Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Louisiana Tech
Victrum's Game-Winner Gives Herd Huge Road Win
3/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Final Stats
RUSTON, La. - Marshall point guard Norrisha Victrum drained a floater with 1.1 seconds left to give visiting Marshall a thrilling 54-52 win over Louisiana Tech Thursday evening at the Thomas Assembly Center.
The win moved the Thundering Herd to 18-10 overall and 8-9 in Conference USA, while the Lady Techsters dropped to 14-14 overall and 9-8 in the league.
With the win, Marshall clinched a bye in next week's Conference USA Tournament and will play on Wednesday.
Victrum led Marshall with 12 points, six rebounds, six assists and now needs 25 points to become the 20th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points. She also had three steals, as did Taylor Porter, who had 11 points. Leah Scott narrowly missed a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds and Chelsey Romero had a nice game herself with 10 points and five boards.
Tech was led by Brooke Pumroy's 20 points and Reauna Cleaver added 10. Kierra Anthony led with eight rebounds, Ashley Santos had four assists and Tiara Davenport posted three steals (along with Anthony).
Marshall locked up Tech star Brandi Wingate all game long, holding her to two points on 1-for-11 shooting. She came into the game the league's third-leading scorer at 17.7 points per contest.
Both teams combined for 27 first-half turnovers but Marshall took a 20-17 edge into the locker room, courtesy of a 10-2 edge in points off turnovers. The first-half shooting was also ice-cold as the teams combined to shoot 13-for-51 (25.5 percent).
Neither team led by more than five points throughout the game and the contest reached its 15th tie after Tech's Davenport made one of two at the line with 29 seconds left to knot the game at 52-all.
After a timeout by Marshall coach Matt Daniel, Marshall held for one shot and Victrum got around her defender and rattled home the go-ahead basket with 0.7 seconds left.
The officials added four tenths of a second after a video review and the teams then traded timeouts.
Tech inbounded the ball and Wingate laid in the game-tying basket but another video review confirmed suspicions that the shot came too late.
Tech dominated the offensive glass 22-9 and went to the free throw line 20 times in the second half to Marshall's three.
Louisiana Tech was charged with a technical foul before the game started for not having its starting lineup in the official scorebook at the pregame 10 minute mark. Marshall's Porter made both free throws before the opening tip.
"A very hard-fought game by both teams and huge win for our program," said Daniel. "I thought we did a good job defensively holding them 25% from the field. I'm proud of our team in this great team win."
The Thundering Herd will face Southern Miss (13-14, 7-10) Saturday at 5 p.m. ET. The Golden Eagles dropped a 54-51 decision to Western Kentucky Thursday evening.
