WBB Game 13: ODU (10-2) @ MTSU (8-4), Con USA opener
Happy New Year Monarch Fans! The ODU women's basketball team will open up Conference USA play on the road against Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, TN. The Lady Raiders are coached by Rick Insell. He is Middle Tennessee's all time winningest basketball coach in school history. Murfreesboro is a tough place to play. ODU is 1-2 on the road against MTSU. It was a desperation three with four seconds left on the clock by Makayla Timmons (who played against us for Hampton) that went in and gave us a very rare upset of the Lady Raiders at home. That might have been Timmons biggest moment at ODU.
This season Middle Tennessee St is 8-4 (5-1 at home). RPI: 57 SOS Rank: 42
@ ECU W 68-66 Record: 3-10 RPI: 236
Vs #13 Kentucky L 52-57 Record: 11-2 RPI: 30
@ Tulane W 64-62 Record: 5-8 RPI: 188
Vs Tennessee Tech W 64-58 Record: 5-5 RPI: 238
Vs Furman W 78-62 Record: 8-5 RPI: 103
Gulf Coast Showcase
Vs Auburn W 73-50 Record: 7-5 RPI: 98
Vs #21 Gonzaga L 50-62 Record: 13-1 RPI: 8
Vs Arizona St L 60-61 Record: 10-3 RPI: 61
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Vs Lipscomb W 70-49 Record: 2-10 RPI: 315
@ Belmont L 57-68 Record: 6-6 RPI: 78
Vs VCU W 86-63 Record: 5-8 RPI: 202
Vs TCU W 82-70 Record: 9-2 RPI: 22
Vs ODU Record: 10-2 RPI: 51
Tough schedule with two teams in the top 25.
The Lady Raiders starting five
11 Hayes, Aislynn G 5'6" Fr 13.0 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 3.0 apg, 36.6 FG%, 36.7 3P%, 57.4 FT%, 34.3 mpg
02 Sutton, Taylor G 5'4" So 13.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.0 apg, 29.5 FG%, 37.5 3P%, 66.7 FT%, 33.8 mpg
01 Hayes, Anastasia G 5'7" So 16.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 4.4 apg, 37.3 FG%, 25.0 3P%, 52.9 FT%, 36.5 mpg
35 Savage, Charity F 6'0" Sr 9.5 ppg, 12.1 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.8 spg, 57.3 FG%, 12.5 3P%, 61.9 FT%, 34.3 mpg
33 Whitson, Courtney F 6'0" Fr 6.9 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 0.3 apg, 37.5 FG%, 26.2 3P%, 60.0 FT%, 27.9 mpg
Top Bench
23 Whittington, Alexis G 5'11" So 4.9 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 0.8 apg, 38.0 FG%, 37.5 3P%, 75.0 FT%, 22.8 mpg
Aislynn and Anastasia Hayes are sisters. Anastasia was a transfer from some school called Tennessee where she finished with 6.3 ppg and 3.5 apg. Aislynn has won the National Freshman of the Week honors twice this season.
MTSU is typically known for defense and rebounding. They are still a good rebounding team, but they aren't as tall as in years past. Savage is the player you have to watch out for, as she averages nearly a double double per game on the inside. The rest of them, make sure to guard the perimeter. They don't rotate a lot of players, so they rely on their starters a lot. Which isn't a problem for them. In Savage they have the league's #1 rebounder and in Anastasia they have the league's number two scorer. They are not a good free throw shooting team, and that has cost them games this year.
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...............,MTSU....ODU
PPG.........67.0........66.3
OPPG......61.5........51.1
FG%........40.3........40.7
OFG%......42.1.......34.0
3P%.........32.9........33.0
3PMG.......8.0.........7.3
O3P%......27.9........23.1
FT%.........58.5.......62.4
FTMG......11.5.......11.1
RPG.........38.4........41.8
ORPG......35.0........35.1
APG.........11.4........12.0
TPG.........16.3.........15.7
SPG.........8.2...........9.7
BPG........4.8...........2.2
Ast/TO ratio:
MTSU: 0.7, ODU: 0.8
On the plus side, ODU is coming off the Anne Donovan Classic where they played fantastic. The team's confidence has to be at an all time high. But how good are these Monarchs? On the road, they have appeared vulnerable. Just how good is this team? People will point to the 10-2 record and go, yes. Others will point to their SOS of 199 and go...are they being challenged enough? I think it's time to learn. MTSU will be a tough first test. A win on the road will answer a lot of questions.
Also it's interesting to note that on MTSU's staff they have a full time statistical analyst. I think that this should be the wave of the future for the women's game. They have a ton of statistical information for the men's game. But it's hard to find data on the women's game. Usually when assistant coaches scout other teams, they look at the stats and video. But it's hard to find reports on what player X likes to shoot from what area of the floor for a high percentage. That I think is going to be the wave of the future.
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