Marshall University Athletics
Herd Women To Host Pair Of C-USA Opponents
1/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2009
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Marshall University women's basketball team will look to match its best ever start in Conference USA play when it hosts UAB at 7 p.m. Thursday evening.
The Thundering Herd stands at 3-1 in conference play, and with a win on Thursday, can match its best C-USA start, which came in 2006 when it won four of its first five conference games.
On Sunday, Marshall extended its C-USA winning streak to three games as it held off a furious charge by East Carolina to grab an 85-83 win. The Herd led by as many as 16 points early in the second half before ECU closed the lead to two points on three separate occasions in the final seconds of the game.
Chantelle Handy scored a career high 25 points, hitting 11-of-13 shots while dishing out six assists. Her point total was the most scored by a Marshall player this season and eclipsed her previous career high by nine points.
For her efforts, Handy was named C-USA Co-Player of the Week. In two games over the week, she averaged 18.5 PPG, six assists, 3.5 rebounds and two steals. She shared the honor with Timika Williams of UTEP.
Handy was not the only Herd player to set a career mark against ECU as freshman Rashedah Henriques recorded the first double digit scoring game of her career. Henriques scored 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting, including two three-pointers.
Beyond-the-arc, Casey Baker has been lights out over the last three games, hitting 9 out of her last 14 three-point attempts. Against ECU, Baker hit four treys for the second time in three games. For the season, she is shooting .477 in her three-point tries, second in C-USA and, with enough attempts, would be fourth in the nation.
UAB enters the game with a 7-11 mark and a 2-3 record in conference play. The Blazers have lost three of their last four games, grabbing a 69-68 win at Rice in their last contest.
The Blazers are led by senior guard Britney Jones, who is the leading scorer in C-USA with 17.2 PPG. In Sunday's win over Rice, Jones scored a game high 24 points on 11-of-18 shooting. Jones has logged more minutes this season than any other player in the conference, averaging 35.61 MPG, over a minute a game more than any other player in the league.
Marshall and UAB have split the first eight meetings in the series. The Blazers took both regular season meetings last season before the Herd grabbed a 71-69 overtime win in the C-USA tournament. Three of the last five games in the series have gone to overtime, with Marshall coming out victorious in two of those contests.
Thursday's game will tip off at 7 p.m. On Saturday, Marshall will play host to Memphis at 12 p.m. in a game that will be broadcast by CSS.
