Marshall University Athletics
BOGACZYK: Herd Finds Energy While Cooking Rice
1/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Final Stats
Daniel Press Conference
By JACK BOGACZYK
HERDZONE.COM COLUMNIST
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - In his first official day on the job as president of Marshall University, Dr. Jerome Gilbert and 413 other spectators at the Henderson Center witnessed something that hadn't been seen in almost a quarter-century in Herd women's basketball.
Bouncing back from its first home loss of the season only 43 hours earlier, Marshall rolled to an 81-52 victory over Rice on Saturday afternoon as the Herd played like Coach Matt Daniel had found a new set of Energizer batteries for his team.
It wasn't just the most lopsided Conference USA victory in Daniel's four seasons guiding the Herd. It was Marshall's most one-sided win in 11 seasons in the Texas-based league, period.
Digging deeper into the history books, it was the Herd's most scoreboard-dominating league triumph since a 75-45 Southern Conference home win over Western Carolina in a March 2, 1991 regular-season finale for Coach Judy Southard's 20-8 team.
The Owls (3-13, 2-3) had lost to Kentucky by 33, to Baylor by 51 and Texas by 23 earlier this season, but those are nationally ranked teams.
"It was our energy," said Herd forward Leah Scott, whose 18 points was the game high and lifted the senior to 1,104 career points - one behind Tracy Krueger (1988-93) for 13th place on the Herd all-time list. "I think our energy has to be there if we're going to keep winning. We have plenty of talent. We just have to keep up that energy."
Daniel said the Herd (12-4, 2-3 C-USA) was much different in more than posture than in Thursday night's 71-63 loss to North Texas - Marshall's third loss in four games after a 10-1 non-league start to the season.
"We did not turn the ball over too bad, we owned the glass, and we shot the ball better, and it all comes from energy," the Herd coach said.
It helped that his team shot a torrid 64.3 percent in the first half in building a 42-24 advantage. Marshall had only five turnovers in that half, scored on 19 of 29 possessions and put nine players in the scorebook.
"Our energy is back. And when our energy is there, we are dangerous," Daniel said. "We're young and the most inexperienced team in the country. We'll have some lumps, there's no doubt. I was proud of the effort today up and down the roster."
The Herd's superior depth was a difference-maker, too. Led by the wing shooting of freshman Logan Fraley - 4-of-4 on three-pointers - Marshall had a whopping 30-9 advantage in bench scoring. Fraley's 13 points (in 18 minutes) were a career high, while in the post, Chelsey Romero had a season-best 13 rebounds.
"I've been in the gym shooting extra," said Fraley, the former Boyd County (Ky.) High star who didn't hit the rim on any of her shots until she missed her last free throw. "(Assistant) Coach (Caronica) Randle has been working with me on my confidence and has bene telling me to just shoot.
"The team knows that I can shoot, but sometimes I just struggle with taking them."
Scott said Fraley's marksmanship had added importance because of the recent struggles of freshman Shayna Gore. Until Gore - still averaging 13 points per game -- made a pair of threes in the second half, she was mired in a 5-of-29 stretch from behind the arc.
"I think hitting those shots was a big confidence booster for Logan, because she's always afraid we will say, `You're shooting too much,'" Scott said. "Sometimes, she is afraid of what others will say. You just have to teach her, `It's ok to shoot. It's OK.' There's nothing wrong with shooting. We want her to shoot because she's a really good shooter, like she showed."
Marshall stays home to face Charlotte and Old Dominion on Thursday and Saturday, respectively, in a C-USA where the degree of difficulty is deeper than dates with league leaders UTEP and Western Kentucky. The conference is No. 11 among 32 Division I leagues in the RPI. Six of the 14 teams (UTEP, WKU, Middle Tennessee, Charlotte, FAU, Southern Miss) rank in the RPI top 125.
And with the Thursday-Saturday scheduling format, it's easy for a team to "lose two games in one," so to speak, with a hangover from a Thursday defeat bringing a lackadaisical performance into the next outing.
That's what the Herd avoided with a significant attitude adjustment against Rice.
"It's really hard to flip that switch in one day," Scott said. "It's just a matter of focus and you have to do it; you have no choice. Every week, it's Thursday-Saturday games. It's a matter of locking in. You've got one day to prepare, so pay attention to detail. You've got to keep your head in it."
In 47 seasons of Marshall women's basketball, the 2015-16 Herd is only the third team to reach 12 wins by Jan. 16. The 1986-87 team was 12-3 en route to a 24-5 mark and a loss in the SoCon Tournament final, and the 2011-12 club was 12-4 before crashing to a 16-14 finish.
"The energy has to be there for us to keep winning," Scott said. "The last game, we didn't have enough against North Texas and I think they just came and outmatched us in energy and it kind of spilled into everything - lackadaisical on offense, lackadaisical on defense.
"I think today we were different and we learned what we need to do. In Friday's practice, we just preached energy, energy. Run the floor, play hard on defense. Energy - it's up to us to bring it."
