Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
UCF
Herd Women Tripped Up By Knights, 75-67
1/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 31, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. - Alyssa Hammond scored a career high 25 points, but it was not enough as Chelsie Wiley scored 30 to lead the Knight to a 75-67 win over the Thundering Herd women's basketball team on Saturday at the UCF Arena.
Hammond was 10-14 from the floor for Marshall (12-9, 5-3 C-USA), but Wiley led UCF (8-13, 6-2 C-USA), hitting 7 out of 9 three-pointers. Hammond eclipsed her previous career mark of 23 points, set two years ago at Niagara.
It took a while for the offense to find its groove in the first half, notching just two points over the first seven minutes of the contest. While the Marshall offense was struggling, UCF was able to open up a quick 10-2 advantage. The Herd began the game just 1-of-8 from the floor while committing nine turnovers in the first eight minutes.
Once the offense found its rhythm, it was able to close the gap to three points, 13-10. Three straight buckets by Crook, followed by two Alyssa Hammond shots accounted for Marshall's points.
A quick 5-0 spurt by UCF was followed by six straight Herd points to make it an 18-16 UCF lead with six minutes remaining in the half. After combining to score 34 points over the first 14 minutes of the half, both offenses were hitting on all cylinders over the final six, combining to score 30 points on 12-of-17 shooting.
A Hammond jumper with just over a minute remaining cut the lead to a point, 29-28, before two late UCF field goals gave the Knights a 34-30 lead at the half. Chelsie Wiley led all scorers with 14 first half points, helped by a 3-4 start beyond-the-arc.
Wiley picked up right where she left off in the first half, scoring the first five UCF points in the second as the Knights opened up a 39-32 lead. After the Herd closed back within four, 45-41, the Knights reeled off the next seven to open up an 11-point advantage, its largest of the contest. That bucket came with 13 minutes left in the game.
The Herd began to make a furious charge at that point, holding UCF without a field goal for four minutes while chopping the lead to six, 53-47. The run continued as Marshall eventually tied the game at 55-55 with 7:16 remaining after Baker found an open Crook under the basket.
It was all Knights from that point, however, as UCF went on an 18-6 run to take a 12-point lead. Two more treys from Wiley capped off the run for the Knights. Late threes by Hammond and Alix Barnette helped MU cut the lead to single digits, but the lead proved to be too much to overcome.
Marshall finished with a 32-27 advantage on the glass against the top rebounding team in the conference and outshot the Knights, .528-.474. One major difference for the Knights came at the foul line as they hit 13-of-17 free throws while Marshall hit seven out of 11.
Tynikki Crook notched 12 points for Marshall while Baker scored 11 while leading the team with eight rebounds.
Aside from Wiley, UCF was led by a double-double from Emma Cannon, who scored 14 points to go along with a game high ten rebounds. Aisha Patrick also scored 14.
The women return home to face Tulane at 7 p.m. on Thursday before traveling to UTEP on Sunday. In two weeks, the Herd will host a pair of home games, taking on UCF on February 13 at 7 p.m. before facing Southern Miss on the 15th at 3:30. That contest will mark the Jam the Cam game and will also be televised on ESPN2.
