Lady Raiders one win away from playing for WNIT title

The Middle Tennessee State women’s basketball team (27-7) has never won a national postseason tournament in school history.

Following Monday’s 73-71 road win over Toledo (29-6) in the WNIT quarterfinals, the Lady Raiders are just two wins away from changing that.

Freshman center Anastasiia Boldyreva scored a game-high 28 points, Courtney Whitson added 18 points and seven rebounds, and Round 3 hero Kseniya Malashka chipped in 12 points and six rebounds as MTSU overcame a slow start, that included missing six of its first seven shots, to seal the come-from-behind win in overtime.

"Great, great game between two quality teams," MTSU coach Rick Insell said. "This was a great atmosphere and that's what you expect when you reach this point of a postseason tournament. We knew it would take a great effort to come in here and win against a very good and well-coached Toledo team. I'm excited for our team, our fans, but I'm proud of how this team responded tonight."

After falling behind 10-2, Whitson hit back-to-back 3s and Malashka knocked down a jumper in the paint to pull the Lady Raiders even with the Rockets. They controlled the rest of the period and built a comfortable seven-point lead.

Despite getting outscored 34-23 in the second and third quarters, Boldyreva came up clutch in the fourth quarter, scoring 13 of her 28 points in the period, and sending the game to OT where the trio of Boldyreva, Malashka and Dor Saar iced the win.

"[Boldyreva] was a horse inside," Insell said. "She took the game over. The young lady got into a rhythm and just put the team on her back. She has made such great strides all season and that was on display tonight. [Boldyreva] played with such great confidence."

MTSU has now knocked off Wofford, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt and Toledo to reach the WNIT semifinals for the first time in school history. The four postseason wins are also the most in program history as well.

The Lady Raiders will now host Seton Hall (22-12) in the WNIT semifinals Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Murphy Center, where they’re undefeated through 16 games this season.

Follow Michael Gallagher on Twitter @MGsports_