Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
SMU
Herd Falls To SMU In Conference USA Semifinals
3/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 8, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. - SMU overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to defeat the Thundering Herd women's basketball team, 68-59, in the semifinals of the Conference USA Tournament.
Marshall (17-16) held a lead as high as 15 points midway through the first half before SMU (23-8) closed it to ten at halftime. Marshall held the lead until six minutes remaining in the game when a Jillian Samuels three-pointer tied the game and sent SMU on a 19-10 run to finish the game.
The Thundering Herd was dominant in the first half, however, it did not start off that way. SMU scored the first six points of the game in the first two minutes, forcing Marshall to use a timeout. That quickly became a turning point in the contest as the Herd would score three quick buckets to knot the score at six just over a minute later.
Consecutive treys from Kizzy Hart, along with two free throws by Tynikki Crook capped off a 14-0 run that saw Marshall take a 14-6 lead. Three-straight baskets by Chantelle Handy, along with Hart's third three of the half gave Marshall a 23-12 lead with 8:39 left in the half.
With six minutes remaining, a lay-up by Crook gave the Herd its largest lead of the game, 31-16. The Mustangs finished the half on a 9-4 run to make it a 35-25 game at the half. Hart scored a game-high 11 points in the half while the Herd continued to crash the glass in the tournament, finishing the opening stanza with a 23-14 advantage on the boards.
A 6-0 run by SMU to open the second half quickly cut MU's lead down to four. Six points from Alyssa Hammond helped Marshall get its lead back up to seven points, 43-36, with 13:10 left in the game before the Mustangs went on another 6-0 spurt to get to within a point, its closes margin since the game was tied at six.
Both teams had trouble scoring over the next few minutes as Marshall found itself up 49-46 with seven minutes remaining until a three by Jillian Samuels tied the game. The teams exchanged the lead twice over the next two minutes until another three by Samuels sent SMU on a 9-0 run that would seal the game.
Marshall got to within five points with just over a minute remaining, but SMU went 4-of-4 from the free throw line finish the contest.
Tynikki Crook recorded her third double-double in as many tournament games, finishing with ten points and 11 boards. Kizzy Hart led the Herd with 13 points while Alyssa Hammond had 12. Chantelle Handy went 5-of-6 from the field, finishing with ten points.
Janielle Dodds was the star for SMU, scoring 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Jillian Samuels finished with 12 and Brittany Gilliam had ten.
Marshall finishes its seaons with a 17-16 record, its fifth-straight non-losing season and its best record since going 19-10 in the 2004-05 season. SMU advances to the championship game to face the winner of the UTEP and Southern Miss semifinal game.
