Marshall University Athletics
MU Women Head North for Battle in Buffalo
1/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
MU Women Head North for Battle in Buffalo
1/21/2005
Junior Reshundra Smiley scored a game- and career-high 19 points in Marshall's win versus Ohio on Tuesday. Photo by Matt Riley |
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- The Mid-American Conference?s hottest team travels to western New York to take on the Buffalo Bulls as the Marshall Thundering Herd prepares to play its third consecutive Saturday game on the road. Saturday?s tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. at Alumni Arena.
Marshall (8-7, 2-2 MAC) has won a current league-high three straight games, including two MAC contests, to even its conference record while moving above the .500 mark on the year. The Herd?s three straight wins come on the heels of a season-high three consecutive losses. In its last game, Marshall used late second-half fireworks to defeat visiting Ohio, 88-87, to notch its third straight win over the Bobcats.
Crystal Champion (Washington, D.C.) continues her double-double assault, averaging 10.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. The sophomore has reached double-digits in rebounds in each of the past four games, including a MAC season-high 18 caroms on Jan. 8 at Kent State. Junior Sikeetha Shepard-Hall (Houston, Texas) paces the Herd in points with 13.4 per game while classmate Reshundra Smiley (Modesto, Calif.) continues her stellar play as of late. The speedy guard averaged 12.6 points per game over the Herd?s last five outings.
Buffalo (3-12, 1-3 MAC), losers of two straight, suffered a disappointing road loss at Akron on Wednesday, 71-63. The loss gave the Zips their first win of the 2004-05 campaign and dropped Buffalo?s road record to 0-8. The Bulls began MAC play with an 80-61 win over league power Miami (Ohio), as the RedHawks played without leading scorer Amanda Jackson.
UB shoots 31.5 percent from 3-point range (3rd in MAC), led by junior Brooke Meunier?s 41.2 percent clip from downtown. Meunier leads the Bulls in scoring (11.1 ppg) and assists (3.1/game). She is joined by freshman Stephanie Bennett and sophomore Belinda Gibb as the UB players with 40-plus assists. Heather Turner pulls down 7.0 rebounds per game.
Saturday?s game will be broadcast on Marshall?s student station, WMUL 88.1-FM, which will also utilize a web broadcast at www.marshall.edu/wmul.
