Lady Raiders close homestand Friday against Arizona

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee will look to complete a three-game sweep in its current homestand when the Lady Raider basketball team plays host to Arizona at 7 p.m. Friday inside the Murphy Center.

MT (3-1) has posted an undefeated record inside its own building this season, including back-to-back wins against Indiana and Chattanooga. The Blue Raiders also garnered a home triumph over Lafayette College to open the campaign.

In its most recent home game, Middle Tennessee defeated in-state foe Chattanooga, 73-65, behind a 25-point effort from reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week Alysha Clark. Clark hit nine field goals and was 7-of-8 from the foul line, including four free throws down the stretch, against the Lady Mocs.

Anne Marie Lanning (14 points), Chelsia Lymon (13) and Brandi Brown (10) joined her in double-figure scoring, while Emily Queen led all players with 11 rebounds.

Clark enters the Arizona game as the team's leading scorer with 22.8 points per game, while also grabbing a team-high 8.8 rebounds per game. She is the only MT player to convert over one-half of her field goal attempts (28-of-55, 50.9 percent).

"We played one of our better games out there last year," head coach Rick Insell said. "We played as good of an offensive game as we could, we were in sync defensively."

< p>Middle Tennessee earned a 70-60 victory over Arizona in the teams' meeting last season in Tucson, Ariz. MT's Amber Holt, who was the nation's leading scorer in 2007-08, paced all players with 27 points. The Blue Raiders held the Wildcats without a 3-pointer and forced 20 turnovers in the inaugural contest of the series.

"Amber had a tremendous game out there. It was one of those games that would have helped us in the end. It was a big win for our program, which we felt would help us with our RPI and strength of schedule regarding getting into the NCAA Tournament.

"We have the same situation this year, except it is a role reversal. Our RPI and strength of schedule will probably be much higher than Arizona's. We have to take care of business - play well, cut down on our turnovers, rebound the ball and knock down shots. If we can do all those things, we will be in great shape. But, if we have any one of those areas where we have a breakdown, then they will be in the ballgame."

Tickets for the Arizona game and all Lady Raider home tilts can be purchased by calling 1-888-YES-MTSU.

Follow the Blue Raiders on Twitter @MTAthletics for continued updates.