Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
WKU
Second Quarter Surge Key as Lady Toppers Down Thundering Herd
1/21/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Final Stats
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The host WKU women's basketball team used a 22-6 run over the latter stages of the second quarter to put the necessary distance between itself and visiting Marshall en route to a 73-57 victory Saturday afternoon at E.A. Diddle Arena.
The win improved the Lady Toppers to 14-5 overall and 6-1 in Conference USA, while Marshall fell to 11-7 and 3-4 in the league.
Ivy Brown led the home team with 22 points and seven rebounds on 10-for-16 shooting and Tashia Brown added 20 points, while making all seven of her free throw attempts. Do-everything guard Kendall Noble, who registered a triple-double in last season's C-USA Quarterfinal loss to Marshall, posted 17 points, six rebounds, six assists and five steals. Kyvin Goodin-Rogers also added a team-high seven rebounds.
Ivy Brown has been a thorn in the Thundering Herd's side in the last four matchups between the two schools, averaging 18.8 points and a .705 (31-for-44) field goal percentage. In her 83 other career games, she has averaged 8.0 points and has connected on a field goal percentage of .427 (237-for-555).
Marshall was led by Shayna Gore's 15 points (6-for-11 shooting), 13 of which came in the second half after she picked up two fouls in the game's first six minutes and sat the rest of the half. Kiana Evans added 12 points and Talequia Hamilton recorded her third-career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Lady Toppers hounded the Thundering Herd into 17 turnovers (12 in the first half) with an array of fullcourt, three-quarter court and half-court pressure, while Marshall forced just five WKU miscues. The Tops also had nine steals to Marshall's three.
The Thundering Herd did outrebound the Lady Toppers 37-32 and also held advantages in second-chance points (11-10), fastbreak points (10-4) and bench points (8-3).
Marshall took a 21-18 lead one minute, 22 seconds into the second quarter on a Hamilton layup, but the Lady Toppers responded with a 22-6 run to snare a 40-27 lead heading into the break. It was the third time in as many trips to Bowling Green that the Thundering Herd found itself in at least a 13-point first-half hole.
The closest Marshall got in the second half was 11 (54-43) on a layup by Evans at the end of the third quarter.
"It is so hard to win games in college basketball," said Marshall head coach Matt Daniel. "It is extremely hard to win on the road and we cannot rely and hope on the comforts of home to help us survive. We have to be more focused, tougher and handle frustrations better. Simply, we have to give more on the road.
The Lady Toppers have won seven of eight all-time meetings between the two schools.
Marshall's Taylor Porter made her return from a nine-game absence due to injury and had two points, a rebound, an assist and a steal in 22 minutes.
The Thundering Herd makes its second of three trips to Texas next week with games at UTSA (9-8, 5-1) on Thursday (8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT) and at UTEP (5-13, 2-4) on Saturday (4 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT). Those two teams played in San Antonio this afternoon and the Roadrunners emerged with a 97-76 victory.
