Marshall University Athletics
Division Leaders Collide When Toledo Visits Herd Women Saturday
1/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Division Leaders Collide When Toledo Visits Herd Women Saturday
1/28/2005
Marshall is on a season-high five-game win streak entering Saturday's bout with Toledo. Photo by Matt Riley |
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- First place in the Mid-American Conference, interdivisional bragging rights and coaching milestones will be up for grabs on Saturday when the Toledo Rockets visit the Cam Henderson Center for a matchup with the streaking Marshall Thundering Herd. Tip-off is at 2 p.m.
Marshall (10-7, 4-2 MAC) has flexed its muscles as of late with a season-high five-game win streak, which includes a school-record four straight MAC victories. The East Division-leading Thundering Herd will face the West Division leaders in Toledo (9-9, 5-2 MAC). A Marshall win would vault the Herd into a first place tie with Bowling Green and Ball State, while a Toledo victory sends the Rockets to the top of the league standings, with BGSU and BSU being idle on Saturday.
Head coach Royce Chadwick, in his fourth season at Marshall, can grab career collegiate win No. 450 in his 21st season of coaching duty. Chadwick currently ranks in the top-55 in all-time Division I winning percentage (.652) with a record of 262-140. Prior to Marshall, Chadwick had stops at Panhandle State, Sam Houston State, Howard JuCo and Stephen F. Austin. Mark Ehlen is gunning for Toledo win No. 200 in his 10th season with the Rockets. Ehlen would join Kent State?s Bob Lindsay as the only two coaches in conference history to win 200 or more games at a MAC school.
Marshall?s Sikeetha Shepard-Hall (Houston, Texas) puts up a team-high 13.6 points per game (12th in MAC), shooting a stout 45.0 percent from the floor (11th in MAC). The junior?s hot field goal percentage, though, is trumped by her teammate Crystal Champion (Washington, D.C.) who leads the league with a 57.6 shooting clip. Champion, a sophomore, is also leading the MAC in rebounding (8.6/game) and is 19th in the conference with 10.8 points per game.
Toledo features the 8th and 9th highest scorers in the MAC, as Karin Hoogendam and Danielle Bishop each tally 14.2 points per contest. Hoogendam, along with Shepard-Hall, are nearing career point No. 1,000. The UT senior sits at 975 career points (5th among active players) while Shepard-Hall has 947 points (4th) in her illustrious career.
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.
