Hot Shooting Leads Lady Raiders to 64-47 Win

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -Middle Tennessee women's basketball (7-4) shot a scorching 59 percent from the field to help lead the Lady Raiders to a 64-47 win over Cincinnati (5-6) Wednesday in the Murphy Center.

Down by three (11-14) with 11:26 left to play in the first half, Middle Tennessee senior guard Patrice Holmes tied the game on a three point play. Middle Tennessee went on a 6-0 run to build its lead to 20-14 and never trailed again.

Leading by six points at the half, the Lady Raiders built a 16 point lead to start the second half going 2-for-3 from the field and was 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Cincinnati missed its first six shots in the second half until Treasure Humphries connected on a three-point shot with 15:58 left to play.

The Lady Raiders had a good night at the free throw line, shooting 83.3 percent and hit their first 13 free throws before missing one. Senior Ditte Jakobsen was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line, and scored a career-high 11 points in the contest.

Middle Tennessee picked up its third consecutive win, the longest streak for the Lady Raiders this season and is also riding a four-game winning streak at home. The win over Cincinnati was the first for the Lady Raiders in the two team's six meetings.

Holmes led the Lady Raiders with 17 points, and also had three assists and four steals. Stovall added 15 points and six defensive rebounds.

Middle Tennessee will host its fourth consecutive home game on January 3 when the Lady Raiders face South Dakota State. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. in the Murphy Center.

 

NOTES:

 

HOLMES BREAKS OUT: Senior Patrice Holmes broke out of a shooting slump in Middle Tennessee's win over Cincinnati on Wednesday. Holmes, who had gone five straight games shooting less than 50 percent from the field, connected on 6 of 9 shots from the field for 17 points. Holmes also added five rebounds, three assists and four steals in just 28 minutes of action.

 

STRONG DEFENSIVE EFFORT: Middle Tennessee's win over UC on Wednesday was keyed by a strong defensive effort. The Lady Raiders held the Lady Bearcats to 30.8 percent shooting from the field, which ranks as Middle Tennessee's best mark of the season and the best since holding Arkansas State to 27.1 percent shooting on Feb. 19, 2004. The Lady Raiders really picked up the defense in the second half by holding Cincinnati to just 23.1 percent shooting (6-26).

 

STRING MUSIC: The Lady Raiders enjoyed their best shooting game of the year in the win over Cincinnati. Middle Tennessee shot a sizzling 59.0 percent from the field and 83.3 percent from the line. The 59.0 percent mark ranks as the best by the Lady Raiders since shooting 59.2 percent against East Tennessee on Dec. 2, 2002 - a span of 70 games.

 

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Members of the working media voted Ditte Jakobsen as the Alexander Automotive Family Player of the Game. Jakobsen had a career-high 11 points, one rebound and one assist.

 

FIRST WIN OVER BEARCATS: Middle Tennessee's 64-47 win over Cincinnati marked the Lady Raiders' first-ever victory over the Conference USA school. The Lady Raiders entered tonight's game having lost all five meetings.

 

INSIDE THE PAINT: The 47 points scored by Cincinnati marked the fewest allowed by the Lady Raiders this season and the fewest in a game since giving up 48 points to Florida International on March 1, 2004 ... Krystle Horton's six points against UC marked the fewest in a game since Arkansas State held the sophomore to four points on Jan. 15, 2004 - a span of 29 games ... Middle Tennessee has won the rebound battle in five out of

the last six games.

 

QUOTES:

 

Head Coach Stephany Smith

"I think our defensive pressure caused them some problems. We were able to push the ball in transition. I was pleased with everybody's play off the bench. I thought it was a tremendous team effort. We can definitely gain confidence and momentum from this win."

 

"I haven't been confident on knowing how our team is going to play from night to night. To know that we have won five of our last six, including three in a row, I feel good. Again, you are never as bad as you think you are when you lose, and you are never as good as you think you are when you win. I think confidence is what this team has lacked. We have played a lot on the road. We have had a lot of adversity. We have played a really, really tough schedule. For us to get a win against a Conference USA opponent is a huge momentum boost for us."

 

Guard Patrice Holmes

"This was a big confidence boost for us because we have never beaten Cincinnati. I think we have been doubting ourselves because we have not been playing exceptionally well. This gives us a lot of confidence because we know if we put our minds to it, we can beat anybody."

 

 

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