Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Rice*
Marshall Women Knock Off Rice, 75-64
1/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 13, 2006
Marshall-Rice Game Book
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HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Marshall erased a 16-point first-half deficit to move to 4-0 in conference play for the first time since 1988-89 with a 75-64 win over Conference USA preseason favorite Rice in women's basketball action Friday at the Cam Henderson Center.
Rice, a fellow C-USA newcomer, came out of the gates on fire, shooting over 71 percent from the floor through the game's first nine minutes. The Owls (6-8, 2-1 C-USA) erupted for a 24-8 lead with 11:23 left in the first half that was fueled by a quick transition game and pinpoint passing. Krystal Frazier scored seven points along with six from Lauren Neaves to give the Owls, a 2005 NCAA Tournament team, a 16-point edge.
The lead would melt away, however, as Marshall (9-5, 4-0 C-USA) staged a 24-6 run to end the frame. Thundering Herd senior Sikeetha Shepard-Hall (Houston, Texas) scored eight points in the run, along with six from fellow senior Mary Pat Statler (New Cumberland, W.Va.), and five from center Modupe Ishola (Washington, D.C.).
Ishola cleaned up the offensive glass on a Shepard-Hall miss to score the put back with time expiring in the half. Marshall entered intermission up 32-30, giving the Herd a large momentum boost.
The Rice shooters cooled off in the half's final 11 minutes, finishing at 41.4 percent in the opening stanza. Marshall, 0-for-4 from beyond the arc in the half, made 34.5 percent of its attempts.
Ishola got things started in the second half with a layup to push MU's lead to four, 34-30. The bucket was quickly answered by a Frazier 3-pointer, giving a preview of the pace to come in the final period. The Rice junior guard netted the Owls' first eight points of the second half, including back-to-back wide-open treys on the left wing.
The lead changed hand six times in the second half along with the six ties.
Neaves, the C-USA Preseason Player of the Year, became the first Owl other than Frazier to score with her layup at 14:49 to knot the score at 40-40. The teams would trade hoops for the next five-plus minutes until Rice went on a 7-3 run to grab a four-point lead, 55-51, with 7:33 left.
Marshall climbed to within two on a Shepard-Hall drive to the basket seconds later, a field goal that would relegate her to the bench the rest of the game. The guard battled cramps all game and would not return for the game's final 7:15 after her final two points of the game. She finished with a team-high 18 points to move into third place on the MU all-time scoring list with 1,361 points.
Guard Bridget Chacon (Las Cruces, N.M.) sank a jumper with 6:03 remaining to give Marshall a lead, 57-56, that it would not relinquish. The field goal sparked a 14-0 run, keyed by a pair of 3-pointers by Statler and senior Reshundra Smiley (Modesto, Calif.), to seal Marshall's fourth straight win.
"We were fortunate to win this game tonight," Marshall head coach Royce Chadwick said. "Both teams played exceptionally hard. It is great to get a win against a very, very good Rice team.
"In the second half the crowd was the difference. We have a great sixth man here and they helped us win the game tonight."
Marshall's set season highs in free throws (29) and free throw attempts (36), including a 10-for-10 night at the line by Shepard-Hall.
Junior forward Crystal Champion (Washington, D.C.) was one of several Herd players to pick up the slack in Shepard-Hall's absence. She pulled down several key rebounds down the stretch, finishing with a game-high 13 boards, 12 points and four steals.
Marshall out-rebounded the Owls, 50-29. Rice threw up 22 3-point attempts, but hit only five from long range (22.7 percent).
"We've grown up as a team," Statler, who contributed three assists, said. "No one thought it was the end of the world when we were down (in the first half). Each basket boosted our confidence, and our defense stepped up. We started to mature as a team and realize you don't have to get the 100-point basket."
Statler scored a season-high 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Ishola rang up 12 points before fouling out with eight rebounds and a block. Fellow center Michele Hagan (Houston, Texas) grabbed seven rebounds with four points.
Frazier went 8-of-14 from the field, including 4-of-9 from downtown, for a game-high 21 points. Neaves scored 20 points with a team-high nine rebounds and four blocks.
"Our players were really hyped for this game - maybe too much," Chadwick said. "We couldn't score early on, so we just needed to settle in."
The Herd, alone atop the C-USA standings and one of two league teams without a conference loss (Houston), will not play until next Friday when it faces UCF. Tip-off from Orlando, Fla., is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
