# 2023–24 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders women's basketball team

The 2023–24 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders women's basketball team represented Middle Tennessee State University during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Blue Raiders, led by 19th-year head coach Rick Insell, played their home games at Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee as members of Conference USA (C-USA).

## Previous season

The Blue Raiders finished the 2022–23 season 28–5, 18–2 in C-USA play, to finish as C-USA regular-season champions. As the #1 seed in the C-USA tournament, they defeated #9 seed Charlotte in the quarterfinals, #4 seed UTEP in the semifinals, and #2 seed Western Kentucky to win the C-USA tournament championship to earn the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. They received the #11 seed in the Seattle Regional 4, where they lost to #6 region seed Colorado in the first round.

## Season summary

Middle Tennessee relied heavily on their starters during the season, and five players—Savannah Wheeler, Courtney Whitson, Jalynn Gregory, Ta'Mia Scott and Anastasiia Boldyreva—appeared in all 35 games and played over 1,000 minutes. Wheeler led the team in scoring at 17.5 points per game and was named the C-USA Player of the Year. The Blue Raiders went 16–0 in the C-USA regular season to win the conference regular-season championship. They then won the conference tournament championship. In the NCAA tournament, they won their first-round game, their first NCAA tournament win since 2007. They lost in the second round. Middle Tennessee finished their season with an overall record of 30–5. It was their first 30-win season since 2006–07.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| October 27, 2023* 6:00 p.m. | | UT Southern | W 97–44 | – | – | – | – | Murphy Center Murfreesboro, TN |
| October 30, 2023* 6:30 p.m. | | Cumberlands | W 103–53 | – | 24 – Boldyreva | 8 – Boldyreva | 10 – Wheeler | Murphy Center (2,004) Murfreesboro, TN |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 6, 2023* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Memphis | W 67–47 | 1–0 | 23 – Boldyreva | 12 – Boldyreva | 5 – Whitson | Murphy Center (3,505) Murfreesboro, TN |
| November 9, 2023* 10:30 a.m., ESPN+ | | Florida A&M | W 93–48 | 2–0 | 23 – Wheeler | 8 – Grabovskaia | 6 – Wheeler | Murphy Center (6,000) Murfreesboro, TN |
| November 12, 2023* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Princeton | L 60–65 | 2–1 | 21 – Gregory | 7 – Whitson | 3 – Whitson | Murphy Center (3,015) Murfreesboro, TN |
| November 18, 2023* 4:00 p.m., FloHoops | | vs. Michigan Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinals | L 49–63 | 2–2 | 23 – Boldyreva | 7 – Boldyreva | 5 – 2 tied | Imperial Arena (393) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 19, 2023* 6:30 p.m., FloHoops | | vs. DePaul Battle 4 Atlantis consolation 2nd round | W 71–69 | 3–2 | 20 – Scott | 8 – 2 tied | 7 – Wheeler | Imperial Arena (400) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 20, 2023* 4:00 p.m., FloHoops | | vs. Memphis Battle 4 Atlantis 5th-place game | W 64–57 | 4–2 | 25 – Boldyreva | 13 – Boldyreva | 5 – Wheeler | Imperial Arena (113) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 26, 2023* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at SIU Edwardsville | W 81–74 | 5–2 | 21 – Scott | 7 – Grabovskaia | 6 – Wheeler | First Community Arena (303) Edwardsville, IL |
| November 29, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Houston | W 70–45 | 6–2 | 22 – Wheeler | 11 – Scott | 9 – Wheeler | Fertitta Center (698) Houston, TX |
| December 3, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Belmont | L 57–71 | 6–3 | 20 – Scott | 8 – Boldyreva | 3 – 2 tied | Curb Event Center (1,365) Nashville, TN |
| December 6, 2023* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | vs. Tennessee | W 73–62 | 7–3 | 22 – Gregory | 10 – Wheeler | 4 – Whitson | Von Braun Center (5,015) Huntsville, AL |
| December 10, 2023* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Tennessee Tech | W 63–47 | 8–3 | 25 – Gregory | 15 – Boldyreva | 5 – Wheeler | Eblen Center (1,107) Cookeville, TN |
| December 17, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Stephen F. Austin | W 72–47 | 9–3 | 25 – Wheeler | 8 – Wheeler | 5 – Gregory | Murphy Center (3,359) Murfreesboro, TN |
| December 20, 2023* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Northern Kentucky | W 83–42 | 10–3 | 34 – Wheeler | 10 – Scott | 3 – 2 tied | Murphy Center (3,314) Murfreesboro, TN |
