2024–25 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders women's basketball team

2024–25 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders women's basketball
CUSA co-regular season champions
WBIT, First Round
ConferenceConference USA
Record26–9 (16–2 C-USA)
Head coach
Associate head coachMatt Insell
Assistant coaches
Home arenaMurphy Center
2024–25 Conference USA women's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Liberty 16 2   .889 26 7   .788
16 2   .889 26 9   .743
Western Kentucky 13 5   .722 23 9   .719
New Mexico State 10 8   .556 18 16   .529
Louisiana Tech 8 10   .444 18 16   .529
FIU 7 11   .389 11 19   .367
Kennesaw State 7 11   .389 13 18   .419
Sam Houston 5 13   .278 13 17   .433
Jacksonville State 4 14   .222 10 20   .333
UTEP 4 14   .222 11 19   .367
2025 CUSA tournament winner

The 2024–25 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders women's basketball team represented Middle Tennessee State University during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Blue Raiders, led by 20th-year head coach Rick Insell, played their home games at Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, as members of Conference USA.

Previous season

The Blue Raiders finished the 2023–24 season 30–5, 16–0 in C-USA play, to finish as C-USA regular season champions.[1] They defeated UTEP,[2] Louisiana Tech,[3] and Liberty to win their second straight C-USA tournament championship, and in turn, their second straight NCAA tournament appearance, claiming the conference's automatic bid to the tournament.[4] They received the #11 seed in the Albany Regional 2,[5] where they would upset #6 region seed Louisville in the first round,[6] before falling to #3 region seed LSU in the second round.[7]

Roster

2024–25 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
G 1 Courtney Blakely 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Sr Arizona Gary, Indiana
C 2 Anastasiia Boldyreva 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) Sr Twice Named Hero of the Soviet Union Moscow, Russia
G 3 Gracie Dodgen 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) RS Jr White County High School Sparta, Tennessee
F 9 Dora Van Rijs 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) So Obudai Arpad Gimnazium Budapest, Hungary
G 10 Jalynn Gregory 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Sr Macon County High School Lafayette, Tennessee
G 11 Emily Monson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) So Purdue Murfreesboro, Tennessee
G 12 Gracie Hamby 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) RS So Blackman High School Murfreesboro, Tennessee
G 14 Savannah Davis 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr McKenzie High School McKenzie, Tennessee
G 15 Ta'Mia Scott 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Jr Clarksville Northwest High School Clarksville, Tennessee
F 21 Elina Arike (5Y) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Sr Texas Tech Helsinki, Finland
F 22 Jada Grannum 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) RS Sr Lincoln Prep Mississauga, Ontario
G 23 Jada Harrison 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) RS Fr Westview High School Martin, Tennessee
F 24 Ana Milanovic 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Fr Serbia U18 national team Belgrade, Serbia
C 40 Meioshe Mason 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) RS So Lebanon High School Lebanon, Tennessee
F 42 Stanislava Kabernick 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) RS Fr Olympic Reserve School Number 1 St. Petersburg, Russia
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on
  • (5Y) Fifth-year senior
  • Injured
  • Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: January 30, 2025

