Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Women Lose MAC Opener to Northern Illinois
1/2/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Marshall Women Lose MAC Opener to Northern Illinois
1/2/2002
Huntington, W. Va.--The Northern Illinois Huskies (6-6, 1-0 MAC) defeated the Marshall Thundering Herd (4-7, 0-1 MAC), 79-55, to open Mid-American Conference play Wednesday night at the Henderson Center. NIU shot a season-high 61.1% (33-54) from the floor in a game they never trailed.
?We didn?t play very well,? said Marshall head coach Royce Chadwick after the Herd?s fourth straight loss. ?We opened the game in a press, and they got some easy buckets because only three out of our five players on the floor played with intensity. We have to develop a sense of urgency in the way we play. We?ve got to get some shots and hit them. When we miss a layup, or we play bad defense on one trip down the floor, our confidence wanes, and our opponent capitalizes.?
NIU capitalized on this lack of confidence, and capitalized early. The Huskies opened the game on a 10-0 run, with many of those points coming on fast-break layups after breaking Marshall?s full-court press. The Herd cut NIU?s lead to two, 16-14, at the 12:05 mark in the first half on a made free throw by Cassie Hackworth (Piketon, Ohio). However, an 8-0 run by the Huskies ended any hopes the Herd had at a comeback, and by the half, NIU had opened up a 17-point lead, 40-23.
The misery continued for the Herd in the second half, when Marshall saw Northern?s lead balloon to as many as 26.
?We tried a lot of things tonight, and I can say that not one of them we did very well,? said Chadwick.
NIU was led by Jessica Shattuck, who notched her first double-double of the year with 20 points and ten boards. Kristan Knake added 16 in the winning effort.
Marshall?s top performer on the night was Amy Reed (Schuykill Haven, Pa.), who scored 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Ida Dotson (Tombstone, Ariz.) was the only other scorer in double-figures with ten.
The MAC road continues for the Herd, with a trip to Ball State on the horizon this weekend. That game tips off at 3:30 local time in Muncie, Indiana.
