Game 12: Middle Tennessee State

We only had one day to rest after suffering from our only defeat of the year and tonight's opponent, Middle Tennessee State, should help us get back on the winning side of things. Tonight should tell us if this team is of National Championship caliber. Two years ago when they lost to UT, it made them hungrier. Last year, when they lost to Duke, they got down on themselves and it showed the rest of the year. I want to see a complete destruction of the Blue Raiders tonight, so much so that Emery AKA Jane Wallace has another chance to set a career high.

We should have two presentations today. One to honor Crystal as the all-time leading rebounder and one to honor Kristi as a 1,000 point scorer. You will also note that I have updated the records section on the left to give all my loyal readers a chance to follow along as the season progresses.

MTSU enters with a record of 3-3 with wins over Tennessee Tech, Houston and Arizona. They are averaging 70.2 points per game while allowing 66.7. Opponents are shooting 48.3% from the floor and 34.5% from 3. If I remember last year's contest, they like to play pressure defense the entire game, but who knows if that philosophy has changed. Amber Holt is their whole team. You may remember her from last year as she went off agaisnt us in her college debut and we escaped with a win. Coleman is going to have to lock her down like she did to Packer. Holt leads the team in scoring, rebounding, shot attempts and assists. Everyone on the team can shoot a 3, so we must step out on screens. Their tallest player is 6'2 and she only grabs 3.3 rebounds per game. We should win the rebounding edge handily.

To win today:
1. Guard Holt
2. Dictate tempo
3. Establish the Post
4. No stupid turnovers