Lady Raiders Welcome UT To Murphy Center For First Time In 30 Years



MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - For the first time in nearly 30 years to the day, the Middle Tennessee women's basketball team will play host to No. 6 Tennessee at 7 p.m. Wednesday night inside the Murphy Center.

The game will be broadcast live on MyNetworkTV affiliates throughout the state, including WUXP-30 in the Nashville/Murfreesboro area. Fans can tune in to Comcast Channel 14 to watch the game, featuring MT director of broadcasting Chip Walters handling play-by-play and former Vanderbilt standout Ashley McElhiney as the color analyst. Other affiliates picking up the game include WVLT-2 in Knoxville and WAPK in the Tri-Cities.

The Blue Raiders are 2-1 and coming off an 84-73 victory at Austin Peay Saturday. Redshirt senior All-American Alysha Clark netted a game-high 38 points and grabbed a game-best 11 rebounds as Middle Tennessee earned victory No. 667 in its 1,000th overall game in program history.

Tennessee enters the game ranked No. 6 in the latest Associated Press poll and No. 5 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll. The Lady Vols have started the season 3-0, including wins over nationally-ranked opponents Baylor and Virginia.

The first women's sell-out in program history is slated for Wednesday night with Murphy Center capacity set for 11,520. The last time Tennessee played in Murfreesboro was nearly 30 years to the day, Nov. 26, 1979.

The game is the final event of a busy day surrounding the game. The day opens with the Breakfast of Champions at the Embassy Suites, featuring Middle Tennessee coach Rick Insell and Tennessee coach Pat Summitt. The two teams will then have a shootaround during the day, putting in final preparations for the contest.