Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Faces Middle Tennessee Saturday on ESPN3
2/17/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Game Notes
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Live Video (ESPN3)
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Marshall women's basketball team (12-12 overall, 4-9 Conference USA) travels to Middle Tennessee (16-9, 11-3) Saturday for a 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT contest in the Murphy Center.
SCOUTING MIDDLE TENNESSEE
Middle Tennessee dropped an 82-75 decision at home to Western Kentucky in a battle of the league's top two teams. Alex Johnson is the team's leader in points (21.0), rebounds (5.6) and blocked shots (21). Ty Petty is the team's leader in assists (135), steals (48), free throw percentage (83.9) and 3-pointers made (57). The Blue Raiders lead the league in field goal percentage (44.5) and rebounding defense (32.3). In league games, they are tops in free throw percentage (78.1). They are 12th in the conference (all games) in 3-point defense (34.2), rebounding offense (33.6) and offensive rebounds (10.8).
LAST TIME OUT
The Middle Tennessee women's basketball team got 49 points from its dynamic duo of Ty Petty (26) and Alex Johnson (23) to pull away from host Marshall in the fourth quarter of its 72-63 win over the Thundering Herd in Huntington on January 12.
Middle Tennessee has won all six meetings between the two schools.
Petty took 26 shots during the contest, but made seven of her 14 3-point attempts and registered five assists and no turnovers, while playing all 40 minutes. Johnson made nine of her 16 shots and paced the team with seven rebounds and three blocks. Abbey Sissom also never came off the floor and contributed 14 points and nine assists and Jess Louro chipped in four steals in 39 minutes to offset an 0-for-5 shooting performance.
The Thundering Herd was led by sophomore Shayna Gore's 25 points on 11-for-16 shooting. She also had four assists in 39 minutes. Classmate Khadaijia Brooks notched her second-straight double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Marshall outrebounded the Blue Raiders 43-34, but made just three of its 17 3-point attempts (.176). The Thundering Herd came into the game leading the league, averaging just over eight 3-pointers per game. The visitors made 11 from long range.
Middle Tennessee also forced Marshall into nearly twice as many turnovers (13-7) and turned those into a 12-5 edge in points off those miscues.
The Blue Raiders led 35-30 at the half but the Thundering Herd made six-straight shots in the opening stages of the third quarter to take a three-point lead (42-39) on a jumper by Brooks at the 5:33 mark.
Marshall led from that point until Petty tied the game with a 3-pointer (49-all) with just over three minutes later and Charity Savage tossed in a putback as the period ended to give the visitors a lead it wouldn't relinquish.
The Thundering Herd made it a one-possession contest four times in the final stanza but the Blue Raiders scored 11 of the game's final 15 points to pull away for the victory.
MARSHALL IN CONFERENCE USA
The Thundering Herd leads C-USA (all games) in:
3-Point Field Goals Made: 8.0
LONG-RANGE
Fraley (2nd, 38.5) and Taylor Porter (10th, 34.4) are currently in the school's top 10 in career 3-point percentage. Meanwhile, Shayna Gore (55) is tied for fourth in Marshall's single-season 3-point records. AJ Johnson (72, 2014-15) holds that all-time mark).
IRONWOMAN
Hamilton has been extremely durable and dependable during her season and a half with the program. Not only has she played in all 57 of Marshall's games during that period, but she has started all of them as well. She has been especially effective of late, registering double-figure scoring in eight of her last 12 games. In league games, she is the conference's top shot blocker at 2.4 per outing. Hamilton's one rejection vs. WKU gave her 84 for her career, three shy of Lisa Pruner's (1980-84) seventh-place mark of 87 in the school's all-time records. In single-season blocks, her 46 this season is the fifth-highest in school history.
ON PACE
This year's Thundering Herd is on pace to set its best marks under head coach Matt Daniel. Currently, they are:
71.7 points per game (70.5 in 2015-16)
43.0 field goal percentage (42.6 percentage in 2015-16)
8.0 3-pointers per game (6.6 in 2015-16)
32.8 3-point field goal percentage (31.5 percentage in 2014-15)
29.6 3-point field goal percentage defense (29.4 percentage in 2014-15)
13.6 offensive rebounds (12.7 in 2013-14)
40.5 rebounds (38.4 in 2013-14)
5.2 blocks (4.4 in 2013-14)
2.0 blocks allowed (2.2 in 2012-13)
AKERS GOES LONG
Marshall junior McKenzie Akers is fourth in the school's record book with 125 3-pointers after passing Toni Patillo (121, 1997-2001). Next up is Cindy McCauley in third (131, 1994-98), followed by Natal Rosko in second (136, 1994-98) and Sikeetha Shepard-Hall (146, 2002-06).
STINGY DEFENSE
The Thundering Herd is second in the league in 3-point field goal percentage defense (29.6). In Marshall's 12 wins, it has yielded just a 33.2 shooting percentage (244-for-736) and 23.7 (64-for-270) from 3-point range and has allowed more than 67 points just once (81, at UTSA). In fact, dating back to last season, Marshall has won 18 straight games when allowing 68 points or less (L at Middle Tennessee, 65-54, 1/28/16).
FRESHMAN INSIDE FORCE
Freshman forward Ashley Saintigene has been a force around the paint. Saintigene is third in Conference USA with 1.7 blocks per contest, while ranking fifth in offensive rebounds (3.3). She is also third on the team in rebounding at 6.4 per game. All of those stats have been accrued in just 16.0 minutes per game. The Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., native was named Conference USA Freshman of the Week Dec. 12, Dec. 23 and Jan. 3.
KB WORKS GLASS, ARC
Sophomore forward Khadaijia Brooks has been working the interior and the arc for Marshall in 2016-17. Brooks is one of the team's leading rebounders with 6.5 caroms per game. She has recorded at least five boards in all but five contests and grabbed a career-high 12 against Maine-Fort Kent, when she also posted a career-high 22 points. She recorded back-to-back double-doubles at Charlotte (12 points, 10 rebounds) and versus Middle Tennessee (11 points, 10 rebounds). She has also greatly improved her 3-point shooting in 2016-17. Last season, she made just one of six attempts (16.7). This season, that figure is 35.1 percent (20-for-57). She went 4-for-4 against Maine-Fort Kent, but then made just one of her next 13 attempts over her next four games. She has since rebounded to connect on 10 of her last 17 long-range shots in the last five contests.
BLOCK PARTY
The Herd has more blocks than the opposition (or as many as) in all but two games (at North Carolina, at UTEP). Marshall recorded 10 blocks in the season debut at Illinois and followed that with 11 swats versus FIU on Dec. 30. Against the Fighting Illini, redshirt-senior Talequia Hamilton led Marshall with a career-high five rejections. Freshman Ashley Saintigene had three blocks in her Herd debut (all coming in the second quarter).
