Marshall University Athletics
Old Dominion Invades Henderson Center on Thursday
2/22/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Game Notes
Live Video
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Marshall women's basketball team (12-13 overall, 4-10 Conference USA) welcomes Old Dominion (14-11, 9-5) Thursday for a 6 p.m. ET contest in the Henderson Center.
SCOUTING OLD DOMINION
The Lady Monarchs are led by the league's most dynamic talent in forward Jennie Simms. Simms averages a league-high 25.3 points per game and leads the team in assists (104), steals (44), free throw percentage (78.3) and 3-pointers made (50). Destinee Young (11.0) leads the conference in rebounding and has a team-high 35 blocks. Ashley Jackson (50.5) makes the highest percentage of field goal attempts, while Gianna Smith (45.3) leads the way in 3-point percentage. In team statistics, ODU is first in rebounding offense (41.5), rebounding margin (+6.9), defensive rebounds (27.4) and defensive rebounding percentage (68.5). The Lady Monarchs are 13th in 3-point percentage defense (34.3) and turnover margin (-3.6).
LAST TIME OUT
ODU star Jennie Simms set a new facility record with 43 points and powered the host Lady Monarchs to a 73-69 win over hard-charging Marshall (Jan. 5, 2017) at the Ted Constant Center.
The total was just two off her career-high of 45 set at FIU nearly two years ago.
With the win, ODU improved to 7-7 overall and 2-1 in Conference USA, while Marshall dropped to 10-4 and 2-1, snapping a five-game winning streak.
Simms went 14-for-22 from the floor, 6-for-8 from 3-point range and 9-for-10 from the free throw line in a 40-minute effort. Destinee Young came into the game averaging a double-double (11.0 points, 11.0 rebounds), but was held to four points and nine rebounds. Ashley Jackson and MaKayla Timmons added four assists.
Simms has shot 28.5 percent from the 3-point arc (59-for-207) over the past two seasons, but has drilled nine of 13 attempts (69.2) against the Thundering Herd in the Constant Center in its last two trips to Norfolk.
Marshall senior guard Kiana Evans (Huntington, W.Va.) did set a new career-high with 24 points on 10-for-15 shooting, topping the 23 she had earlier this season versus Coastal Carolina. Sophomore guard Shayna Gore (Logan, W.Va.) had 15 points, five assists and three steals, while senior forward Talequia Hamilton (Huntington, W.Va.) had 10. Sophomore forward Khadaijia Brooks (Bristol, Ct.) led the team with six rebounds.
The Lady Monarchs led by 14 (44-30) at the half and held a 15-point lead (64-49) on a banked-in Simms 3-pointer as the shot clock hit zero with 7:19 to go. From there, Marshall gradually nibbled away at the margin and got it as close as three (72-69) on a Gore three-point play with 14 seconds left. However, Simms answered with a free throw and Marshall missed at its end to account for the final margin.
ODU held considerable advantages in second-chance points (14-5), a category where Marshall had an edge in its last six games, bench points (18-9) and free throws (13-for-16 to 4-for-9).
MARSHALL IN CONFERENCE USA
The Thundering Herd leads C-USA (all games) in:
3-Point Field Goals Made: 8.1
CAREER-HIGHS
Asheika Alexander had a career-high 14 points in last week's loss at Middle Tennessee. In fact, she enjoyed a solid week, altogether, averaging 11.0 points and 3.0 assists, while making half (8-for-16) of her field goal attempts.
LONG-RANGE
Shayna Gore has been on fire from the 3-point line of late, nailing 21 of her 45 attempts (46.7 percent) over her last six games. That mark has propelled her to ninth in the league (conference games only) in long-range marksmanship at 37.8 percent.
Logan Fraley (2nd, 37.8) is currently in the school's top 10 in career 3-point percentage. Meanwhile, Shayna Gore (59) is 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 58 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 nine of her last 13 games. In league games, she is second overall at 2.3 per outing. Hamilton's one rejection at Middle Tennessee gave her 85 for her career, two shy of Lisa Pruner's (1980-84) seventh-place mark of 87 in the school's all-time records. In single-season blocks, her 47 this season is the fifth-highest in school history.
ON PACE
This year's Thundering Herd is on pace (or nearly so, in some cases) to set its best marks under head coach Matt Daniel. Currently, they are:
71.6 points per game (70.5 in 2015-16)
42.9 field goal percentage (42.6 percentage in 2015-16)
8.1 3-pointers per game (6.6 in 2015-16)
32.9 3-point field goal percentage (31.5 percentage in 2014-15)
30.5 3-point field goal percentage defense (29.4 percentage in 2014-15)
13.5 offensive rebounds (12.7 in 2013-14)
40.2 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 127 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
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 fourth 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 had been working the interior and the arc for Marshall before missing the last three games due to injury. 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 her 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).
