Marshall University Athletics
Lady Techsters Head to Huntington
2/3/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Game Notes
Live Video
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Marshall women's basketball team (12-9 overall, 4-6 Conference USA) hosts Louisiana Tech (10-11, 5-5) on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET for a contest in the Cam Henderson Center.
SCOUTING LOUISIANA TECH
The Lady Techsters are coming off a 67-58 loss at WKU on Thursday. They are led by Kierra Anthony's 13.1 points per game. She also has a team-high 37 3-pointers and 45.7 3-point percentage. Jasmine LeBlanc is the team's leading rebounder at 9.1 per game. She also leads the way in blocks (22) and steals (32). Kierra Lang is the top distributor with 69 assists. Alexus Malone is tops in field goal percentage (53.7) and free throw percentage (80.0).
The Lady Techsters lead the league in field goal percentage (44.6) and field goal percentage defense (37.4), but are last in 3-pointers made (4.1). However, Anthony is the individual leader in 3-point percentage (45.7).
In conference games, LeBlanc is C-USA's top rebounder (10.8) and defensive rebounder (7.6), while Malone is the top offensive rebounder (3.8).
LAST TIME OUT
The Thundering Herd's Norrisha Victrum drained a floater with 1.1 seconds left to give visiting Marshall a 54-52 win on March 3 last season. That victory clinched a bye in last season's Conference USA Tournament, which took all 14 league teams. This season's tournament will feature just 12.
MARSHALL IN CONFERENCE USA
The Thundering Herd leads C-USA (all games) in:
3-Point Field Goal Percentage Defense: 28.2
Rebounding Offense: 41.7
Defensive Rebounds: 28.0
3-Point Field Goals Made: 8.0
The Thundering Herd leads C-USA (league games only) in:
Blocked Shots: 5.3
3-Point Field Goals Made: 8.2
CAREER-HIGHS
Khadaijia Brooks logged a career-high 38 minutes and registered a career-best five assists in the 82-78 loss to Southern Miss.
IRONWOMAN
Hamilton has been extremely durable and dependable during her season and a half with the program. Not only has she played in all 54 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 seven of her last nine games. In league games, she is far and away the conference's top shot blocker at 2.7 per outing, 0.6 ahead of second place. Hamilton's three rejections vs. Southern Miss gave her 80 for her career, seven shy of Lisa Pruner's (1980-84) seventh-place mark of 87 in the school's all-time records. This season, she has been exceptional on the defensive end, registering 14 straight games with at least one block.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Thundering Herd is 9-2 at home this season, where it averages 77.6 points, 46.9 percent shooting from the field (307-for-675) and 90-for-253 (35.6 percent) from downtown. It also outrebounds the opposition 44.3 to 34.6 and has a staggering 65-16 edge in blocked shots. In fact, Marshall has won 19 consecutive non-conference games in the Cam Henderson Center. Its last loss was a 72-68 setback against Navy on Dec. 29, 2013.
ON PACE
This year's Thundering Herd is on pace to set its best marks under head coach Matt Daniel. Currently, they are:
73.7 points per game (70.5 in 2015-16)
43.5 field goal percentage (42.6 percentage in 2015-16)
37.8 field goal percentage defense (38.0 percentage in 2014-15)
8.0 3-pointers per game (6.6 in 2015-16)
33.1 3-point field goal percentage (31.5 percentage in 2014-15)
28.2 3-point field goal percentage defense (29.4 percentage in 2014-15)
41.7 rebounds (38.4 in 2013-14)
13.7 offensive rebounds (12.7 in 2013-14)
5.4 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 122 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 leads the league in 3-point field goal percentage defense (28.2) and defensive rebounds (28.0). 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 1.8 blocks per contest, while ranking fifth in offensive rebounds (3.4). She is also the team's leader in rebounding at 6.7 per game. All of those stats have been accrued in just 16.2 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 6.6 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), good enough for 10th in the league in conference games only. 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).
