Marshall University Athletics
UAB And Memphis Up Next For Women's Basketball
2/19/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 19, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Marshall University will take to the road for its final regular season trip of the season, facing UAB on Friday evening before traveling to Memphis for a game on Sunday afternoon.
The Thundering Herd, who begins the weekend with a 12-13 mark, will be looking to end a recent six-game losing streak. The streak reached six games following a 69-61 loss to Southern Miss on Sunday afternoon.
Despite the loss, the team put forth one of its grittiest performances of the season against the Golden Eagles, leading for most of the game before a late 13-1 run pushed USM to the win.
Alix Barnette has been the star for the Herd over the last three contests, averaging 16.7 points per game. She scored a season-high of 18 points in Sunday's game to improve her season average to 7.5 PPG.
Barnette was one of four double-digit scorers for Marshall on Sunda. Chantelle Handy scored 15 while Casey Baker chipped in ten points to go along with five assists, five rebounds and three steals. Tynikki Crook recorded her third double-double of the season, finishing with 12 points and 12 boards.
On the weekend road trip, the Herd will face the top two scorers in the league, beginning with Britney Jones of the Blazers. Jones is the C-USA scoring leader, averaging 18.0 PPG. She also leads the team with 51 steals, 17 more than anyone else on the team. In the first meeting against the Herd, Jones tallied 23 points.
The Blazers are 10-15 overall and tied with Marshall in conference play, standing at 5-7. They are 3-2 in their last five games, but lost to SMU, 81-51, in their last game.
Memphis also enters the weekend with a 10-15 mark, but are 3-9 in the league. The Tigers are 2-1 in their last three, including a 65-60 victory over Tulsa last weekend.
Paris Leonard leads Memphis and is second in C-USA with 16.9 PPG. She scored 20 points in the first meeting against Marshall in Huntington.
The weekend gets started on Friday evening at 8 p.m. when the Herd will take on the Blazers. On Sunday, Marshall and Memphis will square off at 3 p.m.
Both games can be heard live on WMUL 88.1 FM and will be streamed online at http://www.marshall.edu/wmul.
The 2009 Conference USA Women's Basketball Championship is set to get underway on March 5-8 in New Orleans. For the past 13 years the league has awarded the championship trophy to eight different outstanding teams. Fans may purchase their tickets in advance by going through the Marshall ticket office or Tulane Athletics at tulanegreenwave.com or 504.861.WAVE (9283). General admission All Session tickets are $50 for adults and $40 for youth, while Single Session prices are $10 for adults and $7 for youth.
