Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Plays Road Finale at North Texas
2/24/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Live Video! (ESPN3.com)
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Game Notes!
DENTON, Tx.- The Marshall women's basketball team (8-19 overall, 2-12 Conference USA) will travel to North Texas for its 2017-18 road finale in a game that will start at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT. The game will be carried on ESPN3.com.
The Series: Series tied 3-3
The series is tied at 3-apiece but the schools have split four meetings in the SuperPit. Marshall won 60-57 in Denton last season after thwarting two Mean Green possessions in the final 30 seconds of the contest. Shayna Gore led all scorers with 23 points, including a 7-for-8 effort from the free throw line.
Scouting the Mean Green: The Mean Green (15-10, 6-7) comes into Saturday's game riding a four-game winning streak after dropping each of the previous five. Terriell Bradley is the leading scorer (19.4) and rebounder (5.8) for the team and is also its best 3-point shooter (.453) and free throw shooter (.817). Brittany Smith is leader in assists (80), while Micayla Buckner (30) and Lauren Holmes (52) are tops in blocks and steals, respectively. As a team, North Texas is the league's stingiest scoring defense with 54.5 points allowed per game, but is last in Conference USA in assists (10.7) and defensive rebounds (21.8).
Marshall's Individual Conference USA Ranks (Top 10):
Free Throw Percentage: Shayna Gore, 1st (.849)
Scoring: Shayna Gore, 2nd (19.6); Talequia Hamilton (9th, 14.6)
3-Pointers Per Game: Shayna Gore, 2nd (3.0)
Blocked Shots: Talequia Hamilton, 3rd (1.5)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage: Shayna Gore, 9th (.403)
Converting Freebies: Marshall made 15 of its 16 free throws in the 67-54 loss to Middle Tennessee, the highest percentage for the program (minimum 10 attempts) since swishing all 10 in a 54-52 win at Louisiana Tech on March 3, 2016. As a team, the Thundering Herd is third in the league (conference games only) at the free throw line, converting at a .756 clip (152-for-201). In fact, Marshall boasts a free throw percentage of .721 (277-for-384) in all of its games this season, which would be the program's best end-of-season mark in at least the last 18 seasons (unavailable records did not allow for additional research).
The Highs: Taylor Pearson recorded her second block at WKU on Saturday. In that same game, Shayna Gore made eight free throws, which tied a season and career-high for the Logan native.
Free Points: Kate Zhibareva has made 17 of her 18 free throw attempts this season, good for a .944 clip.
70: The Thundering Herd is 7-1 this season when reaching the 70-point mark. Its only loss is an 85-76 at the hands of Cleveland State.
Gore Surging From the Arc: Shayna Gore has made steady improvement over the course of her career at Marshall, with jumps from her freshman to sophomore to junior seasons in field goal percentage (.399-.443-.452), 3-point percentage (.295-.372-.403) and scoring (10.8-17.5-19.6). Her 81 3-pointers this season are a single-season program record.
Gore Joins the 1,000 Point Club: In the third quarter at home against Morgan State (Dec. 6), Shayna Gore had 10 points and needed just three more to reach 1,000. The junior guard received a pass from Tana Driver and fired off a three from the top of the key and drained it to reach the historic milestone. It was the 70th game of her career. Gore became the 21st member of Marshall's 1,000 Point Club and joined two of her old teammates from her freshman season in Leah Scott (1,371) and Norrisha Victrum (1,003). She currently has 1,399 points and is fifth all-time in Thundering Herd history.
Talequia Hamilton currently has 1,066 points at Marshall, the 22nd player in program history to reach the four-digit mark. She also tallied 11 as a freshman at the University of Cincinnati during the 2011-12 season.
SWAT Duo: Talequia Hamilton and Ashley Saintigene continue to form a formidable shot-blocking duo this season. The two towers combined for 96 blocks in 2016-17 and have 62 this year through 27 games. Hamilton recorded the 100th for her career at No. 22 Kentucky and is currently third all-time with 132.
Saintigene finished her freshman season with 42, the sixth-highest single-season mark in program history. The sophomore began the 2017-18 season with a career-high six blocks against Longwood to move into the top 20 all-time at Marshall. She now has 64 in her career and is 12th.
Up Next: Marshall returns home to face FAU Thursday at 6 p.m. in its season finale.
