Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Virginia
Marshall Falls To Virginia, 78-56
12/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2007
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Virginia outscored Marshall 43-27 in the second half on their way to a 78-56 win over the Thundering Herd in the championship game of the Marriott Cavalier Classic on Saturday night.
With the loss, Marshall drops to 8-5 while the Cavaliers improve to 9-4. The loss also snaps a five-game winning streak for Marshall.
Monica Wright led the Cavaliers with 22 points, 16 coming in the second half. At one point, Wright scored 12 straight for Virginia.
Marshall opened the game taking a 6-2 lead three minutes in. The lead would later go to 12-9 when Casey Baker connected on a bucket. Virginia would get things going at that point, going on a 15-2 run to take a 24-14 lead with 8:39 remaining in the half.
A late run would be made by the Herd as it would close to within six points, 35-29, at the half. Kizzy Hart scored 12 in the opening stanza, six coming in the final three minutes. The Cavaliers were led in the half by Lyndra Littles, who registered 14 points.
After Alyssa Hammond's bucket cut the lead to four to open the second half, the Cavaliers went on an 8-0 run to take a 43-31 lead just over two minutes into the half. Just a minute later, a three by Sharnee Zoll gave UVA a 46-33 lead, its largest of the game.
Following a basket by Chantelle Handy, Virginia went on another run, this time scoring 12 of the next 16 to open up 53-37 lead. Wright would take over at that point, leading the Cavaliers on another scoring stretch to open up a 78-48 lead with just under six minutes remaining in the game. The Herd would finish the game on an 8-0, keeping the Cavaliers scoreless over the final stretch.
Leading Marshall was Kizzy Hart, who tied her career high of 24 points. She also had six rebounds. Casey Baker was the only other Marshall player in double figures with ten. Both were named to the All-Tournament team.
Virginia was led by Wright's 22 points. For her efforts, she was named tournament MVP. Lyndra Littles had 16 points for UVA, 14 coming in the first half.
The Cavaliers finished the game with a 42-31 rebounding advantage and also held the advantage in shooting, registering a 47.5% from the field. Marshall shot 35.6%.
Next Saturday, the Herd will open up the Conference USA portion of its schedule, playing host to the defending C-USA champion East Carolina Pirates. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. and will be the second game in a doubleheader with the men's team, who will face Winthrop at 2 p.m.
