made a point to focus on Chattanooga all week to make sure his team did not overlook the Lady Mocs, who defeated the Blue Raiders 76-66 last season in the season opener.

"We made a statement to our players that Tennessee hadn't been mentioned all week," Insell said. "The reason it hadn't been mentioned is because of the respect we have for UTC. We have not started preparing or getting ready for Tennessee yet," he said after Friday's win.

The Lady Vols and 33rd-year head coach Pat Summitt enter the contest 4-0 after a 77-60 win over 11th-ranked Stanford at home. Tennessee is 3-0 at home this season with victories over Chattanooga and 20th-rated UCLA.

"They've spent 25 years building that tradition. They love to play at home, just like we love playing here at the 'Glass House', Insell said. "We are going to go in just like we went in to Minnesota [last weekend].

"We've got to take the mindset in that every possession is going to count for something. We've got to play an aggressive defense and go to the boards. If we do those things, we are going to have a shot. We put Tennessee on the schedule to get us ready for the tournaments. Playing teams like Tennessee will give us national attention and will be a measuring stick for our program."

After Sunday's outing, the Blue Raiders take on former OVC rival Tennessee Tech Wednesday at 5 p.m. in Cookeville before returning home December 4 against another former OVC foe, Austin Peay.

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