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
October 25, 2024*
6:30 pm
UT Southern W 104–66 
 24  Scott   11  Boldyreva   8  Blakely  Murphy Center (2,121)
Murfreesboro, TN
October 30, 2024*
6:30 pm
Lindsey Wilson W 71–32 
 20  Scott   19  Boldyreva   6  Blakely  Murphy Center (2,015)
Murfreesboro, TN
Non-conference regular season
November 4, 2024*
5:00 pm, ESPN+
at Northern Kentucky W 79–58  1–0
 24  Scott   9  tied   3  Blakely  Truist Arena (1,264)
Highland Heights, KY
November 8, 2024*
6:30 pm, ESPN+
Grand Canyon
C-USA/WAC Alliance
W 57–47  2–0
 17  Scott   7  Scott   6  Scott  Murphy Center (3,712)
Murfreesboro, TN
November 12, 2024*
5:30 pm, SECN+
at Tennessee L 75–89  2–1
 25  Blakely   7  Boldyreva   5  Arike  Thompson–Boling Arena (9,697)
Knoxville, TN
November 17, 2024*
2:00 pm, ESPN+
Alcorn State W 80–48  3–1
 19  tied   9  tied   3  Scott  Murphy Center (3,602)
Murfreesboro, TN
November 19, 2024*
6:30 pm, ESPN+
Tennessee Tech W 69–52  4–1
 23  Scott   9  tied   8  Blakely  Murphy Center (3,902)
Murfreesboro, TN
November 26, 2024*
11:00 am
at Florida A&M W 80–54  5–1
 19  Boldyreva   7  Boldyreva   5  Blakely  Al Lawson Center (173)
Tallahassee, FL
November 28, 2024*
3:30 pm
vs. Purdue
Fort Myers Tip-Off Island Division
W 54–49  6–1
 19  Boldyreva   10  Boldyreva   5  Blakely  Suncoast Credit Union Arena (1,896)
Fort Myers, FL
November 30, 2024*
12:30 pm
vs. No. 15 Iowa State
Fort Myers Tip-Off Island Division
L 59–75  6–2
 24  Scott   6  Boldyreva   2  Scott  Suncoast Credit Union Arena (1,913)
Fort Myers, FL
December 4, 2024*
11:00 am, ESPN+
SIU Edwardsville W 85–41  7–2
 20  Gregory   14  Boldyreva   7  Blakely  Murphy Center (5,682)
Murfreesboro, TN
December 7, 2024*
12:00 pm, ESPN+
at Belmont L 52–65  7–3
 15  tied   12  Boldyreva   5  Boldyreva  Curb Event Center (1,219)
Nashville, TN
December 14, 2024*
5:00 pm, ESPN+
vs. No. 13 Kansas State
Bill Snyder Basketball Classic
L 48–74  7–4
 18  Gregory   9  Boldyreva   2  tied  St. Joseph Civic Arena (2,115)
St. Joseph, MO
December 17, 2024*
8:00 pm, ESPN+
at California Baptist
C-USA/WAC Alliance
W 74–54  8–4
 20  Gregory   16  Boldyreva   6  Blakely  Fowler Events Center (395)
Riverside, CA
December 29, 2024*
1:00 pm, ESPN+
at Princeton L 51–64  8–5
 21  Scott   10  Scott   2  Blakely  Jadwin Gymnasium (1,079)
Princeton, NJ
C-USA regular season
January 2, 2025
6:30 pm, ESPN+
FIU W 69–38  9–5
(1–0)
 17  Gregory   10  Boldyreva   10  Blakely  Murphy Center (3,209)
Murfreesboro, TN
January 4, 2025
3:00 pm, ESPNU/ESPN+
Liberty W 69–41  10–5
(2–0)
 26  Gregory   9  tied   3  Gregory  Murphy Center (4,107)
Murfreesboro, TN
January 9, 2025
6:00 pm, ESPN+
at Kennesaw State W 59–47  11–5
(3–0)
 26  Boldyreva   12  Scott   7  Blakely  KSU Convocation Center (534)
Kennesaw, GA
January 11, 2025
1:30 pm, ESPN+
at Jacksonville State W 69–35  12–5
(4–0)
 21  Boldyreva   13  Boldyreva   7  Blakely  Pete Mathews Coliseum (511)
Jacksonville, AL
January 18, 2025
2:00 pm, ESPN+
at Western Kentucky L 58–63  12–6
(4–1)
 25  Scott   16  Boldyreva   3  tied  E. A. Diddle Arena (1,499)
Bowling Green, KY
January 23, 2025
6:30 pm, ESPN+
Sam Houston W 66–38  13–6
(5–1)
 18  Blakely   15  Boldyreva   4  Blakely  Murphy Center (2,806)
Murfreesboro, TN
January 25, 2025
12:00 pm, ESPN+
Louisiana Tech W 61–43  14–6
(6–1)
 22  Boldyreva   15  Boldyreva   2  tied  Murphy Center (3,212)
