2023–24 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders women's basketball team
American college basketball season
The 2023–24 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders women's basketball team represented Middle Tennessee State University during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season . The Blue Raiders, led by 19th-year head coach Rick Insell , played their home games at Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee as members of Conference USA (C-USA).
Previous season
The Blue Raiders finished the 2022–23 season 28–5, 18–2 in C-USA play, to finish as C-USA regular-season champions.[ 1] As the #1 seed in the C-USA tournament , they defeated #9 seed Charlotte in the quarterfinals,[ 2] #4 seed UTEP in the semifinals,[ 3] and #2 seed Western Kentucky to win the C-USA tournament championship to earn the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament .[ 4] They received the #11 seed in the Seattle Regional 4,[ 5] where they lost to #6 region seed Colorado in the first round.[ 6]
Roster
2023–24 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders women's basketball team
Players
Coaches
Pos.
#
Name
Height
Year
Previous school
Hometown
G
0
Sifa Ineza
5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)
RS So
FIU
Musanze, Rwanda
C
2
Anastasiia Boldyreva
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Jr
Twice Named Hero of the Soviet Union
Moscow, Russia
G
3
Gracie Dodgen
5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
RS So
White County High School
Sparta, TN
G
4
Savannah Wheeler
5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Sr
Marshall
Catlettsburg, KY
F
9
Dora Van Rijs
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Fr
Obudai Arpad Gimnazium
Budapest, Hungary
G
10
Jalynn Gregory
5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Jr
Macon County High School
Lafayette, TN
G
12
Gracie Hamby
5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
RS Fr
Blackman High School
Murfreesboro, TN
G
15
Ta'Mia Scott
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
So
Clarksville Northwest High School
Clarksville, TN
F
22
Jada Grannum
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
RS Jr
Lincoln Prep
Mississauga, ON
G
23
Jada Harrison
5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Fr
Westview High School
Martin, TN
G
31
Zahira Arizmendi Rubio
5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Fr
CB Leganés
Madrid, Spain
F
33
Courtney Whitson
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
GS
Dobyns-Bennett High School
Kingsport, TN
C
40
Meioshe Mason
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
RS Fr
Lebanon High School
Lebanon, TN
F
42
Stanislava Kabernick
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Fr
Olympic Reserve School Number 1
Saint Petersburg, Russia
C
55
Iullia Grabovskaia
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
So
Rostov Regional School of Olympic Reserve
Rostov-on-Don, Russia
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on
Roster Last update: January 27, 2024
Season summary
Middle Tennessee relied heavily on their starters during the season, and five players—Savannah Wheeler, Courtney Whitson, Jalynn Gregory, Ta'Mia Scott and Anastasiia Boldyreva—appeared in all 35 games and played over 1,000 minutes. Wheeler led the team in scoring at 17.5 points per game and was named the C-USA Player of the Year. The Blue Raiders went 16–0 in the C-USA regular season to win the conference regular-season championship. They then won the conference tournament championship. In the NCAA tournament , they won their first-round game, their first NCAA tournament win since 2007. They lost in the second round. Middle Tennessee finished their season with an overall record of 30–5. It was their first 30-win season since 2006–07.
Schedule and results
Date time, TV
Rank#
Opponent#
Result
Record
High points
High rebounds
High assists
Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 27, 2023 *6:00 p.m.
UT Southern
W 97–44
–
–
–
–
Murphy Center Murfreesboro, TN
October 30, 2023 *6:30 p.m.
