Marshall University Athletics
Comeback Falls Short, Herd Women Fall to BGSU
2/25/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Comeback Falls Short, Herd Women Fall to BGSU
2/25/2004
- Box Score
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. ? Marshall nearly came all the way back from a 22-point second-half deficit, but fell short and dropped a 77-67 decision to Bowling Green in a Mid-American Conference women?s basketball game on Wednesday at the Cam Henderson Center.
The MAC?s third leading scorer, BGSU senior Stefanie Wenzel, scored 21 points (7-of-13) on Marshall, including a 5-of-7 effort from 3-point range. For the game, the Falcons (16-9, 9-5 MAC) made 10-of-21 (47.6 percent) 3-point field goals.
Marshall (14-11, 6-8 MAC) found itself down by 22 points, 60-38, at 10:55 of the second half before going on a 27-9 run to close to within four points with 2:31 remaining. Sikeetha Shepard-Hall (Houston, Texas) sparked the furious Herd charge, scoring 11 of her 18 points in the game?s final 10 minutes. Teyonka Hodge (Washington, D.C.) recorded all three of her steals in that span.
The comeback stalled out with BGSU leading 69-65 as Marshall could only muster two points in the game?s final two and a half minutes. Wenzel nailed her final 3-pointer with 1:36 remaining to close the door on the Herd and end a two-game losing streak to Marshall and a two-game slide overall.
?We played real well in the last 10 minutes, but very poorly in the first 30 minutes,? Marshall head coach Royce Chadwick said. ?Our transition D was awful, and that was the difference in some of the wide open looks that they (Bowling Green) got.?
Bowling Green took a 37-25 lead into the halftime break. The Falcon defense held Marshall to only six points in the half?s last five minutes.
?We can?t come out and play like we did in the first 30 minutes,? Shepard-Hall said. ?It?s real frustrating, but it teaches us a lot.?
Bowling Green head coach Curt Miller was thrilled with the win, which helps maneuver the Falcons closer to a first-round bye in the MAC Tournament. ?I?m ecstatic with this win,? he said. ?This was a big gut-check for us. We got a little tentative and didn?t make some plays down the stretch, but wow, what a win for our team.?
The Falcons? Ali Mann, a freshman forward, scored 20 points while Lindsay Austin and Kelly Kapferer added 10 apiece. Austin posted a game-high seven assists.
Marshall?s Catie Knable (Floyd Knobs, Ind.) scored 12 points and fell one rebound shy of her tenth double-double of the season. Mary Pat Statler (New Cumberland, W.Va.) went 7-of-14 (3-of-6 from beyond the arc) for 17 points. Hodge finished with seven points.
Marshall, coming off a win over Northern Illinois on Sunday, has not won back-to-back games since Jan. 10 and is 1-4 in its last five home games.
MU will face the Ohio Bobcats in a pivotal late-season tilt on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Henderson Center. Ohio (12-13, 6-8 MAC) defeated the MAC West Division's top team, Eastern Michigan, on Wednesday and is now tied with the Herd as the two squads battle for a first round home game in the upcoming MAC Tournament.
MU bounced the Bobcats by 23 points on Jan. 7 in Athens, Ohio.
