Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Ohio Valley (exh.)
Herd Frontcourt Overpowers Ohio Valley for 98-55 Win
11/7/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 7, 2006
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Marshall women's basketball team closed out its exhibition season with a 98-55 rout of Ohio Valley behind a game-high 27 points from senior Modupe Ishola (Washington, D.C.) at the Cam Henderson Center on Tuesday.
In only 19 minutes of play, Ishola went 13-of-18 from the floor with seven rebounds and three blocks. With no six-footers on its roster, Ohio Valley had trouble containing the 6-foot-2 Herd center as she was able to pile up the career-high point total, although 22 points is her career-best during a regular-season game.
"Our post play was really good," Marshall head coach Royce Chadwick said. "Modupe and our entire first team front line presented big matchup problems, so we were able to put in our second team front line to get them some minutes."
Marshall out-scored Ohio Valley 62-12 in the paint and registered a 37-8 advantage in second chance points due to a 57-26 rebounding differential. Backup center Kari James (Gallipolis, Ohio) scored five points with six rebounds in 13 minutes.
"There was a lot of team unity today," Ishola said. "No matter who was out there, there was a lot of coming together by everybody."
Unlike Thursday's exhibition opener, the Herd jumped out of the gates early and put the pressure on the Fighting Scots. Marshall never trailed and led by double-digits less than five minutes into the contest on an Ishola jumper in the lane to go up 16-5. The Herd made 56.8 percent of its shots in the first half to OVU's 31.0 percent.
Herd sophomore forward Kendra King (Fairfax, Va.) continued her impressive preseason with 15 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Point guard Meg Withrow (Nitro, W.Va.) again led the team with five assists while scoring all five of her points from the free-throw line (5-of-6).
OVU coach Shane Brown was ejected at the 11:38 mark of the second half after being dealt a pair of technical fouls for leaving the coaching box. Fighting Scot junior Rachel Deaton went 9-for-9 from the field for a team-high 21 points with five rebounds, two assists and a steal.
MU freshman forward Alyssa Hammond (Oak Hill, Ohio) netted 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Guard Melody Hudson (Hueytown, Ala.) was Marshall's other double-digit scorer with 10 points and six rebounds in 24 minutes.
Marshall will open its regular season on Sunday, Nov. 12, at Navy. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
