MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee women's basketball coach Rick Insell announced his team's 2008-09 schedule this week, which includes 15 home games and matchups versus Alabama and Arizona as well as road outings versus LSU and Tennessee.
The Blue Raiders have been ranked in the Top 10 nationally in nonconference strength of schedule the last two years and this year's slate is no different.
Middle Tennessee opens the campaign at home against Lafayette College on Saturday, November 15, in the first round of the Preseason WNIT. The Blue Raiders could play as many as two more home games in the WNIT depending on the outcome of games.
The squad hosts Chattanooga (Nov. 25) and Arizona (Nov. 28) at the end of November before heading to Baton Rouge to take on the Lady Tigers (Nov. 30). Middle Tennessee upset then eighth-ranked LSU, 67-56, last season in Murfreesboro, the second straight year the Blue Raiders knocked off the No. 8 team in the country.
"Our schedule is something we can recruit to," Insell said. "We had a recruit say people were asking why she would want to go to Middle Tennessee.
"I just laid it out there for her -- the NCAA tournament appearances, the victories, the attendance and the schedule. It speaks for itself.
"With that said, we're not content until we get to the Elite Eight and Final Four. It's not all about the Sun Belt. Obviously our goal is to win the Sun Belt, but from the day we got here we've talked about getting to the next level. That's what we're going to do."
The club opens December with a home contest versus Louisville (Dec. 4) and one of the nation's best players in Angel McCoughtry. The squad heads to Western Carolina (Dec. 7) and then Tennessee (Dec. 11) before hosting three straight games in mid-December, versus Alabama (Dec. 14) and Austin Peay (Dec. 16) before opening Sun Belt action against Troy (Dec. 20).
Middle Tennessee closes the nonconference portion of its schedule against Tennessee Tech on December 28. The Blue Raiders take on North Texas on New Year's Eve in Denton and head to South Alabama on January 4 before hosting five contests in a span of 24 days.
Middle Tennessee takes on Florida Atlantic (Jan. 7), Florida International (Jan. 11), Arkansas State (Jan. 21), Louisiana-Lafayette (Jan. 28) and Louisiana-Monroe (Jan. 31) at Murphy Center. The Blue Raiders play four of six outings in February on the road, with the only home contests against North Texas (Feb. 15) and South Alabama (Feb. 18). Middle Tennessee hosts Western Kentucky on March 1 in its final home game.
The Blue Raiders are coming off a 22-12 season in which Amber Holt led the nation in scoring with 27.4 points per game. Insell's club returns five letterwinners as well as Alysha Clark, who sat out last season after transferring from Belmont. The club also welcomes four newcomers, including junior college standouts Dana Garrett and Shytoria Davis.
A link to the full schedule may be found at http://www.goblueraiders.com/schedule.cfm/sport/womensbasketball/season/2008. All game times and dates are tentative and subject to change.
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