Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
SMU
SMU Downs Marshall Women, 65-48
2/11/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 11, 2007
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DALLAS - SMU converted 26 points off 25 Marshall turnovers en route to a 65-48 win over the Thundering Herd women's basketball team on Sunday at Moody Coliseum.
Marshall (14-11 overall, 7-5 Conference USA) never led and was marred by its neglect of the basketball. The Herd's 32.8 percent shooting in the game ushered in MU's season-worst third straight loss.
SMU (14-10, 6-6) shot 50 percent in the second half to break open a tightly-contested game after tip-off. For the game, the Mustangs shot 42.9 percent and committed 17 turnovers.
SMU forward Janielle Dodds scored a team-high 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Freshman forward Delisha Wills netted 11 points with two assists, two blocks and a steal.
Marshall trailed by only seven points at halftime, but SMU exploded out of the gates in the second half. The Mustangs opened up a 13-point lead six-and-a-half minutes into the second frame and as much as an 18-point edge later in the stanza.
The Herd got to within six points, 43-37, at the 9:24 mark, but that's as close as MU would get in its first regular-season visit to the SMU campus.
The game marked the second straight contest that Marshall out-rebounded its opponent but failed to win. The Herd posted a 42-38 advantage on the glass, fueled by 12 rebounds by center Modupe Ishola (Washington, D.C.). She added a game-high 18 points for her 13th double-double of the season.
Point guard Meg Withrow (Nitro, W.Va.) scored 10 points in 35 minutes and hit one of Marshall's two 3-pointers on the afternoon. The Herd went 2-for-16 from beyond the arc (12.5 percent).
For the second consecutive game the Herd fell behind early by 10 points, trailing 12-2 at the 15:16 mark. Withrow's three-point play moments later stalled the Mustang run, but the Herd offense could not find its rhythm. Marshall began the game shooting 23.8 percent from the floor (5-for-21).
MU's offensive woes subsided with just under six minutes remaining in the half. Ishola hit both of her first-half field goals to key a 4-for-6 Marshall effort from the floor down the stretch to end the frame.
Withrow hit a long 3-pointer at 1:58 to pull the Herd to within three points, 25-22, but SMU scored four points in the final 1:40 to enter halftime up 29-22. The Mustangs' final bucket came after an errant Kendra King (Fairfax, Va.) inbounds pass traveled out of bounds with 1.7 seconds remaining. SMU inbounded the ball under its own rim and Brittany Gilliam sank a tipped shot from Dodds as the buzzer sounded.
The Herd's 48 points is its lowest total since suffering a 58-40 setback at Tulane on Feb. 17, 2006.
Marshall will return to the Cam Henderson Center for its final two home games of the season when it plays host to first-place Tulane on Feb. 15 and UTEP on Feb. 17.
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