MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Jalynn Gregory's 301st three-pointer as a Blue Raider looked like so many of the 300 that came before it.
This item is available in full to subscribers.
To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, below, or purchase a new subscription.
Please log in to continue |
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Jalynn Gregory's 301st three-pointer as a Blue Raider looked like so many of the 300 that came before it.
It came on a play designed to get her open, one executed with such precision by her teammates that the sharpshooter was somehow left unguarded in the corner, resulting in the opposing coach (today, LA Tech's Brooke Stoehr) throwing their arms up in frustration at how could their team, who almost certainly spent a good part of their time in the film room emphasizing not to give Gregory any space on the perimeter, leave MTSU's best shooter wide open for a shot she'd made 300 times before in her career.
"The three-point record, it doesn't just come from me," Gregory reflected post-game. "Of course, I have to make the shot. But it comes from my teammates getting me open and just them passing me the ball. Nas working down low, drawing some people and then the kick out."
With the corner three, MTSU's first three points of a 61-43 win over the Lady Techsters, Gregory passed Courtney Whitson for the all-time lead in career three-pointers made at Middle Tennessee. The senior guard went on to nail three more threes on the afternoon, including the final basket of the day for either team.
After the final buzzer sounded, it was Whitson, now an MTSU assistant coach after being a long-time teammate and friend and even former roommate of Gregory's, who gave Jalynn her commemorative ball for taking the all-time lead in threes made.
"Just being able (for it) to come from her," Gregory said, "it was a special moment."
You don't get to those all-time career records at most programs, particularly programs with the success of Middle Tennessee women's basketball, without playing from the very start of your career. Jalynn Gregory has not missed a start for the Blue Raiders she first stepped on court as a freshman, where her sharpshooting first caught the eye of a teammate from Moscow, Russia.
"The first couple of games, I definitely knew the second she shoots, I knew it was going in," Anastasiia Boldyreva said. "Obviously, I would always go for the rebound, but I knew I wouldn't have to work for the rebound, because I knew it was going in."
Head Coach Rick Insell knew Gregory was a good shooter when he recruited her from Macon County High School, but he said you can't project players to become all-time program leaders in stat categories when you're making recruitment decisions. What you can do, he said, is recruit winners and that's all Jalynn Gregory's done at any level she's played at.
"As valuable as Nas is, getting rebounds and blocking shots, Jalynn Gregory is just as valuable on that perimeter," Insell said.
It's not just the shooting that Insell is referring to. Gregory has been the team's best perimeter defender for the past two seasons, maybe even her sophomore year too on some nights, when MTSU has the luxury of having both Gregory and Alexis Whittington shut down some Conference USA's best guard duos. As a senior, she's even found a secondary role as the team's second ballhandler when Courtney Blakely needed a break, handling point guard duties in the final five minutes on Saturday after Blakely fouled out.
But the shooting is the flashiest part of her game, one that is highlighted not just by her knack for getting open within Insell's offense, but also by the range with which Gregory has the green light, regularly taking and making shots well beyond the arc, forcing opposing defenses to stretch out even further than they'd like to. And it's what's gotten her in the MTSU record books, what will likely make her an easy choice for the Blue Raider Athletic Hall of Fame in just over a decade's time.
Most importantly for Gregory, the anticipation of getting the record is done. Which opens up more opportunities for the rest of her senior season.
"I could hear the talk about it," Gregory said. "Sometimes, it's hard to cancel out that talk, no matter if it's just about that record or other things in general.
"But I've broke it now, so we're in the clear."