# 2022–23 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders women's basketball team

The 2022–23 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders women's basketball team represented Middle Tennessee State University during the 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The team was led by eighteenth-year head coach Rick Insell, and played their home games at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee as a member of Conference USA (C-USA).
The Blue Raiders finished the 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.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| October 28, 2022* 6:00 p.m. | | Christian Brothers | W 95–38 | | Murphy Center Murfreesboro, TN |
| November 1, 2022* 6:00 p.m. | | UT–Southern | W 114–43 | | Murphy Center Murfreesboro, TN |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 7, 2023* 6:00 p.m. | | at Mercer | L 75–76 | 0–1 | Hawkins Arena (1,226) Macon, GA |
| November 12, 2023* 7:00 p.m. | | at Southern Illinois | W 90–38 | 1–1 | Banterra Center (570) Carbondale, IL |
| November 16, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Belmont | W 80–62 | 2–1 | Murphy Center (2,806) Murfreesboro, TN |
| November 25, 2023* 1:00 p.m., FloSports | | vs. Texas Tech Las Vegas Invitational | L 67–72 | 2–2 | The Mirage Paradise, NV |
| November 26, 2023* 1:00 p.m., FloSports | | vs. Missouri State Las Vegas Invitational | W 79–54 | 3–2 | The Mirage Paradise, NV |
| December 1, 2022* 11:00 a.m., ESPN+ | | Tennessee Tech | W 83–45 | 4–2 | Murphy Center (6,000) Murfreesboro, TN |
| December 4, 2022* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | No. 18 Louisville | W 67–49 | 5–2 | Murphy Center (5,307) Murfreesboro, TN |
| December 10, 2022* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Memphis | W 69–53 | 6–2 | Elma Roane Fieldhouse (958) Memphis, TN |
| December 14, 2022* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Houston | W 68–51 | 7–2 | Murphy Center (2,982) Murfreesboro, TN |
| C-USA regular season ||||||
| December 20, 2022 12:00 p.m., CUSA.tv | | at Rice | W 74–68 | 8–2 (1–0) | Tudor Fieldhouse (591) Houston, TX |
| December 29, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Charlotte | W 71–46 | 9–2 (2–0) | Murphy Center (2,292) Murfreesboro, TN |
| December 31, 2022 2:00 p.m., CUSA.tv | | at Western Kentucky | W 80–75 | 10–2 (3–0) | E. A. Diddle Arena (865) Bowling Green, KY |
| January 5, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UTSA | W 80–41 | 11–2 (4–0) | Murphy Center (2,582) Murfreesboro, TN |
| January 7, 2023 3:30 p.m., YouTube | | at North Texas | W 76–57 | 12–2 (5–0) | The Super Pit (1,376) Denton, TX |
| January 11, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Rice | W 85–56 | 13–2 (6–0) | Murphy Center (2,982) Murfreesboro, TN |
| January 16, 2023 6:00 p.m., CUSA.tv | | at UAB | W 76–54 | 14–2 (7–0) | Bartow Arena (295) Birmingham, AL |
| January 19, 2023 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Charlotte | W 65–41 | 15–2 (8–0) | Dale F. Halton Arena (552) Charlotte, NC |
| January 21, 2023 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Louisiana Tech | W 68–50 | 16–2 (9–0) | Murphy Center (3,411) Murfreesboro, TN |
| January 26, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 23 | Florida Atlantic | W 63–48 | 17–2 (10–0) | Murphy Center (3,168) Murfreesboro, TN |
| January 28, 2023 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 23 | FIU | W 67–41 | 18–2 (11–0) | Murphy Center (3,313) Murfreesboro, TN |
| February 2, 2023 8:00 p.m., CUSA.tv | No. 21 | at UTEP | L 62–65 | 18–3 (11–1) | Don Haskins Center (998) El Paso, TX |
| February 4, 2023 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 21 | at UTSA | L 53–58 | 18–4 (11–2) | Convocation Center (560) San Antonio, TX |
| February 9, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Western Kentucky | W 94–81 | 19–4 (12–2) | Murphy Center (3,209) Murfreesboro, TN |
| February 11, 2023 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UAB | W 63–42 | 20–4 (13–2) | Murphy Center (3,407) Murfreesboro, TN |
| February 16, 2023 6:00 p.m., CUSA.tv | | at Florida Atlantic | W 85–77 | 21–4 (14–2) | Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena (729) Boca Raton, FL |
| February 18, 2023 11:00 a.m., ESPN+ | | at FIU | W 85–46 | 22–4 (15–2) | Ocean Bank Convocation Center (476) Miami, FL |
| February 25, 2023 1:00 p.m., ESPN3 | No. 25т | at Louisiana Tech | W 61–59 | 23–4 (16–2) | Thomas Assembly Center (1,637) Ruston, LA |
| March 2, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 24 | North Texas | W 72–45 | 24–4 (17–2) | Murphy Center (3,508) Murfreesboro, TN |
| March 4, 2023 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 24 | UTEP | W 72–68 | 25–4 (18–2) | Murphy Center (4,227) Murfreesboro, TN |
| C-USA tournament ||||||
| March 9, 2023 11:00 a.m., ESPN+ | (1) No. 25 | vs. (9) Charlotte Quarterfinals | W 84–53 | 26–4 | Ford Center at The Star (1,708) Frisco, TX |
| March 10, 2023 4:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (1) No. 25 | vs. (4) UTEP Semifinals | W 68–62 | 27–4 | Ford Center at The Star (2,230) Frisco, TX |
| March 11, 2023 4:30 p.m., CBSSN | (1) No. 25 | vs. (2) Western Kentucky Championship game | W 82–70 | 28–4 | Ford Center at The Star (837) Frisco, TX |
| NCAA women's tournament ||||||
| March 18, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ESPNews | (11 S4) | vs. (6 S4) No. 21 Colorado First round | L 60–82 | 28–5 | Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S4=Seattle 4. All times are in Central. ||||||
Source:

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Final |
| AP | — | —* | — | — | — | RV | RV | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | 23 | 21 | RV | RV | 25т | 24 | 25 | RV | Not released |
| Coaches | — | —* | —^ | — | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 23 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | |
*The preseason and week 1 polls were the same. ^Coaches did not release a week 2 poll.