Marshall University Athletics
National Champions on Tap for Marshall Women
11/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 26, 2005
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RIVIERA MAYA, Mexico - Marshall will face the biggest challenge in the history of its women's basketball program when the Thundering Herd squares off with the defending NCAA champions in fifth-ranked Baylor on Sunday in the final game of the 2005 Caribbean Classic. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:40 PM EST.
The Herd, coming off of a disappointing nine-point loss to Cal on Thanksgiving Day, will have to contend with National Player of the Year candidate Sophia Young. The 6-foot-1 senior forward, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2005 Final Four, has over 1,800 points and 1,000 rebounds in her career. She scored 12 points with 15 rebounds in the Lady Bears' 75-58 win over Cal on Saturday to move BU to 5-0.
Marshall (2-1) will look to get another superb performance by reigning Conference USA Player of the Week Modupe Ishola (Washington, D.C). The center owns a team-leading 16.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. She is shooting an incredible 76.9 percent from the floor coming off a 7-of-8 effort versus Cal. Forward Crystal Champion may get the defensive assignment on Young in what looks to be a fantastic battle on the glass. Champion, last season's leading rebounder, grabbed a season-high eight boards against Cal.
Junior forward KaShawna Curry (Huntington, W.Va.) injured her ankle in the first half of Marshall's loss to Cal on Thursday and did not return. She will not play versus Baylor and is expected to miss 2-3 weeks. Mary Pat Statler, a guard, is expected to start in her place.
Senior Sikeetha Shepard-Hall (Houston, Texas) climbed to No. 7 on Marshall's all-time scoring list with her eight points in Thursday's loss to Cal. She now has 1,197 points and is only six points behind Kristi Huff (1988-92) for sixth place. She also moved to third place in the school's career 3-point field goals list with her two treys against the Golden Bears. Shepard-Hall is a mere 14 3-pointers away from tying MU's career mark of 136 by Natal Rosko (1994-98).
Baylor coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson, the reigning Big 12 Coach of the Year, is amazingly only in her sixth season as a head coach. She has compiled a 136-38 record at Baylor after leaving her alma mater, Louisiana Tech, after 15 years of service as an assistant coach. With last year's national title, the first basketball championship in men's or women's basketball for the Big 12, Mulkey-Robertson became the first person to win NCAA titles as a player, assistant coach and head coach. She is among the top-6 in Division I winning percentage among active coaches, behind the likes of Tennessee's Pat Summit and Connecticut's Geno Auriemma. Mulkey-Robertson, a 2000 inductee into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, is assisted by Bill Brock, Jennifer Roberts and Johnny Derrick.
Sunday's game will be the first time in school history that Marshall will play the defending national champions and its third game against a ranked team since 1999. In its last such game, the Herd fell to No. 17 Maryland 83-68 in the Terrapin Classic a year ago.
The Herd-Lady Bears 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.
