MTSU Lady Blue Raiders Win C-USA Regular Season Title, Recognized With Honors

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MTSU Lady Blue Raiders. Photo: Courtesy of MTSU Athletics

The Lady Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State University cap off their fantastic 2022-2023 regular season by clinching the Conference USA Title while also being recognized with a handful of All-Conference honors.

Head Coach Rick Insell was named C-USA’s Co-Coach of the Year and Kseniya Malashka was named C-USA Sixth Player of the Year. Savannah Wheeler, Courtney Whitson and Jalynn Gregory all landed on All C-USA teams. Wheeler and Whitson were named to the All-Conference First Team, and Gregory was named to the Second Team. MTSU was the only school to have three players on the All-Conference teams.

The Lady Blue Raiders made history by making it on the Associated Press Top 25 throughout the season and currently ranked No. 25 heading into the C-USA Tournament.

“I’m proud of each of these young ladies,” Insell says. “We had a great regular season and each of those players had an impact in our success. They deserve the recognition for what they did for our basketball team throughout the regular season. Now, we need to turn our attention to the (Conference USA Championship) this week.”

Malashka joins Gabby Lyon (2016-2017) as the only Lady Raiders to be named Conference USA Sixth Player of the Year. The senior forward is MTSU’s leading scorer with 15.4 points per game, which is good for fifth in the C-USA standings. Malashka also averages 5.6 rebounds per game. She leads C-USA in blocked shots per game with right at two per game, and is second in the league for field goal percentage (48 percent).

Insell was named Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career, sharing the honor with UTEP’s Kevin Baker. Insell has guided the Lady Raiders to a 25-4 record and the C-USA regular-season conference championship. The 25 wins are seventh most in program history. Middle Tennessee posted an 18-2 mark in league play, setting a new league record for wins.

Wheeler is having a banner season in her breakout Lady Raider debut. The All-American candidate is among league leaders for scoring (6th, 15.3), assist/turnover ratio (4th, 1.7), assists (9th, 3.1), free throw percentage (2nd, .875), as well as 3-point field goals made and assists. She was a three-time C-USA Player of the Week honoree.

Whitson earned all-conference honors for the second straight season after nearly averaging a double-double. Whitson enters the C-USA Championship averaging 10.5 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, which leads the league. She also leads C-USA in defensive rebounds per game with 5.7. Gregory has turned in a solid sophomore season to land on the all-conference team. The sharpshooting guard leads C-USA in 3-point field goals per game (2.6) and 3-point field goal percentage (.337). She is also ninth in the league for scoring (13.3) and seventh for steals (1.8).

Steven Boero
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