MURFREESBORO − Middle Tennessee State women's basketball star Savannah Wheeler has been a self-proclaimed gym rat her entire life.

She was also a big fan of ice cream. Those two worlds collided when she was in second grade.

"She had an older sister (Taylor) that played basketball and she would get to go to camps with them (at Kentucky's Transylvania University)," said Savannah's father, David Wheeler. "She would stay at the ice cream machine all day. When the ice cream machine broke, she told the head coach, 'We don't need to go back to (Transylvania) no more.'"

"It broke my heart," said Savannah Wheeler, laughing at the thought that ice cream could have ever superseded basketball in her life.

Basketball has dominated Savannah's life ever since. That is evidenced by the legacy she's leaving behind in Conference USA.

The 5-foot-6 point guard moved into sixth place on the conference's all-time scoring list Saturday (2,088 points following a 15-point performance in an 80-48 win over Western Kentucky). At her current scoring pace, she will finish in the top three behind Houston's Chandi Jones (2,692 points; 2000-04) and Memphis' Tamika Whitmore (2,488; 1995-99).

She has already eclipsed the league's mark for free throws made in a career (591) and is among career leaders in percentage (over 86%).

"To be honest, when I started playing college basketball, I didn't really think about what record I would set or what goal I was making," Savannah said. "I just wanted to get better and continue to grow as a player and person. I've been fortunate to be surrounded by a lot of great coaches and great teammates throughout my journey."

A fifth-year player, Wheeler has been one of the smallest wherever she's played. But thanks to her competitiveness and tenacity, she has always been one of the best on the floor as well.

She played on the high school varsity squad and was the first player off the bench when she was a seventh grader (and Taylor was a senior) at Catlettsburg, Kentucky's Boyd County High School. She was Kentucky's Miss Basketball as a senior in 2019 and finished her prep career with more than 3,600 points.

She committed to Marshall, a school just 20 minutes from her hometown, when she was a freshman in high school. She scored 1,294 points in three seasons with the Herd and led CUSA in scoring in 2021-22 at 20.3.

But she wanted something more than just being the best player on the floor. She hit the transfer portal following her junior season.

"(MTSU) was No. 1 on her list," said Savannah's mother, Tracy Wheeler. "When she went into the portal, it was 11:30. She didn't even make it back to her car and (MTSU assistant coach Kim Brewton) had emailed or texted her."

"It was nothing against Marshall. ... I just wanted something better from a team standpoint," said Savannah Wheeler, who leads MTSU at 16.3 points and 4.7 assists per game.

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The move has worked out as well as Wheeler and MTSU could have imagined. She should finish her career with more than 1,000 points with the Lady Raiders in two seasons. She helped lead MTSU to the NCAA Women's Tournament last season and expectations are for the Lady Raiders (17-4) to return again this season.

"She's becoming a professional right now," said MTSU coach Rick Insell, hinting on a future that could include pro basketball. "She's running our basketball team. What a superb athlete and superb young lady she is. I'm not surprised, because she's a competitor."

"It's been surreal," said David Wheeler, who played baseball with the Cincinnati Reds organization. "It really has been a great match. She came in and fit right in. Sometimes that doesn't work out."

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Savannah still likes ice cream. But she likes winning even more. Reaching the field of 68 and making noise in the NCAA Tournament would be the ideal topper for her CUSA legacy.

"I just want to focus on the moment right now," she said. "When I focus on right now, everything else will take care of itself. My goal is to continue to get better, grow as a player and as a team and make it to the NCAA Tournament and see where it goes from there."

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: MTSU's Savannah Wheeler leaving lasting legacy in Conference USA