Marshall University Athletics
MU Women Focused on Falcons, Host BGSU on Wednesday
2/24/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
MU Women Focused on Falcons, Host BGSU on Wednesday
2/24/2004
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. ? The Marshall women?s basketball team will play host to the Falcons of Bowling Green State University on Wednesday at 7 p.m. as the Thundering Herd continues to position themselves for a first round home game in the upcoming Mid-American Conference Tournament.
Marshall (14-10, 6-7 MAC) currently holds the eighth seed in the MAC, the final slot for a team to host an opponent in the league tournament?s first round, which will take place on March 6. Bowling Green (15-9, 8-5 MAC) is one of five teams to have at least clinched a home date in the tournament.
Marshall has won the last two meetings with Bowling Green, but the Falcons lead the all-time series, 8-3. Since becoming conference counterparts in 1997, BGSU leads 5-3, with its average margin of victory over MU in that span being 15.2 points. The Thundering Herd?s three MAC wins over the Falcons have yielded a 14 point average margin of victory.
Wednesday?s game pits the best and worst free throw shooting teams in the MAC. BGSU paces the league with a 74.9 percent success rate from the line, while Marshall brings up the rear with a 62.9 percent mark at the charity stripe. The Herd, however, has made 23-of-29 free throw attempts over the last two games for a sultry 79.3 percent.
BGSU head coach Curt Miller, like Marshall?s Royce Chadwick, is in his third year at the northern Ohio-based institution. Miller has four players ? a pair of seniors and freshmen ? who average over 10 points per game, including Stefanie Wenzel?s 14.9 points per game (3rd in MAC). The Falcons, losers of two straight, will play the first of two consecutive road games before ending the season at home versus Toledo on March 2.
MU?s Sikeetha Shepard-Hall (Houston, Texas) scores 10.4 points per game after scorching Northern Illinois for 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting on Sunday. The sophomore guard has scored 12.4 per game in the Herd?s last five contests. Senior Catie Knable (Floyd Knobs, Ind.) is third in the MAC with 9.5 rebounds per game.
Marshall is in game two of its season-ending, four-game homestand after upending the Huskies on Sunday. The Herd will round out the regular season with a Saturday afternoon tilt with Ohio and a date with Akron on March 2.
The BGSU game will be broadcast live on 88.1 WMUL-FM.
