Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Western Kentucky
Fourth-Quarter Surge Keys WKU Win over Marshall
1/21/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Final Stats-WKU 
Postgame Press Conference
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Tashia Brown, Conference USA's leading scorer, poured in 33 points, including a 12-for-13 effort from the free throw line, to lift visiting Western Kentucky to an 86-66 wire-to-wire win over Marshall Sunday afternoon in the Cam Henderson Center.
The Lady Toppers improved to 14-5 overall and 5-1 in Conference USA, while the Thundering Herd dropped to 6-12 and 0-5 in the league.
Ivy Brown recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds and Raneem Elgedawy added 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting. Dee Givens chipped in 14 points (4-for-8 on 3-pointers) off the bench, a place where the visitors held a 21-10 advantage.
Marshall was led, once again, the tandem of Shayna Gore and Talequia Hamilton. The two combined for 43 of Marshall's 66 points. Gore connected on four of her eight long-range shots for 22 points and Hamilton posted 21 and a team-high seven rebounds. Kristen Mayo added a team-high four assists.
WKU won the rebounding battle 46-24, including a 21-13 edge on the offensive end. However, Marshall actually held a 16-15 edge in second chance points and a 20-13 margin in points off turnovers after it forced WKU into 12 first-half miscues.
WKU raced out to an 11-0 lead but Marshall clawed its way back into the game, closing the margin to four (49-45) on a free throw by Hamilton with 2:12 left in the third quarter.
However, the Lady Toppers made 12 of their 17 shots (70.6%) in the fourth quarter and pulled away to lead by as many as 23 on a Givens 3-pointer with 6:08 to go.
"You have to give credit to Western Kentucky ... they are really good," said Marshall head coach Tony Kemper. "They take advantage when they have it, are tough and physical, and were all of those things today. I thought our team just had a little lapse of energy. Some of that was us running out of gas, but if you're going to find a way to beat Western Kentucky, you just can't run out of gas. There's no way to talk through that other than you just have to go do it. Tashia Brown was fantastic. I thought that most of the time, we were there to contest, but she's worked really hard and just doesn't miss many of those pullup jumpers."
"I'm disappointed in the outcome for sure, but I felt I coached a better basketball team than the one on Thursday. We have to go back to work and play better when Middle Tennessee comes in here."
Gore, who is already the school's all-time leader in 3-pointers made (173), now was 1,205 points, good enough for ninth on the school's all-time scoring list, after passing Cindy McCauley (1,191 from 1994-98) and Kristi Huff (1,203 from 1988-92) on Sunday. Gore needs 12 more to move beyond Karla May (1,216 from 1982-86) for eighth.
Hamilton blocked two shots and now has 122, good for third all-time at Marshall.
The Thundering Herd stays home next week when Middle Tennessee visits for a 6 p.m. tip on Friday, followed by UAB's arrival on Sunday at 1 p.m.
