Mississippi State Edges Marshall Women, 73-65

Dec. 29, 2008

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - A valiant effort for the Thundering Herd came up short as it fell to Mississippi State, 73-65, in the opening game of the Terrapin Classic Monday afternoon at the Comcast Center.

Marshall (6-5) found itself down by 18, 67-49, with 4:32 left in the game, but made it interesting down the stretch, cutting the Mississippi State (11-0) lead to six points with a minute left. That would be as close as the Herd would get as the Bulldogs registered two late buckets to finish off the eight points win.

Alyssa Hammond led Marshall with 20 points, her first 20-point performance since scoring 23 against Niagara two years ago. Casey Baker scored a season high 18.

In a low scoring first half, the Thundering Herd found itself ahead the whole way. Tynikki Crook got the scoring started, hitting a shot just over a minute in. Five straight points by Alyssa Hammond put the Herd up 7-2 two minutes later.

Mississippi State inched its way back into the game, cutting the Herd lead to as little as a point, 10-9, with 14 minutes left in the half. Up 19-17 halfway through the opening period, Marshall went on an 8-0 run to grab its first double digit lead. Four players scored in the run, which was capped off by Angelica Harris' second three of the contest with six minutes left, forcing the Bulldogs to use their second timeout of the game.

The stoppage worked in favor of Mississippi State, who kept the Herd scoreless for four minutes while putting up eight straight points of their own to cut the lead to two. Tysheka Grimes and Armelia Lumanu put up all of MSU's points in the run, scoring four apiece.

With two minutes remaining, Casey Baker put an abrupt end to the Bulldog run, draining a trey to put Marshall back up by five points. After the lead grew to six, Diamber Johnson hit a three of her own in the final second of the period to make it a 32-29 game in favor of the Herd at the half.

After closing the first half on a 12-5 run, Mississippi State came out firing in the second half, opening up on a 16-1 run to open up a 12-point lead. The Bulldogs took advantage of early foul trouble for the Herd, who committed seven fouls in the first four minutes of the half.

With Marshall holding a 33-31 lead, Alexis Rack hit her third three-pointer of the game to give Mississippi State its first lead of the game with 18:54 remaining. That shot sent the Bulldogs on a 14-0 stretch that saw them grab a 45-33 advantage.

The lead hovered between 12 and 15 points until Rack's fifth trey of the game put MSU up by 18, the largest lead either team would have in the contest.

Just when it looked like the Herd was down and out, back-to-back threes by Baker cut the lead to 12. After stopping Mississippi State, Marshall got the lead back to single digits on the strength of a shot by Hammond, who was fouled on the play. The made free throw cut the MSU lead to nine, 67-58.

After two Rack free throws pushed the Bulldog lead back to 11, Hammond hit two free throws and after another defensive stop, Chantelle Handy hit a deep three, her first since her freshman season against Tulane, to bring the Herd within six, 69-63, with just over a minute left.

It was too little, too late, though, as the Bulldogs were able to overcome Marshall's press and notch a bucket. On the ensuing Marshall possession, a forced turnover sealed the game for MSU.

The Herd finished with a 33-31 advantage on the boards while the Bulldogs outshot Marshall, .473-.451. Neither team was able to take care of the ball as both squads committed 20 or more turnovers.

Alexis Rack led all players with 23 points, shooting a solid 5-of-9 from three-point range. Armelie Lumanu notched 15.

Marshall will be back in action on Tuesday, facing either UNC Asheville or Maryland at 12 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Casey Baker

Tynikki Crook

Alyssa Hammond

Chantelle Handy

Angelica Harris

Marshall University Athletics