Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
West Virginia
Women's Basketball Falls to Mountaineers, 58-51
1/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 23, 2008
CHARLESTON, W. Va. - The Marshall women's basketball team fell to No. 12-ranked instate rival West Virginia 58-51 Wednesday night in the Chesapeake Energy Capital Classic at the Charleston Coliseum.
In a game with nine lead changes and six ties the Thundering Herd refused to go away. Marshall guard Kizzy Hart brought the Herd back into striking distance multiple times, shooting 5-of-10 from three point range and leading all Herd scorers with 18 points.
The Marshall defense was smothering at the onset, forcing a total of 12 Mountaineer turnovers in the first half alone. The Herd had five separate players record steals including Megan Samis who led the team with three takeaways to go with her seven points.
The Herd lineup also managed to stay close to a much larger WVU squad on the boards, losing the rebounding edge just 42-39 in large part due to a 12 rebound day from Samis.
West Virginia was led by center Olayinka Sanni who tallied a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Hart and Sanni were named Capital Classic MVP for their respective teams.
"They're a real good team," Marshall head coach Royce Chadwick said. "They're the best team we played all year and they're going to go on and beat some great teams. I was happy with the way we battled for 38 minutes."
Marshall's undoing proved to be its poor shooting from the free-throw line where the Herd hit just 14-of-26 attempts and missed several crucial shots down the stretch.
"We missed a lot of free throws tonight and that's something that we've got to go back and work on," Chadwick said. "We just didn't execute when we needed to and that's why we didn't win the basketball game."
The Herd battled the Mountaineers from the opening tip and built a 15-9 lead with 9:33 remaining in the first half. Marshall trailed 23-22 heading into the break, but jumped back on top to start the second half as Samis opened the period with a three-pointer. The Herd scored seven unanswered points and built a 29-23 with 16 minutes remaining.
WVU retook the lead 32-29 before Hart and Casey Baker buried back-to-back three-pointers to reignite the Herd.
With 7:15 remaining, the Mountaineers had taken a five-point but Hart again stepped up and knocked down a pivotal three. She hit from outside yet again with six minutes remaining and to cut the Mountaineer lead to three.
