No. 24 Middle Tennessee women beat UTEP 72-68 in OT

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) — Jaylynn Gregory and reserve Kseniya Malashka scored 17 points apiece and No. 24 Middle Tennessee withstood UTEP for a 72-68 overtime win on Saturday.

Elina Arike scored 17 points, Adhel Tac 16 and Jazion Jackson 11 for UTEP.

The regular season conference champion Lady Raiders (25-4, 18-2) earned the top seed to the C-USA postseason and will play the winner of the No. 8 versus No. 9 seed on March 9.

The Miners (19-10, 12-8) did their best to end Middle Tennessee's home streak rallying from a 47-35 deficit and outscored the Lady Raiders 25-8 for a 60-55 lead with 2:11 remaining in regulation.

Gregory made a pair of foul shots and Courtney Blakely converted a three-point play to knot it at 60 while UTEP missed its last two-shot attempts and turned it over twice to force overtime.

Later, Gregory made two more foul shots to break a 65-all tie with 1:20 left in the extra session and the Lady Raiders stayed ahead the rest of the way.

Middle Tennessee’s 18 wins in conference marks a C-USA record for most wins in league history as the Lady Raiders finished their second straight season going undefeated at home.

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