Murfreesboro, TN
January 30, 2025
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at New Mexico State W 66–59 OT 15–6
(7–1)
 27  Boldyreva   9  Scott   6  Blakely  Pan American Center (366)
Las Cruces, NM
February 1, 2025
2:00 pm, ESPN+
at UTEP       Don Haskins Center 
El Paso, TX
February 6, 2025
6:30 pm, ESPN+
Jacksonville State       Murphy Center 
Murfreesboro, TN
February 8, 2025
5:00 pm, ESPN+
Kennesaw State       Murphy Center 
Murfreesboro, TN
February 15, 2025
2:00 pm, ESPN+
Western Kentucky       Murphy Center 
Murfreesboro, TN
February 20, 2025
6:30 pm, ESPN+
at Louisiana Tech W 55−46  20−6
(12−1)
 16  Boldyreva   11  Boldyreva   5  Blakely  Thomas Assembly Center (1,042)
Ruston, LA
February 22, 2025
2:00 pm, ESPN+
at Sam Houston       Bernard Johnson Coliseum 
Huntsville, TX
February 27, 2025
6:30 pm, ESPN+
New Mexico State W 63−41  22−6
(14−1)
 20  Scott   12  Arike   4  Blakely  Murphy Center (3,627)
Murfreesboro, TN
March 1, 2025
1:00 pm, ESPN+
UTEP       Murphy Center 
Murfreesboro, TN
March 6, 2025
6:00 pm, ESPN+
at Liberty       Liberty Arena 
Lynchburg, VA
March 8, 2025
12:00 pm, ESPN+
at FIU W 65−44  24−7
(16−2)
 22  Gregory   8  Boldyreva   3  Arike  Ocean Bank Convocation Center (723)
Miami, FL
C-USA tournament
March 12, 2025
2:00 pm, ESPN+
(2) vs. (7) Kennesaw State
Quarterfinals
W 73–46  25–7
 29  Boldyreva   8  Scott   6  Blakely  Propst Arena (2,506)
Huntsville, AL
March 14, 2025
8:00 pm, ESPN+
(2) vs. (3) Western Kentucky
Semifinals
W 71–63  26–7
 17  Scott   10  Boldyreva   3  Gregory  Propst Arena (2,615)
Huntsville, AL
March 15, 2025
4:30 pm, CBSSN
(2) vs. (1) Liberty
Championship
L 48–53  26–8
 23  Scott   10  Scott   3  Blakely  Propst Arena (2,006)
Huntsville, AL
WBIT
March 20, 2025*
6:30 pm, ESPN+
at (3) Belmont
First round
L 51–64  26–9
 16  Scott   10  Boldyreva   3  tied  Curb Event Center (1,009)
Nashville, TN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central.

Sources:[8][9]

References

  1. ^ "2023-24 Women's Basketball Standings". Conference USA. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  2. ^ "UTEP women's season ends with loss to Middle Tennessee at CUSA Tournament 2024". El Paso Times. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  3. ^ "How Rick Insell's non-move helped MTSU women's basketball advance to CUSA championship". The Daily News Journal. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  4. ^ "Title run comes to an end: Women's basketball falls to Middle Tennessee in CUSA Championship, 67-51". The Liberty Champion. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  5. ^ "2024 Division I Women's Basketball Official Bracket". NCAA.com. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  6. ^ "No. 11 Middle Tennessee knocks off Louisville women, first winless tournament for Cardinals since 2006". The Athletic. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  7. ^ "LSU vs. Middle Tennessee: Tigers win 83-56 for massive March Madness comeback". USA Today. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  8. ^ "2024-25 Women's Basketball Schedule". Middle Tennessee State University Athletics. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  9. ^ "Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders 2024-25 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved January 30, 2025.