Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Women Prep for Elon at UM Terrapin Classic
12/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Marshall Women Prep for Elon at UM Terrapin Classic
12/28/2004
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Comcast Center serves as the setting for the Marshall women's basketball team's final regular season tournament/invitational of the 2004-05 season, as the University of Maryland hosts the Terrapin Classic on Wednesday and Thursday. The Thundering Herd will face Elon University in the first semifinal at 5 p.m.
Marshall (4-4) joins Elon, Massachusetts and the host Terrapins as the field of teams for the sixth annual Terrapin Classic. Maryland, ranked No. 17 in both the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and the Associated Press Poll, will play host to Massachusetts (6-3) at 7 p.m. The Terps (8-1) have posted a 9-1 record lifetime in the Classic, with their only loss coming in the championship game versus Rhode Island (70-64) in November of 2002.
The Thundering Herd and Phoenix will meet for only the third time in history, with the all-time series record tied at 1-1. Marshall won the last meeting on Dec. 18, 1998, also on a neutral floor in the first round of a tournament, at the Bearcat Classic in Cincinnati. Marshall upended Elon 62-56 before falling to the host UC Bearcats in the next day?s championship contest. The Phoenix got the best of the Herd in its first meeting, a 60-46 win on Jan. 12, 1974, in Elon, N.C.
Elon, in its second season in the Southern Conference, has stumbled out of the gates to the tune of a 1-7 record to commence the 2004-05 campaign. The Phoenix features nine first-year collegiate players. Four of Elon?s seven losses have already come in conference play (0-4), as the Phoenix dropped its last contest on Dec. 17 to defending SoCon champion UT-Chattanooga, 50-46, on its home floor. Elon lost a nine-point, second half lead to the Lady Mocs in a game that featured four ties and 13 lead changes.
A pair of freshmen lead the Phoenix scoring attack as redshirt freshman Kitara McMoore paces Elon with a 12.3 points per game average. McMoore, a 5-foot-11 forward, is also Elon?s leading rebounder, pulling down 7.8 boards per contest. True freshman guard Tierra Bumbrey is second with 6.1 ppg and averages a team best 2.8 assists per game. Senior Brianne Gray is hovering right around her career averages in points and rebounds, posting 5.3 points and 4.8 rebounds thus far in the season.
Junior guard Sikeetha Shepard-Hall (Houston, Texas) leads the Herd in scoring with 12.5 points per game. She averaged 14.5 points in Marshall's last two games, at the UCF Christmas Classic in Orlando, Fla., including a game-high 19 points in the Herd win over Colgate on Dec. 19.
MU averages 67.5 points per game and holds its opponents to 64.5 ppg. The Herd pulls down 42.1 rebounds per game - led by sophomore Modupe Ishola (Washington, D.C.) with a Mid-American Conference-high 9.0 boards per game - and holds a +5.4 rebound margin.
The Herd has never faced either of its potential consolation/championship game opponents in UMass or Maryland. The Terps, off to their best start since the 1996-97 season, are locked in for Thursday?s 7 p.m. game, regardless of the result versus the Minutewomen, and will await either Marshall or Elon.
WMUL 88.1-FM will broadcast both of the Thundering Herd?s games live from College Park. Vince Payne and Clark Davis will be courtside for all of the action, which can also be accessed on the internet at www.marshall.edu/wmul.
Terrapin Classic Schedule
Wednesday, Dec. 29
Marshall vs. Elon, 5 p.m.
Massachusetts at Maryland, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 30
Elon/Marshall vs. Massachusetts, 5 p.m.
Elon/Marshall at Maryland, 7 p.m.