Cumberlands
W 103–53
–
24 – Boldyreva
8 – Boldyreva
10 – Wheeler
Murphy Center (2,004)Murfreesboro, TN
Non-conference regular season
November 6, 2023 *5:00 p.m., ESPN+
Memphis
W 67–47
1–0
23 – Boldyreva
12 – Boldyreva
5 – Whitson
Murphy Center (3,505)Murfreesboro, TN
November 9, 2023 *10:30 a.m., ESPN+
Florida A&M
W 93–48
2–0
23 – Wheeler
8 – Grabovskaia
6 – Wheeler
Murphy Center (6,000)Murfreesboro, TN
November 12, 2023 *1:00 p.m., ESPN+
Princeton
L 60–65
2–1
21 – Gregory
7 – Whitson
3 – Whitson
Murphy Center (3,015)Murfreesboro, TN
November 18, 2023 *4:00 p.m., FloHoops
vs. Michigan Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinals
L 49–63
2–2
23 – Boldyreva
7 – Boldyreva
5 –
Imperial Arena (393)Nassau, Bahamas
November 19, 2023 *6:30 p.m., FloHoops
vs. DePaul Battle 4 Atlantis consolation 2nd round
W 71–69
3–2
20 – Scott
8 –
7 – Wheeler
Imperial Arena (400)Nassau, Bahamas
November 20, 2023 *4:00 p.m., FloHoops
vs. Memphis Battle 4 Atlantis 5th-place game
W 64–57
4–2
25 – Boldyreva
13 – Boldyreva
5 – Wheeler
Imperial Arena (113)Nassau, Bahamas
November 26, 2023 *1:00 p.m., ESPN+
at SIU Edwardsville
W 81–74
5–2
21 – Scott
7 – Grabovskaia
6 – Wheeler
First Community Arena (303)Edwardsville, IL
November 29, 2023 *7:00 p.m., ESPN+
at Houston
W 70–45
6–2
22 – Wheeler
11 – Scott
9 – Wheeler
Fertitta Center (698)Houston, TX
December 3, 2023 *2:00 p.m., ESPN+
at Belmont
L 57–71
6–3
20 – Scott
8 – Boldyreva
3 –
Curb Event Center (1,365)Nashville, TN
December 6, 2023 *6:30 p.m., ESPN+
vs. Tennessee
W 73–62
7–3
22 – Gregory
10 – Wheeler
4 – Whitson
Von Braun Center (5,015)Huntsville, AL
December 10, 2023 *1:00 p.m., ESPN+
at Tennessee Tech
W 63–47
8–3
25 – Gregory
15 – Boldyreva
5 – Wheeler
Eblen Center (1,107)Cookeville, TN
December 17, 2023 *2:00 p.m., ESPN+
Stephen F. Austin
W 72–47
9–3
25 – Wheeler
8 – Wheeler
5 – Gregory
Murphy Center (3,359)Murfreesboro, TN
December 20, 2023 *6:30 p.m., ESPN+
Northern Kentucky
W 83–42
10–3
34 – Wheeler
10 – Scott
3 –
Murphy Center (3,314)Murfreesboro, TN
December 30, 2023 *3:00 p.m., ESPN+
at Grand Canyon
L 59–68
10–4
23 – Wheeler
8 –
2 –
Global Credit Union Arena (623)Phoenix, AZ
C-USA regular season
January 10, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+
at Louisiana Tech
W 64–61 OT
11–4 (1–0)
32 – Boldyreva
14 – Scott
2 –
Thomas Assembly Center (1,632)Ruston, LA
January 13, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+
at Sam Houston
W 87–55
12–4 (2–0)
16 – Wheeler
10 – Boldyreva
7 – Wheeler
Bernard Johnson Coliseum (396)Huntsville, TX
January 18, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+
UTEP
W 81–70
13–4 (3–0)
18 – Wheeler
16 – Grabovskaia
4 –
Murphy Center (3,313)Murfreesboro, TN
January 20, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+
New Mexico State
W 85–48
14–4 (4–0)
30 – Wheeler
10 –
5 – Wheeler
Murphy Center (3,605)Murfreesboro, TN
January 24, 2024 6:30 p.m., ESPN+
at Jacksonville State
W 67–45
15–4 (5–0)
27 – Boldyreva
15 – Boldyreva
4 –
Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,024)Jacksonville, AL
January 27, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPN+
at FIU
W 92–62
16–4 (6–0)
26 –
10 – Scott
11 – Wheeler
Ocean Bank Convocation Center (325)Miami, FL
February 3, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+
Western Kentucky
W 80–48
17–4 (7–0)
26 – Scott
15 – Whitson
7 – Wheeler
Murphy Center (4,806)Murfreesboro, TN
February 8, 2024 6:30 p.m., ESPN+
Liberty
W 81–55
18–4 (8–0)
20 – Boldyreva
8 – Whitson
6 – Wheeler
Murphy Center (4,505)Murfreesboro, TN
