GAMEDAY Womens Basketball
Middle Tennessee 63, Florida Atlantic 48
Associated Press
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Kseniya Malashka scored 12 of her 25 points in the fourth quarter to make sure Middle Tennessee State's first game as a ranked team in nine years wasn't an upset, leading the No. 23 Blue Raiders to a 63-48 win over Florida Atlantic.
MTSU (17-2, 10-0 Conference USA) ran its winning streak to 15 games but the Owls (11-8, 4-6) made it interesting with a third-quarter run after the Blue Raiders dominated the first half.
Malashka, a senior transfer from VCU, scored MTSU's first 12 points of the fourth quarter to keep the lead in double figures. She made three layups, one of them converted to a three-point play, for a 7-0 run that had the lead at 61-43 with 2 1/2 minutes to play.
Savannah Wheeler had all 16 of her points in the first half for MTSU, which was last ranked in the 2013-14 season.
Joiya Maddox led Florida Atlantic with 14 points and Amber Gaston had 10. The Owls have lost 24 straight in the series, which MTSU leads 30-1.
Florida Atlantic made a run in the third quarter, making 10 of 15 shots while the Blue Raiders were 2 of 12, cutting a 26-point deficit to eight. With runs of 8-0 and 9-0, when Gaston made a layup with 48 seconds left in the quarter the score was 45-37. MTSU made four free throws after that to take a 12-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Wheeler opened the game with a 3-pointer and had 11 points in the first quarter as MTSU raced to a 22-7 lead. Florida Atlantic was 2 of 12 in the first quarter and 3 of 12 in the second and trailed 38-14 at the half. Wheeler had 16 points for the Blue Raiders, who shot 40% and forced 13 turnovers.
January 26, 2023
| Florida Atlantic | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| J. Rozentale | F | 31 | 4-7 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 3-6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| A. Gaston | F | 24 | 4-10 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 3-6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 10 |
| A. Zaph | G | 30 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0-5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| J. Moore | G | 26 | 1-4 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| A. Hubbard | G | 22 | 2-8 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0-5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 4 |
| J. Maddox | 25 | 4-8 | 4-4 | 2-3 | 0-3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 14 | |
| D. Scott | 14 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
| D. Hanna | 12 | 2-2 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| S. Galeron | 9 | 0-4 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| A. Gillard | 5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| S. Henshaw | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Totals | 201 | 19-49 (.388) |
7-12 (.583) |
3-11 (.273) |
10-38 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 23 | 20 | 48 | |
| Middle Tennessee | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| C. Whitson | F | 34 | 2-9 | 0-0 | 1-5 | 2-5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| A. Boldyreva | C | 14 | 1-4 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 1-3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| J. Gregory | G | 37 | 3-12 | 0-0 | 0-6 | 1-4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| S. Wheeler | G | 32 | 3-7 | 8-8 | 2-4 | 1-6 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 16 |
| A. Whittington | G | 27 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 0-2 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| K. Malashka | 26 | 9-16 | 7-10 | 0-4 | 1-3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 25 | |
| C. Blakely | 22 | 1-4 | 2-2 | 0-2 | 0-4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| J. Grannum | 6 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| T. Scott | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | 199 | 20-54 (.370) |
20-24 (.833) |
3-23 (.130) |
8-31 | 11 | 6 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 63 | |
Officials: Royce Blevins, Trey Miles, Neonta Williams
Attendance: 3,168
