# 2016–17 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders women's basketball team

The 2016–17 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders women's basketball team represented Middle Tennessee State University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Blue Raiders, led by twelfth year head coach Rick Insell, play their home games at the Murphy Center and were third year members of Conference USA. They finished the season 23–11, 15–3 in C-USA play to finish in second place. They advanced to the semifinals of the C-USA women's tournament where they lost to Southern Miss. They received an automatic bid to the Women's National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Morehead State and Wake Forest in the first and second rounds before losing to Georgia Tech in the third round.

## Rankings

Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not ranked previous week |
| (RV) | Received Votes |

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 10/30/2016* 2:00 pm | Coastal Georgia | W 108–49 | | Murphy Center (1,836) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 11/03/2016* 5:00 pm | Truett McConnell | W 125–35 | | Murphy Center (1,624) Murfreesboro, TN |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 6:00 pm | at Virginia | L 51–63 | 0–1 | John Paul Jones Arena (2,837) Charlottesville, VA |
| 11/16/2016* 6:30 pm | No. 5 Louisville | L 72–91 | 0–2 | Murphy Center (4,516) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 11/19/2016* 6:00 pm | at Tennessee Tech | W 73–62 | 1–2 | Eblen Center (952) Cookeville, TN |
| 11/30/2016* 11:00 am | Ohio | L 52–73 | 1–3 | Murphy Center (11,222) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 12/03/2016* 3:00 pm | Tulane | W 62–59 | 2–3 | Murphy Center (2,812) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 12/09/2016* 6:00 pm | at No. 15 Kentucky | L 48–61 | 2–4 | Memorial Coliseum (4,625) Lexington, KY |
| 12/13/2016* 6:30 pm | No. 23 Arizona State | L 48–69 | 2–5 | Murphy Center (2,717) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 12/17/2016* 2:00 pm | Austin Peay | W 82–51 | 3–5 | Murphy Center (2,227) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 12/19/2016* 6:05 pm | at Missouri State | W 71–52 | 4–5 | JQH Arena (2,243) Springfield, MO |
| 12/22/2016* 6:30 pm | Georgia Tech | L 60–61 | 4–6 | Murphy Center (4,222) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 12/28/2016* 6:30 pm | Central Michigan | W 79–69 | 5–6 | Murphy Center (2,911) Murfreesboro, TN |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| 01/01/2017 2:00 pm | at UAB | W 64–61 | 6–6 (1–0) | Bartow Arena (293) Birmingham, AL |
| 01/05/2017 6:30 pm | Rice | W 71–61 | 7–6 (2–0) | Murphy Center (2,806) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 01/07/2017 6:00 pm | North Texas | W 60–52 | 8–6 (3–0) | Murphy Center (3,632) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 01/12/2017 5:00 pm | at Marshall | W 72–63 | 9–6 (4–0) | Cam Henderson Center (517) Huntington, WV |
| 01/15/2017 2:00 pm, FCS | at WKU | L 51–66 | 9–7 (4–1) | E. A. Diddle Arena (2,064) Bowling Green, KY |
| 01/19/2017 6:30 pm, ESPN3 | FIU | W 95–43 | 10–7 (5–1) | Murphy Center (2,619) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 01/21/2017 2:00 pm, beIN | Florida Atlantic | W 87–69 | 11–7 (6–1) | Murphy Center (3,017) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 01/26/2017 6:00 pm | at Southern Miss | L 61–81 | 11–8 (6–2) | Reed Green Coliseum (1,333) Hattiesburg, MS |
| 01/28/2017 1:00 pm | at Louisiana Tech | W 79–65 | 12–8 (7–2) | Thomas Assembly Center (1,528) Ruston, LA |
| 02/02/2017 6:30 pm, ESPN3 | UTSA | W 77–63 | 13–8 (8–2) | Murphy Center (3,152) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 02/04/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | UTEP | W 76–53 | 14–8 (9–2) | Murphy Center (3,411) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 02/09/2017 6:00 pm | at Old Dominion | W 80–63 | 15–8 (10–2) | Ted Constant Convocation Center (1,578) Norfolk, VA |
| 02/11/2017 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Charlotte | W 83–81 | 16–8 (11–2) | Dale F. Halton Arena (1,650) Charlotte, NC |
| 02/16/2017 6:30 pm, beIN | WKU | L 75–82 | 16–9 (11–3) | Murphy Center (4,027) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 02/18/2017 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | Marshall | W 94–69 | 17–9 (12–3) | Murphy Center (3,411) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 02/25/2017 4:00 pm, ASN | UAB | W 87–56 | 18–9 (13–3) | Murphy Center (3,505) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 03/02/2017 6:00 pm | at FIU | W 88–53 | 19–9 (14–3) | FIU Arena (303) Miami, FL |
| 03/04/2017 4:00 pm | at Florida Atlantic | W 71–59 | 20–9 (15–3) | FAU Arena (510) Boca Raton, FL |
| Conference USA Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/09/2017 6:30 pm | vs. Rice Quarterfinals | W 61–59 | 21–9 | Bartow Arena Birmingham, AL |
| 03/10/2017 7:00 pm, ASN | vs. Southern Miss Semifinals | L 54–59 | 21–10 | Legacy Arena Birmingham, AL |
| WNIT ||||||
| 03/16/2017* 8:30 pm | Morehead State First Round | W 67–58 | 22–10 | Murphy Center (2,536) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 03/19/2017* 2:00 pm | Wake Forest Second Round | W 73–66 | 23–10 | Murphy Center (2,519) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 03/23/2017* 6:00 pm | at Georgia Tech Third Round | L 57–70 | 23–11 | Hank McCamish Pavilion (819) Atlanta, GA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||