Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
UCF
Women's Basketball Falls At UCF, 56-47
2/4/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 4, 2010
ORLANDO, Fla. - Chantelle Handy led all players with 18 points, but it was not enough as UCF downed the Marshall University women's basketball team, 56-47, Thursday evening at the UCF Arena.
Handy connected on 7-of-14 shot attempts while hitting all three attempts from three-point range. Chelsie Wiley led the Knights (5-12, 2-6 C-USA) with 17 points, hitting six out of 18 shots.
UCF jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the opening minutes before a shot by Kendra King put the Thundering Herd (13-9, 5-4 C-USA) on the board three minutes in. The Knights continued to add to their lead, seeing it reach ten points, 21-11, with 8:44 remaining in the first half.
Chelsie Wiley, who averaged 23.0 PPG against the Herd last season, scored nine-straight points for UCF, all coming from three-point range to extend the lead. Marshall fought back, cutting the deficit down to four points, 26-22, with five minutes left in the period.
The Knights put an abrupt halt to the run, outscoring the Herd, 10-4, over the remainder of the half to reestablish a ten-point advantage at the half. A pair of buckets in the final 24 seconds helped the Knights to the double-digit lead.
Both offenses struggled to begin the second half. The teams combined to score just nine points over the first 7:22 of the half. Marshall hit just 3-of-9 shots with seven turnovers while UCF began the half 1-of-10 from the floor.
With the Knights up by nine, Ashia Kelly scored five-straight to give the Knights a 45-31 edge with 11:49 remaining, its largest of the game to that point. The Herd closed within ten before the Knights pushed their advantage back to 14, 51-37, with eight minutes left in the contest.
Led by Handy, who scored the final eight points of the game for MU, the Herd made a run in the final minutes, closing the deficit to eight points, but it was too little too late as the Knights took the nine-point win.
UCF finished with a 42-30 advantage on the boards while Marshall finished with a .400-.339 shooting advantage. The Herd defense held the Knights to just 5-25 (.200) shooting in the second half.
Handy was the only double-digit scorer for the Herd, who did not lead in the game. Kendra King finished the game with seven points and a team-high six rebounds. D'Nay Daniels recorded a double-double for the Knights, scoring ten to go along with a game-high 13 boards.
Marshall will be back in action on Saturday, facing Southern Miss. The game is set to start at 5 p.m. ET at Reed Green Coliseum in Hattiesburg, Miss.
