Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
UTEP*
Marshall Falls at UTEP, 77-63
2/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 19, 2006
Marshall at UTEP Game Book
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EL PASO, Texas - UTEP grabbed 19 offensive rebounds en route to a 48-35 advantage on the glass to fight past Marshall, 77-63, in Conference USA women's basketball action at the Don Haskins Center on Sunday.
The loss dropped Marshall to 8-6 in C-USA play, 13-12 overall, and in jeopardy of losing a first-round bye in the league tournament. The Thundering Herd dropped its second straight after falling to Tulane on Friday in New Orleans. UTEP moves to 14-12, 6-8 in league play.
Marshall trailed by 12 at halftime, 40-28, but played with high intensity and emotion in the second half to get back into the game. Senior Sikeetha Shepard-Hall took the Herd on her shoulders in the second frame. She scored Marshall's first nine points and 17 total in the second half on the way to 28 points. She converted two traditional three-point plays within the half's first five minutes. The second sparked the Herd bench and the exuberant Shepard-Hall, who erupted toward the small contingent of Herd fans in attendance.
Missed free throws, a lack of physicality on the glass and untimely fouls ultimately doomed the Herd. UTEP committed five early fouls in the second half to Marshall's one, but the Herd was whistled for seven straight fouls within a three-and-half minute span, quickly putting UTEP in the bonus.
Marshall clawed to within seven points of UTEP several times in the second half, but could get no closer.
UTEP went 24-of-36 from the free-throw line and shot 39.7 percent from the floor. The Herd went 13-of-21 from the line and shot 38.3 percent from the field.
Kasia Krezel led UTEP with 26 points on 7-of-16 shooting. Three other Miners reached double-digits, including Erica Yancey (13), Whitney Thornton (11) and Ingrid Goslin (11). Yancey added a game-high 13 rebounds.
Herd center Modupe Ishola registered her seventh straight game in double-digits with 11 points. She added five rebounds and three blocks while Reshundra Smiley scored 11. Bridget Chacon, an El Paso native who grew up in nearby Las Cruces, N.M., dished out six assists.
With UTEP up 10, 57-47, Ana Valtierra hit a 3-pointer while getting fouled by KaShawna Curry. She missed the free throw, but it marked the third 3-point attempt of the night that a Miner was fouled.
Curry was whistled for her fifth foul at the 4:33 mark, a block, which prompted jawing between her and Krezel. Double technicals were called on the play. MU's Michele Hagan and Smiley along with UTEP's Izabela Piekarska were also disqualified with five fouls.
Marshall controlled the tempo of the game's early stages, as Smiley hit a pair of 3-pointers and Ishola looked comfortable in the low post with four early points. The Herd held a seven-point lead, 20-13 at 12:41, before going cold from the floor. Marshall went scoreless for the next four-plus minutes to give the momentum to UTEP.
A Valtierra 3-pointer gave UTEP a 26-22 lead with just under six minutes left in the first half. Krezel made two straight plays to put UTEP up 10 points, 37-27, with 2:20 remaining. She first hit an improbable bank shot 3-pointer from the corner, then stole the ball in the Marshall end and dribbled unmolested for a layup.
The Miners ended the half on a 27-8 run, capped off by a Goslin jumper off an inbounds pass with one second remaining.
Senior night at UTEP marked the third and 12th career starts, respectively, for seniors Yancey and Goslin. Yancey hit career-highs with her 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Marshall will return to Huntington for its final two games of the regular season next weekend. The Herd will take on UCF on Friday in the first of a two-game home stand in advance of the C-USA Tournament.