February 10, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+
FIU
W 73–54
19–4 (9–0)
31 – Wheeler
7 – Boldyreva
11 – Wheeler
Murphy Center (4,428)Murfreesboro, TN
February 15, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+
at New Mexico State
W 73–37
20–4 (10–0)
27 – Wheeler
12 – Boldyreva
4 – Gregory
Pan American Center (1,045)Las Cruces, NM
February 17, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+
at UTEP
W 56–41
21–4 (11–0)
16 – Wheeler
9 – Boldyreva
4 – Wheeler
Don Haskins Center (1,411)El Paso, TX
February 21, 2024 6:30 p.m., ESPN+
Jacksonville State
W 66–40
22–4 (12–0)
27 – Boldyreva
8 – Whitson
7 – Whitson
Murphy Center (3,613)Murfreesboro, TN
February 24, 2024 11:00 a.m., ESPNU
at Western Kentucky
W 59–41
23–4 (13–0)
18 – Wheeler
14 – Boldyreva
4 – Boldyreva
E. A. Diddle Arena (2,015)Bowling Green, KY
March 2, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+
Sam Houston
W 93–62
24–4 (14–0)
26 – Scott
9 – Boldyreva
8 – Wheeler
Murphy Center (3,712)Murfreesboro, TN
March 6, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+
at Liberty
W 67–52
25–4 (15–0)
21 – Wheeler
9 – Boldyreva
7 – Wheeler
Liberty Arena (980)Lynchburg, VA
March 9, 2024 9:30 a.m., ESPN+
Louisiana Tech
W 79–58
26–4 (16–0)
18 –
13 – Blodyreva
9 – Wheeler
Murphy Center (4,227)Murfreesboro, TN
C-USA tournament
March 13, 2024 11:30 a.m., ESPN+
(1)
vs. (8) UTEP Quarterfinals
W 78–50
27–5
21 – Whitson
10 – Scott
6 – Wheeler
Von Braun Center (570)Huntsville, AL
March 15, 2024 5:30 p.m., ESPN+
(1)
vs. (4) Louisiana Tech Semifinals
W 62–56
28–4
22 – Wheeler
16 – Boldyreva
4 – Wheeler
Von Braun Center (2,701)Huntsville, AL
March 16, 2024 4:30 p.m., CBSSN
(1)
vs. (2) Liberty Championship
W 67–51
29–4
21 – Boldyreva
16 –
9 – Wheeler
Von Braun Center (4,301)Huntsville, AL
NCAA tournament
March 22, 2024 *12:30 p.m., ESPN2
(11 A2)
vs. (6 A2) No. 23 Louisville First round
W 71–69
30–4
24 – Gregory
12 – Boldyreva
4 – Gregory
Pete Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, LA
March 24, 2024 *2:00 p.m., ABC
(11 A2)
at (3 A2) No. 8 LSU Second round
L 56–83
30–5
21 – Wheeler
10 – tied
5 – Wheeler
Pete Maravich Assembly Center (12,632)Baton Rouge, LA
*Non-conference game.
# Rankings from
AP poll . (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
A2=Albany 2.
All times are in
Central .
Sources:[ 7] [ 8]
References
^ "2022-23 Women's Basketball Standings" . Conference USA . Retrieved January 27, 2024 .
^ Doughton, Sam (March 9, 2023). "No. 25 Lady Raiders cruise in C-USA quarterfinals" . Middle Tennessee State University Athletics . Retrieved January 27, 2024 .
^ Bloomquist, Bret (March 10, 2023). "C-USA tournament: No. 25 Middle Tennessee holds off UTEP in final minute of semifinals" . El Paso Times . Retrieved January 27, 2024 .
^ Joyce, Cecil (March 11, 2023). "March Madness bound: MTSU women's basketball beats Western Kentucky for C-USA Championship" . The Daily News Journal . Retrieved January 27, 2024 .
^ "2023 Division I Women's Basketball Official Bracket" . NCAA.com . Retrieved January 27, 2024 .
^ "Colorado drains 13 threes to top MTSU in NCAA Tournament opener" . Pac-12 . March 18, 2023. Archived from the original on March 25, 2023. Retrieved January 27, 2024 .
^ "2023-24 Women's Basketball Schedule" . Middle Tennessee State University Athletics . Retrieved January 27, 2024 .
^ "Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders 2023-24 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule" . ESPN . Retrieved January 27, 2024 .