Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Florida International
Herd Gets First League Win in 78-75 Thriller
1/28/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Final Stats
Postgame Press Conference
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -Shayna Gore registered the first double-double of her three-year career Sunday, lifting the host Marshall women's basketball team to a 78-75 win over visiting FIU at the Cam Henderson Center.
The victory was the Thundering Herd's first in Conference USA action (1-6) and seventh overall (against 13 losses). The Panthers dropped to 6-14 and 3-4 in the league.
Gore, a Logan, native, tallied 24 points and 10 rebounds, while Talequia Hamilton (19), Kristen Mayo (11) and Kate Zhibareva (10) all finished in double digits. Gore, Mayo and Mychelle Johnson had 14 of the team's 17 assists, while Hamilton and Zhibareva had three blocks and three steals, respectively.
FIU's tandem of Kiandre'a Pound (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Callie Cavanaugh (11 points, 10 boards) had double-doubles for the second time against Marshall this season. Kristian Hudson held top scoring honors with 24 (and five assists) and Kayla Rogers added 14.
The Panthers raced out to 12 point lead (31-19), built largely on a torrid first-quarter shooting clip (11-for-16, 68.8 percent). The Thundering Herd, though, answered with a 60 percent effort (9-for-15) of its own in the second quarter to trail by just one (44-43) at the half.
Marshall grabbed a six-point lead (74-68) with 3:47 left on a Zhibareva 3-pointer from the corner, but FIU responded with a Cavanaugh layup and a Hudson triple to pull within one on its ensuing possessions. The Panthers then came up dry on their next four trips down the floor and Hamilton got a putback to give Marshall a 78-75 lead with 32 seconds left.
FIU's Pound got a stickback of her own on the other end, before Gore drilled two free throws for a 78-75 Marshall advantage with eight ticks left. FIU, however, couldn't answer on the other end and the Thundering Herd emerged victorious.
Gore, who is already the school's all-time leader in 3-pointers made (176), now was 1,246 points, good enough for eighth on the school's all-time scoring list.
Hamilton now has 125 blocked shots, good for third all-time at Marshall.
"Obviously that feels really good ... I'm proud of our team," said Marshall head coach Tony Kemper following the victory. "They (FIU) started the game really hot and I didn't think our defense was awful. We were in the neighborhood, so to speak ... they just hit them all. We stayed level-headed and that's good because we haven't had a lot of things go well for us for a while. We were calm, didn't panic on offense and just kept playing the right way and got good shots. That gave us a chance to win."
"I'm proud of how our team handled coming in today after what happened Friday night (versus Middle Tennessee), where nothing really went right. They went back to work and the result today feels good."
The Thundering Herd will hit the road for games at Charlotte on Friday (7 p.m.) and Southern Miss on Sunday (3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT).
