Middle Tennessee Returns to Huntington for Midweek Matchup

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall and Middle Tennessee will square off at 6 p.m. on Thursday evening in the Henderson Center in Conference USA women's basketball action. The game will be carried on ESPN+.

The Thundering Herd enters the game with a 13-11 overall record and 8-7 in Conference USA play. The Blue Raiders are 19-5 and 11-3 in the league, C-USA's top mark.

The two teams met on January 27 in Murfreesboro, with the Lady Raiders winning 80-41.

Equality and Inclusion Night
The Thundering Herd will take part in Rising Coaches' Equality & Inclusion Night on Thursday. Marshall will be adorned in its black uniforms for the game and staff members will wear an "equal sign" lapel pin that symbolizes equality. The effort is part of a national campaign designed to use the college basketball platform to keep equality in the national conversation.

Game Details
Game Notes: https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sidearm.nextgen.sites/herdzone.com/documents/2022/2/23/2_24_22_Middle_Tennessee_Notes.pdf
Live Stats: https://herdzone.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary
Live Video: https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=2d2367e8-5091-4ff4-a64c-d318ff01fcb4
Marshall Radio: 88.1 WMUL-FM and online at https://listen.streamon.fm/wfghhd5
Series History: 13 all-time meetings – Middle Tennessee leads 11-2
Last Meeting: January 27, 2022 in Murfreesboro, Tn. – Middle Tennessee won 80-41.

Last Time Out
Octavia Jett-Wilson finished with 34 points on 12-for-19 shooting as host Charlotte won, wire-to-wire, 65-47 over visiting Marshall Saturday afternoon at Halton Arena.

The 49ers improved to 15-8 overall and 11-2 in Conference USA.

Jett-Wilson also made two of her three three-point field goals and eight of nine at the free throw line. She was joined in double figures by Mikayla Boykin, who finished just shy of a double-double with 14 points, nine rebounds to go with six assists. Boykin missed the first game between the two teams in Huntington, an affair that went the way of the 49ers, 39-37 in overtime.

Keke McKinney also recorded four blocks for Charlotte.

Marshall got a career-high 23 points from Aaliyah Dunham, to go with six rebounds and three steals. Dunham made eight of her 14 field goal attempts and all three from distance. CC Mays led the visitors with seven rebounds.

Charlotte's lead stayed in single digits for the entire first half and the home team took a 29-23 lead into the locker room at the half.

Charlotte native Lorelei Roper connected on a layup to cut the 49ers' lead to nine (34-25) at the 8:05 mark of the third period, but the home team responded with a 9-0 run to grab a 43-25 lead with 4:18 left.

The margin never dropped below 12 during the fourth quarter.

The Opponent
The 49ers come into Thursday's contest at 19-5 overall and 11-3 in Conference USA.

The team went 8-2 in non-conference play.

Kseniya Malashka leads the way with 13.4 points, while Courtney Whitson is the team's top rebounder, grabbing 7.5 per game. Dor Saar (3.3) is tops in assists, Alexis Whittington (2.3; 3rd in C-USA) is the leader in steals and Anastasiia Boldyreva is the top shot-blocker (1.7; 3rd in C-USA). Malashka is also fifth in C-USA in that category (1.5).

Dor Saar (2.54) paces the league in three-pointers per game. Whitson (1st, 38.3), Alexis Whittington (2nd, 37.2,) and Saar (4th, 34.5) are also at the top of the conference in minutes per game.

Middle Tennessee is the league-leader in scoring margin (+12.13), three-point field goal percentage (.318), assist-to-turnover ratio (0.92) and three-point field goals (9.29). It is 13th in the conference in offensive rebounding percentage (29.8).

The head coach is Rick Insell, who is in his 17th year at the helm of the Lady Raiders.

In the all-time series between the two schools, Middle Tennessee has won 11 of 13 meetings, including all five in the Henderson Center.

For all of the latest information on the Marshall women's basketball team, follow the Herd on Twitter @HerdWBB, Facebook at Marshall University Basketball and on HerdZone.com.

Middle Tennessee Returns to Huntington for Midweek Matchup

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Aaliyah Dunham

CC Mays

Lorelei Roper

Marshall University Athletics