excerpt from today's DNJ:

MT capped off a 24-8 season that included winning its first Sun Belt Conference championship. The Lady Raiders, who won 14 of their last 17 games, return three starters as well as four reserves.

First-team all-conference players Patrice Holmes, who will be a senior, and forward Krystle Horton, who will be a sophomore, return. Also, forward Tia Stovall will be back for her junior year.

They were the team’s three leading scorers this season.

Two players who sat out this season — 6-foot-3 center Amber Benjamin and 5-10 guard/forward Monique Martin — should make the Lady Raiders even more talented next season.

Benjamin, who is from Coffee County, will give the Lady Raiders already strong frontcourt more punch, while Martin is the highest-ranked recruit to ever sign with the Lady Raiders.

Martin, who was the Georgia Player of the Year in 2002, was the No. 30-ranked player nationally coming out of high school.

The Lady Raiders also have signed 5-8 point/shooting guard Sara Nuxol (Winter Springs, Fla.), 6-2 forward Lakira Boyd (Memphis) and 6-4 center Lynette Jackson (Raleigh, N.C.).

“I like what we had sitting out and I like what we’ve got coming in,

Lady Raiders pick up some more talent.

Alabama's Miss Basketball for ALL classifications and state's all-time leading scorer committed to Middle Tennessee:


<a href='http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/sports/040330/orr.shtml' target='_blank'>Orr bound for Middle Tennessee</a>

SpaceRaider Wrote:Lady Raiders pick up some more talent.

Alabama's Miss Basketball for ALL classifications and state's all-time leading scorer committed to Middle Tennessee:


<a href='http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/sports/040330/orr.shtml' target='_blank'>Orr bound for Middle Tennessee</a>

excerpt from today's dnj on Starr Orr's commitment:

MT didn’t need a victory against North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament to convince the all-time scorer in Alabama high school girls history to sign with the Lady Raiders.

In fact, Speake High School’s Starr Orr “felt at home

I heard in the past couple of days that Smith is in consideration for the women's job at Virginia Tech...please tell me it isn't so! She's done a great job with the Lady Raider's the past couple of years, and I'd hate to see her go.

I think women's b-ball in the Sunbelt is getting stronger and stronger. In the next 3-4 years, the conference very well could have anywhere from 3-4 teams in the NCAA tournament. MTSU and WKU are both doing well. MTSU seems to have a good recruiting class coming in (so far my beloved WKU has a good recruiting class coming in, but I would like to add at least on really good 6'3"+ player to the Lady Tops in this signing period). Additionally, we've seen that USA, Florida International (historically) and Arkansas St. are all very competitive, plus the other women's teams certainly seem to be improving their quality too.

Hopefully, MTSU will be able to hold on to Smith for several more years because I'm certainly enjoying the great rivalry that is developing between the Lady Raiders and the Lady Tops.

I hope we can keep Coach smith as well...It would be great to have a dominant conference in Women's B-Ball. :bond:

topper1974 Wrote:I heard in the past couple of days that Smith is in consideration for the women's job at Virginia Tech...please tell me it isn't so! She's done a great job with the Lady Raider's the past couple of years, and I'd hate to see her go.

I think women's b-ball in the Sunbelt is getting stronger and stronger. In the next 3-4 years, the conference very well could have anywhere from 3-4 teams in the NCAA tournament. MTSU and WKU are both doing well. MTSU seems to have a good recruiting class coming in (so far my beloved WKU has a good recruiting class coming in, but I would like to add at least on really good 6'3"+ player to the Lady Tops in this signing period). Additionally, we've seen that USA, Florida International (historically) and Arkansas St. are all very competitive, plus the other women's teams certainly seem to be improving their quality too.

Hopefully, MTSU will be able to hold on to Smith for several more years because I'm certainly enjoying the great rivalry that is developing between the Lady Raiders and the Lady Tops.

A report on a Virgina Tech fan site claims that Western's women's coach will be hired later this week:

<a href='http://www.techsideline.com/news/2004/20040405news.htm' target='_blank'>Virginia Tech to hire Western's coach</a>

Actually I should say Western CAROLINA's coach.

I think Coach Smith probably has the recruiting pipeline so filled at Middle Tennessee that she wants to enjoy the fruits of her labors for a few more seasons. I think this team can do some major damage in the postseason in the next couple of seasons. The Lady Raiders are a fairly young team. Patrice Holmes, the undisputed leader was a junior this past season. Stovall will be a junior next season and Horton just a sophomore.

I think it will take something special to get Coach Smith to leave - not sure Vatech rates "special."

Hopefully she will build a program like they have at La.Tech and she'll stay...I think MT has as much to offer womens B-Ball as La.Tech. :rolleyes:

Glad to see that Smith won't be leaving yet (and hopefully not for awhile to come). As I said before, I think the Sun Belt could very well be heading back to its days as a prominent women's bball conference. I have to admit that the games from the last couple of years between MT and WKU have reminded me of some of the games between WKU and La Tech. Going into the games you knew they were going to be very hard-fought battles and a lot of fun to watch.

Unfortunately, the post on Western losing a coach isn't exactly untrue either. Western Carolina may be losing their head coach to Va Tech, but WKU assistant Kyra Elzy appears to have accepted a job at Kansas with Va Tech's former head coach. At least, that's what I'm hearing. :frown:

I wish her luck, but I hope any of our Sun Belt teams cream them if Kansas ever plays us.

Lady Raiders received votes to finish 6 places outside the top 25 (UNC finished #21, Notre Dame#20).

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Michigan State 73, Virginia Tech 67, UT-Chattanooga 43, Marquette 30, Ohio State 26, Middle Tennessee 22, Villanova 22, SMS 21, Florida 19, Miami 19, Arizona 12, Maryland 11, Montana 11, Liberty 10, UCLA 7, Rutgers 6, Utah 5, Creighton 4, Old Dominion 4, West Virginia 1.


<a href='http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/rankings' target='_blank'>ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll</a>