Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Tulsa*
Hot-Shooting Tulsa Runs Past Marshall Women, 81-56
1/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 27, 2006
Tulsa at Marshall Game Book
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HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Despite out-rebounding the No. 1 team on the glass in Conference USA, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane proved to be too much for Marshall as it grabbed a convincing 81-56 win on Friday at the Cam Henderson Center.
Tulsa (15-4, 6-2 C-USA) used three double-digit scorers and a 54.9 percent shooting clip from the floor to jump over the Thundering Herd (10-8, 5-2 C-USA) into the top spot in C-USA. Junior forward Jillian Robbins scored a game-high 25 points, aided by a 13-of-15 mark from the free-throw line. The nation's leading rebounder at 15.1 per game, Robbins grabbed only eight caroms on the night but added two blocks, three steals and an assist.
Marshall out-rebounded Tulsa, ninth in the NCAA with a +9.4 rebound margin, 34-29. The Herd grabbed 16 offensive rebounds to Tulsa's six, but MU hit only 30.9 percent of its shots. Tulsa's marksmanship from the field was the best of the season for a Marshall opponent.
Tulsa forward Megan Moody netted 20 points with a pair of blocks while point guard Kara Pongonis-Paslay registered 15 points with five assists.
Marshall, in the midst of grueling five games in 10 days stretch, could not find its legs after leading Tulsa for most of the game's first six-plus minutes. MU jumped out to a 6-0 lead on a pair of 3-pointers by seniors Reshundra Smiley and Sikeetha Shepard-Hall, but the Golden Hurricane quickly caught up.
Moody's four-point play at the 13:00 mark put TU up 18-16, giving the Golden Hurricane a lead it would not relinquish for the rest of the game. Moody's first trey of the game was coupled with a Mary Pat Statler foul, giving the senior the rare four-point conversion. Tulsa went on a 27-10 run to end the half and enter intermission up 45-26.
"All the credit goes to Tulsa," Marshall coach Royce Chadwick said. "They were on fire. It was even for 10 minutes, then they exploded and we couldn't respond.
"You have to fight through the tiredness and we couldn't."
Moody nailed three 3-pointers in the first half and finished the night 8-of-16 from the floor.
Shepard-Hall's lone 3-pointer of the game established a new school record for career treys at 137. She passed Natal Rosko (1994-98) for the No. 1 spot in Marshall annals.
Marshall attempted a more aggressive defensive scheme after halftime, but the Golden Hurricane did not falter. Tulsa sank 54.5 percent of its shots in the second half.
Smiley paced MU in points (14) and rebounds (6). Guard Bridget Chacon, starting in her fifth game of the season, dished out four assists with a steal.
"It (tiredness) was more mental than anything," Smiley said. "We got in a hole and couldn't get out."
Tulsa led by as many as 28 points in the second half.
The loss was only the Herd's second setback in the past 13 home games.
Marshall will have another short turnaround when it plays host to SMU (10-10, 5-3 C-USA) on Sunday at 1 p.m.
