Middle Tennessee State women’s basketball had no difficulty advancing to the Conference USA Tournament semifinals.
The No. 2 seed Lady Raiders (25-7) trounced Kennesaw State 73-46 Wednesday in the quarterfinals at Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and will play Wednesday’s Western Kentucky-Florida International winner in the semifinals Friday at 8 p.m.
MTSU dominated the second quarter, outscoring Kennesaw State 24-0 to turn a 17-8 first-quarter lead into a 41-8 advantage at halftime. The Lady Raiders held KSU to just 3-of-29 shooting in the first half. MTSU’s Anastasiia Boldyreva doubled the Kennesaw State scoring output by herself in the half.
It was the fewest points MTSU has allowed in a half this season. The Lady Raiders held a 42-11 lead at halftime over the Owls when the two played in Murfreesboro in early February.
Seventh-seeded Kennesaw State (14-18) scored 38 of its 46 points in the second half, thanks to shooting 10 of 27 from 3-point range.
Boldyreva had a huge game for MTSU, scoring 29 points with seven rebounds and two blocks. Ta’Mia Scott (13), Elina Arike (13) and Jalynn Gregory (11) also scored in double figures for the Lady Raiders.
All five MTSU starters pulled down at least six rebounds, with Scott leading the way with eight. The Lady Raiders outrebounded Kennesaw State 47-32.
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Keiara Griffin led Kennesaw State with 12 points, all coming on her 4-of-9 shooting from 3-point range. Prencis Harden added 10 points for the Owls.
MTSU split with Western Kentucky during the regular season while sweeping FIU.
Cecil Joyce covers high school sports and MTSU athletics for The Daily News Journal. Contact him at cjoyce@dnj.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @Cecil_Joyce.
This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: MTSU women’s basketball advances to Conference USA semifinals
