Marshall University Athletics
Herd To Host Fifth Third MU Classic Friday And Saturday
11/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 29, 2007
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - For the sixth-consecutive season, the Marshall University women's basketball team will host the Fifth Third MU Classic. The 2007 version will feature the most competitive field in its history with opponents Jackson State, Harvard and Pittsburgh participating.
The action starts on Friday at 11 a.m. when Marshall and Jackson State will square off in the opener. Pitt and Harvard are scheduled to tip off at 1 p.m. or approximately 30 minutes following game one.
On Saturday, Jackson State will once again open up the action at 11 a.m. against either Pitt or Harvard, while the other school will take on Marshall in the final game of the tournament.
Marshall enters the weekend riding a two-game win streak. After an 0-3 start, the Herd has won its previous two contests, most recently topping Niagara in dominating fashion, 79-66. Casey Baker leads the Herd, averaging 13.4 points per game. She has scored 18 points in the previous two games, her career-high.
Sophomore Alyssa Hammond has also started off strong. She finds herself second on the team, averaging 11 points while her 58.8% shooting is third in Conference USA. In last week's overtime win at Morehead State, she scored half of the team's points in overtime. She also had a solid outing against Niagara, tallying 14 points.
Meagan Samis has led the Herd on the glass, averaging 5.6 rebounds. She grabbed eight boards on two occasions this season, most recently against Radford. Hammond is notching an average of five boards, second behind Samis.
The Herd has posted a 10-0 record in the previous five years of the Fifth Third MU Classic, but head coach Royce Chadwick is advising his team not to look ahead, but to prepare one game at a time. "The number one thing you have to know going into this is that the first game is very important," Chadwick said. "This is a great lesson for us because in the C-USA tournament, if you don't win the first round, there is no second round, so we just have to focus on the business at hand."
The Herd's first opponent in the Fifth Third MU Classic will be Jackson State. The Tigers come to Huntington with a 2-3 record. Most recently, JSU topped Georgia State, 68-60, on Tuesday night. LaSharee Christian has led the team in scoring in each of its five games. Her season-high of 23 came in a 67-47 win over McNeese State.
Jackson State won the regular season Southwestern Athletic Conference crown last year, but were downed in the tournament finals by Prairie View A&M. The Tigers were given an invitation to the Postseason WNIT, where they fell to Tulane in the first round.
Coach Chadwick commented on the Herd's match-up with the Tigers. "They are very guard-oriented," Chadwick commented. "They do a lot of things with their perimeter players, they press and try to create some offense with their defense."
"They have marquis players that they can put the ball in their hands and score 1-on-5, so there are a lot of similarities between the two teams."
Pittsburgh and Harvard round out the field and will face off at 1 p.m. on Friday. Pitt enters play with a 3-2 record and are coming off of a 90-77 loss on the road at #3 Maryland.
Leading the Panthers is center Marcedes Walker, whose 7.4 boards is a team-best. She is also second on the team in scoring with 12.6 points per game.
Harvard also has a 3-2 record. Last weekend, the Crimson played at the Dead River Company Classic, topping Maine and Hofstra to take the tournament championship. They are led by guard Lindsay Hallion, who was named Co-Ivy League Player of the Week on Monday. She is one of four Crimson scorers averaging double-digits with 13.8 points.
Harvard and Pittsburgh were each members of the 2007 NCAA Tournament. Harvard fell in its opener to defending champion Maryland while the Panthers fell to 2007 champion Tennessee in the second round.
Should Marshall win on Friday, it will face the winner of the Pitt/Harvard game while a win by Jackson State will pit them against the winner of Friday's second game.
This will mark the sixth version of the Fifth Third MU Classic. Marshall is a perfect 10-0 in the tournament.
Tickets are still available for both days. Tickets each day are $5 for adults and $3 for children. Admission is good for both games on that day. For parking on Friday, the west lot at the football stadium will be open.
Prior to the opener against Jackson State, the Herd will be hosting the second-annual "When I Grow Up" career fair. Over 1,600 7th graders from the Tri-State area will be in attendance. That event will take place at 9 a.m. on the Cam Henderson Center concourse.
All four Fifth Third MU Classic games can be heard live on Marshall's student station, WMUL 88.1-FM, which will also utilize a web broadcast at www.marshall.edu/wmul.
Both Marshall games will also be broadcast on AM 930 WRVC with Woody Woodrum calling the game. Live streaming will also be available on Herd All Access.
