MURFREESBORO, Tenn. ? Behind Amber Holt’s game-high 27 points, the 19th-ranked Middle Tennessee Lady Raiders picked up an 86-58 Sun Belt Conference victory over the University of South Alabama women’s basketball team Saturday afternoon at the Murphy Center.
The Blue Raiders (21-3, 13-0 SBC) remain perfect in conference play on the season and extend their winning streak to 18 games. The win also marks the 28th straight home conference victory for Middle Tennessee. With the loss, USA falls to 11-12 overall and 5-8 in league play. The Lady Jags will return home to face Western Kentucky Wednesday night at the Mitchell Center at 7 p.m.
Middle Tennessee took control of the game early on, opening the game on a 10-0 run and holding the Lady Jags scoreless for the first five-and-a-half minutes of the contest. Petra Jacob finally put USA on the scoreboard when she knocked down an eight-foot pull up jumper in the lane at the 14:18 mark. With the Lady Raiders holding a 25-9 lead, Shakira Nettles put the Jags in double figures when she later drained a trey from the right corner with just under seven minutes remaining in the first half. However, back-to-back three-pointers from Jackie Pickel and Chelsea Lymon gave Middle Tennessee its largest lead of the half at 31-12 with five minutes, 58 seconds left of the clock.
With Middle Tennessee still holding an 18-point advantage at the 1:38 mark, USA began to chip away at the deficit. Jeanette Tucker got things started for USA when she converted on an old-fashioned three-point play. After a Patriece Brunner turnaround jumper and another Tucker basket in the lane, South Alabama headed into the locker room only down by 11 at 37-26.
The Lady Raiders were paced in the first half Amber Holt’s 13 points and Starr Orr’s 11. Nettles led the way for USA in the opening stanza with nine points.
Holt picked up right where she left off in the first half, scoring 10 of the Lady Raiders’ first 18 points during the first four minutes of the half. Chrissy Givens capped off an 18-4 MTSU run to open the second period of play when the All-American candidate drove the lane and laid the ball off the glass to put the Blue Raiders up 55-30 with just under 16 minutes left in regulation. The Lady Jags could not draw any closer the rest of the way and Middle Tennessee eventually went on to take the 28-point win.
Nettles recorded a career-high 18 points for the Jags in the loss and Monique Jones added 14 points. USA’s leading scorer, Whitney Woodard, battling foul trouble for most the game, was held to a season-low two points. Holt led all scorers on the night with her 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting. Givens and Orr also finished in double figures with 16 and 11 points, respectively.
The key stats of the night were Middle Tennessee’s shooting from behind the arc and Jaguar turnovers. The Lady Raiders were 12-of-30 from long range, while forcing USA into 23 turnovers.
