Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Western Kentucky
Lady Hilltoppers Overwhelm Thundering Herd, 81-52
1/2/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- Western Kentucky used a stifling press to get out to a 21-7 first-quarter lead en route to an 81-52 wire-to-wire win over visiting Marshall Saturday afternoon at E. A. Diddle Arena in the Conference USA opener for both schools.
The Lady Hilltoppers improved to 10-2 with the win for their sixth-straight victory, while the Thundering Herd dropped to that record to snap a four-game winning streak of its own.
"I know there are going to be some growing pains with our inexperience, but hopefully the pains get fewer and fewer as the season goes on," said Marshall head coach Matt Daniel. "We have to become a fort; a fort in our mentality in keeping toughness and instability out. We have to become a fort on defense in protecting the ball and the basket. The way we eat, train, talk, listen, prepare and certainly the way we compete and protect the M. We have to become Fort Herd."
WKU had five players in double figures, led by Tashia Brown's 21 points and four steals. Ivy Brown had a stellar game with 16 points and a game-high 14 rebounds (seven offensive) on 7-11 shooting. Starters Kendall Noble (11 points, eight rebounds, six assists, three steals) and Kayla Smith (10 points) also hit double digits. Dee Givens had 18 points (4-6 on 3-pointers) in just 18 minutes off the bench to key a 21-6 WKU edge in substitute points.
Marshall's Leah Scott tallied 13 points for her 22nd-straight game in double figures and is two points away from passing Robin Vealey (1972-76) for 17th on the school's all-time scoring list. Scott currently has 1,035 points for her Thundering Herd career. Kiana Evans also had 13 for Marshall and Chelsey Romero added five rebounds. Point guard Norrisha Victrum had two assists to push her career mark to 313, two shy of Kim Lewis's (1984-88) fifth-place total in the school's record book.
WKU went a blistering 7-11 from 3-point range (63.6%), compared to Marshall's 1-16 clip (6.3%), the exact same number Marshall shot against the Lady Hilltoppers in Huntington last season. In the first half, WKU made all five of its long-range attempts, while MU made just one of 11.
For the game, WKU shot 49.2% (29-59), becoming the first team to shoot better than 47 percent against the Thundering Herd all season, and held a 47-28 edge in rebounding.
Marshall actually had fewer turnovers than WKU by one (20-19) and did a decent job harassing Tashia Brown (six) and Noble (five) into 11 combined miscues.
The Thundering Herd is still looking for a win in five tries against the Lady Hilltoppers.
Marshall will be back in action Thursday as it travels to Florida Atlantic (8-3 overall) on Thursday for a 7 p.m. tip and then to FIU (2-9) for a 2 p.m. contest.
