Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Ohio
Herd Women Fall Short at Ohio, 74-71
12/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 16, 2006
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ATHENS, Ohio - Rachel Frederick's career-high 33 points lifted the Ohio women's basketball team past Marshall, 74-71, on Saturday at the Convocation Center.
Frederick hit a career-best 11 field goals on the best shooting night (11-for-12) of her young career. The 2005-06 Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year was 7-for-7 from 3-point range to go along with a team-high seven rebounds.
Marshall (6-4) trailed for the entire second half but pulled to within three points with the ball in its hands on the game's final possession. Senior KaShawna Curry (Huntington, W.Va.) found guard Meg Withrow (Nitro, W.Va.) behind the arc where she heaved the potential game-tying 3-pointer as time expired. The shot was right on line, but it fell short of the rim as Withrow had a defender in her face.
A Modupe Ishola (Washington, D.C.) offensive rebound and putback closed Marshall's deficit to one point, 72-71, with 35 seconds remaining. Two Lauren Kohn free throws put Ohio back up three points with Marshall's last possession looming.
Ishola led the Herd in scoring with 14 points and nine rebounds. Meagan Samis (Oklahoma City, Okla.) made her Marshall debut and scored 12 points, as did former UNC Wilmington teammate Withrow. The duo teamed together for the Seahawks before transferring to Marshall.
The second half began with a flurry as the team's put up a combined 23 points in the first four minutes. Quintana Ward's second behind the back pass on consecutive Ohio (6-3) fast break field goals prompted a Royce Chadwick timeout as the Bobcats opened up a 12-point lead, 48-36. The Herd, however, responded with a 15-3 run, fueled by three 'and one' opportunities - one each by Ishola, Melody Hudson (Hueytown, Ala.) and Withrow.
The Herd climbed back to a within one point, 51-50, but Ohio battled back with another run of its own. The Bobcats scored 11 unanswered points to take a double-digit lead that it would hold for much of the second half. It wasn't until under three minutes left in the game that Marshall closed its deficit for a chance to tie at the end of the game.
Ohio took its first lead, 17-15, at 8:43 on Frederick's third straight field goal. Kendra King (Fairfax, Va.) quickly answered with a traditional three-point play when Domenica Silva bit on King's pump fake to commit the foul. The sophomore's free throw gave the Herd a one-point edge, a lead it would hold for the next four minutes until a Frederick 3-pointer gave Ohio a 24-21 lead.
Ohio's Jennifer Bushby hit a pair of field goals, including a 3-pointer to put the Bobcats up seven points, to close out the half. The teams would trade another pair of baskets with under 30 seconds remaining in the stanza as Ohio entered intermission up 34-27.
Frederick, averaging 14.5 points per game, registered a perfect shooting performance in the first half to lead the Bobcats to a 51.7 percent shooting mark in the frame. The sophomore went 6-for-6 from the floor including 2-for-2 from beyond the arc for 14 first-half points and seven rebounds.
Withrow led all Herd first-half scorers with seven points.
Samis nailed her first Marshall field goal at the 12:01 mark of the first half on a stop-and-pop jumper from the left wing.
MU freshman Alyssa Hammond (Oak Hill, Ohio), playing her first collegiate game in her native state of Ohio, netted 11 points.
Ohio became the first team to register at least a 50 percent shooting mark in a game against Marshall (28-for-56, 50 percent).
Marshall will play host to Wright State in its next contest on Tuesday at the Cam Henderson Center.
