Lady Raiders seek to continue winning

The Lady Raider basketball team has a tough final week ahead of them.

Middle Tennessee travels to New Mexico State on Thursday before returning home to close out the regular season against Western Kentucky.

New Mexico State comes into tonight’s contest with a 6-8 record in Sun Belt conference play. They are tied for third place in the Western Division. NMSU’s last contest was a 75-46 stomping at the hands of Louisiana Tech.

Middle comes into this meeting having drilled Louisiana-Lafayette Saturday. Still Lady Raider head coach Stephany Smith has some concerns about her team.

“I am really concerned with our energy level right now,” Smith said after Saturday’s game. “We can’t play like this in the next two games. I think we are playing well in spurts. Hopefully we will put it together for next week. New Mexico State is a key game. It means a lot for our confidence and our momentum going into tournament play,” Smith said.

A key game it is. The Lady Raiders need to win tonight’s game to keep pace with Western Kentucky. Currently, Middle is only one game behind Western for third place in the Eastern Division. A win Thursday night only makes Saturday’s game more interesting.

The Lady Raiders have a known rivalry with the Lady Hilltoppers. Last time the two teams met, Middle pulled off the upset 85-83. In that meeting, Jamie Thomatis scored 37 points and pulled down nine rebounds. She would go on to be named Sun Belt Player of the Week. Also helping the Lady Raider cause were Joanne Aluka and Kelly Chastain scoring 13 points each.

Natalie Powers was most of Western Kentucky’s offense in that match-up as she scored 41 points. Middle also out rebounded Western 34-23 in that game. For the season the Lady Raiders are averaging two more rebounds per game than their opponents.

Both Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky feature two players in the top 10 in scoring for the conference. WKU features the top scorer in Powers. She averages 21.6 points per game. ShaRae Mansfield is the fourth leading scorer in the Sun Belt averaging 19.3 points per game. Mansfield also ranks fourth in the conference in rebounding.

Thomatis and Aluka rank third and 10th respectively in scoring. Thomatis is averaging 20.4 points per game while Aluka averages 11.8.

Saturday’s game will be the last for seniors Kelly Chastain and Nicole Perkins in the Murphy Center. The game is also being promoted as Fan Appreciation Night.

This game promises to be a good one. It could conceivably be a duel for third place in the East and tournament seedings.

Related Links: New Mexico State University Athletics Western Kentucky University Athletics University of Louisiana-Lafayette Athletics Sun Belt Conference