| December 30, 2023* 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Grand Canyon | L 59–68 | 10–4 | 23 – Wheeler | 8 – 2 tied | 2 – 2 tied | Global Credit Union Arena (623) Phoenix, AZ |
| C-USA regular season |||||||||
| January 10, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Louisiana Tech | W 64–61 $^{OT}$ | 11–4 (1–0) | 32 – Boldyreva | 14 – Scott | 2 – 2 tied | Thomas Assembly Center (1,632) Ruston, LA |
| January 13, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Sam Houston | W 87–55 | 12–4 (2–0) | 16 – Wheeler | 10 – Boldyreva | 7 – Wheeler | Bernard Johnson Coliseum (396) Huntsville, TX |
| January 18, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UTEP | W 81–70 | 13–4 (3–0) | 18 – Wheeler | 16 – Grabovskaia | 4 – 2 tied | Murphy Center (3,313) Murfreesboro, TN |
| January 20, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | New Mexico State | W 85–48 | 14–4 (4–0) | 30 – Wheeler | 10 – 2 tied | 5 – Wheeler | Murphy Center (3,605) Murfreesboro, TN |
| January 24, 2024 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Jacksonville State | W 67–45 | 15–4 (5–0) | 27 – Boldyreva | 15 – Boldyreva | 4 – 2 tied | Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,024) Jacksonville, AL |
| January 27, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at FIU | W 92–62 | 16–4 (6–0) | 26 – 2 tied | 10 – Scott | 11 – Wheeler | Ocean Bank Convocation Center (325) Miami, FL |
| February 3, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Western Kentucky | W 80–48 | 17–4 (7–0) | 26 – Scott | 15 – Whitson | 7 – Wheeler | Murphy Center (4,806) Murfreesboro, TN |
| February 8, 2024 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Liberty | W 81–55 | 18–4 (8–0) | 20 – Boldyreva | 8 – Whitson | 6 – Wheeler | Murphy Center (4,505) Murfreesboro, TN |
| February 10, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | FIU | W 73–54 | 19–4 (9–0) | 31 – Wheeler | 7 – Boldyreva | 11 – Wheeler | Murphy Center (4,428) Murfreesboro, TN |
| February 15, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at New Mexico State | W 73–37 | 20–4 (10–0) | 27 – Wheeler | 12 – Boldyreva | 4 – Gregory | Pan American Center (1,045) Las Cruces, NM |
| February 17, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UTEP | W 56–41 | 21–4 (11–0) | 16 – Wheeler | 9 – Boldyreva | 4 – Wheeler | Don Haskins Center (1,411) El Paso, TX |
| February 21, 2024 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Jacksonville State | W 66–40 | 22–4 (12–0) | 27 – Boldyreva | 8 – Whitson | 7 – Whitson | Murphy Center (3,613) Murfreesboro, TN |
| February 24, 2024 11:00 a.m., ESPNU | | at Western Kentucky | W 59–41 | 23–4 (13–0) | 18 – Wheeler | 14 – Boldyreva | 4 – Boldyreva | E. A. Diddle Arena (2,015) Bowling Green, KY |
| March 2, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Sam Houston | W 93–62 | 24–4 (14–0) | 26 – Scott | 9 – Boldyreva | 8 – Wheeler | Murphy Center (3,712) Murfreesboro, TN |
| March 6, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Liberty | W 67–52 | 25–4 (15–0) | 21 – Wheeler | 9 – Boldyreva | 7 – Wheeler | Liberty Arena (980) Lynchburg, VA |
| March 9, 2024 9:30 a.m., ESPN+ | | Louisiana Tech | W 79–58 | 26–4 (16–0) | 18 – 3 tied | 13 – Blodyreva | 9 – Wheeler | Murphy Center (4,227) Murfreesboro, TN |
| C-USA tournament |||||||||
| March 13, 2024 11:30 a.m., ESPN+ | (1) | vs. (8) UTEP Quarterfinals | W 78–50 | 27–5 | 21 – Whitson | 10 – Scott | 6 – Wheeler | Von Braun Center (570) Huntsville, AL |
| March 15, 2024 5:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (1) | vs. (4) Louisiana Tech Semifinals | W 62–56 | 28–4 | 22 – Wheeler | 16 – Boldyreva | 4 – Wheeler | Von Braun Center (2,701) Huntsville, AL |
| March 16, 2024 4:30 p.m., CBSSN | (1) | vs. (2) Liberty Championship | W 67–51 | 29–4 | 21 – Boldyreva | 16 – tied | 9 – Wheeler | Von Braun Center (4,301) Huntsville, AL |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| March 22, 2024* 12:30 p.m., ESPN2 | (11 A2) | vs. (6 A2) No. 23 Louisville First round | W 71–69 | 30–4 | 24 – Gregory | 12 – Boldyreva | 4 – Gregory | Pete Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, LA |
| March 24, 2024* 2:00 p.m., ABC | (11 A2) | at (3 A2) No. 8 LSU Second round | L 56–83 | 30–5 | 21 – Wheeler | 10 – tied | 5 – Wheeler | Pete Maravich Assembly Center (12,632) Baton Rouge, LA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. A2=Albany 2. All times are in Central. |||||||||
Sources: