Southern Miss Invades Henderson Center Saturday at 1

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The Marshall women's basketball team returns to action Saturday afternoon when it hosts Southern Miss. Tipoff against the Golden Eagles is set for 1 p.m. ET in the Cam Henderson Center.

The Thundering Herd enters the game with a record of 11-8 and 5-1 in Conference USA play. The Golden Eagles are 10-10 and 2-5 in the league.

The game will be broadcast on CUSA.tv and will also be carried on WMUL's (88.1 FM) Cutting Edge Sports Radio Network where it can be accessed through one of the Listen Live links at www.marshall.edu/wmul.

Last Time Out
Marshall's Shayna Gore and Louisiana Tech's Kierra Anthony combined for 64 points Thursday evening as the Thundering Herd pulled out a 90-88 triple overtime epic in the Cam Henderson Center.

Marshall improved to 11-8 overall and 5-1 in Conference USA. The last time the program had a better league start was the 1988-89 campaign, when it raced out to an 8-0 record in the Southern Conference. The Lady Techsters dropped to 10-10 and 2-5 in the league.

Gore tallied 30 points on a career-high (tied) 12 field goals with five assists. She was joined in double figures by Taylor Porter (22), who tied a career-best with seven field goals, three assists and three steals, and Khadaijia Brooks, who also tied a career mark with eight field en route to 19 points and four steals. Taylor Pearson had a team-high 10 rebounds and Kristen Mayo added five assists.

Anthony had 34 points on 14-for-27 shooting with six assists. Amber Dixon (18 points, five assists) and Raizel Guinto (14) also posted double-figure efforts and Zhanae Whitney added a game-high 14 rebounds and three steals.

Marshall led by 12 early, grabbing a 17-5 lead on a layup by Lorelei Roper six and a half minutes into the game. Tech responded with a 17-4 run to pull in front by one (22-21) on a Brianna Harris layup with 6:53 left in the second quarter.

The game was close from that point forward and Anthony tied the contest at 63 with six seconds left in regulation. Gore had a chance to win it on the ensuing possession but misfired on a leaning jumper from just left of the lane.

Tech grabbed a four-point lead with 35 seconds left in overtime, but made just one of its four free throws down the stretch and Brooks drilled a triple with 15 ticks remaining to tie the contest at 75. Anthony had a chance to win it in this stanza, but her 3-point attempt missed the mark.

The teams found themselves tied at 81-apiece with 1:10 left in double overtime and Tech had the ball with 47 seconds left after a Brianna Harris steal. However, the visitors got hit with a shot clock violation on their next possession and Marshall got it back with another chance to win. But Porter couldn't get a clean look on the other end as time ticked away and the game moved into a third overtime, the first for the program since Marshall pulled out a 97-91 win at UT-Arlington on December 18, 2007.

In the final period, Anthony tied the affair at 88-all for the 12th and final time on her third 3-pointer with 1:38 left. The two teams then traded turnovers before Anthony misfired from the right baseline to give Marshall the ball with 28 seconds left. On that possession, Pearson grabbed her own miss and was sent to the free throw line with just two seconds left. A 51.5 percent free throw shooter on the season, the Columbus, Ohio native calmly made both and Tech called timeout to advance the inbounds pass in front of its bench.

There was little doubt as to who would take the final shot for the Lady Techsters and the visitors, indeed, ran Anthony off of Whitney's baseline screen to a spot in the corner. But Marshall's Brooks and Porter responded by switching the screen and Anthony struggled to get the shot over Brooks from deep in the corner and left it short as the final buzzer sounded.

Tech outrebounded the Thundering Herd 49-34, but was also hounded into 27 turnovers, which resulted in 14 Marshall steals and a 24-15 edge in points off those miscues. Tech had a 23-12 advantage in bench points. Marshall led on points in the paint (42-30).

Unsurprisingly, the Thundering Herd's entire starting five (Gore-53, Porter-49, Brooks-46, Mayo-43, Pearson-39) all posted career-highs in minutes played.

"That's a great way to win a basketball game," said Marshall's head coach Tony Kemper. "Give credit to Louisiana Tech because it was a really good game and they threw some tough punches, so to speak. They were on the road and resilient. At the end of the day, we were every bit of that, plus two more points."

Good Start
With a win Saturday vs. Southern Miss, Marshall would improve to 6-1 in Conference USA, the best league start for the program since the Thundering Herd began 8-0 during the 1988-89 season as members of the Southern Conference.

Good Stretch
Marshall is 6-1 over its last seven games, the best record over that stretch since the Thundering Herd began the 2015-16 season 10-1.

More Big Numbers
Marshall's 90-88 triple overtime win over Louisiana Tech produced totals that hadn't been seen in some time in conference play.

34 field goals: Most in the 2000s
90 points: Most since 96 vs. Southern Miss on January 7, 2007.
27 forced turnovers: Most since 28 by North Texas on January 14, 2016
14 steals: Most since that same figure by North Texas on January 14, 2016

Moving up the C-USA Ranks
Marshall's Shayna Gore is in lofty company when you compare her numbers to Conference USA's all-time records. She is currently fifth in league history in 3-pointers with 266 and 12th in scoring with 1,799 career points.

Career-Highs
Marshall's Khadaijia Brooks had a career-high four steals in the triple overtime win over Louisiana Tech.

Gore-Porter Triples
Marshall's duo of Shayna Gore (20-for-44, 45.5 percent) and Taylor Porter (15-for-35, 42.9 percent) have been on fire in conference play this season. In non-conference play, Gore was 39-for-105 (37.1 percent) and Porter checked in at 33.3 percent (22-for-66).

33.5
Shayna Gore is currently averaging a team-high 33.5 minutes per game. The last time a Thundering Herd player logged more was 34.2 by both Leah Scott and Norrisha Victrum during the 2014-15 season.

Turning Them Over
The Thundering Herd has turned over its opponents an average 17.7 times per game. The last time a Marshall team averaged more was 2011-12 (19.4).

Herd Rules the Paint (in wins)
Marshall is 9-0 this season when it has more points in the paint and 2-8 when the total is even or the opposition has more.

Five to Play
Marshall is 10-1 this season when it leads (or is tied) with five minutes left on the clock and 1-7 when it does not.

Freebies
The Thundering Herd is 7-1 when it makes more free throws and 4-7 when the opposition has the higher (or tied) total.

Thieves on the Floor...
Marshall has ripped off 178 steals and is second in Conference USA with 9.4 thefts per game (the last time a Marshall team averaged more was 10.5 in 2011-12). 52.9 percent (178-of-337) of the opposition's turnovers have resulted in a Thundering Herd steal. Shayna Gore leads the team with 38 steals and has recorded at least one in 17 of 19 games. Kristen Mayo is next with 29 steals. Taylor Porter (28) and Kia Sivils (20) are right behind. Gore (4th - 2.0), in fact, stands among the league's leaders in the category.

The Herd has posted at least seven thefts in nine of the past 11 games. Marshall's four steals at WKU snapped a streak of 26 games that saw the Thundering Herd record at least five swipes.

...and Taking Care of it
Marshall is 9-1 when committing fewer turnovers than the opposition (or as many) and 2-7 when it has more.

500 Field Goals
Senior Shayna Gore finished the 2017-18 season just one bucket short of 500 made for her career. With 2:14 left in the first quarter of the season-opener against Indiana State, Gore hit a three to become the eighth player in program history with 500 made field goals. After hitting two more baskets in the game, Gore moved into seventh all-time passing Sheila Johnson (1987-91). Gore is now third with 620 after the Louisiana Tech contest. The senior from Logan, W.Va., still has quite a way to go before possibly reaching second all-time as Marshall Athletics Hall of Famer Kristina Behnfeldt (1995-99) has 664. Fellow Hall of Famer Karen Pelphrey (1982-86) is the program's all-time leader with 1,175.

Moving on up the Herd Ranks
Shayna Gore put up a career-best performance with 34 points against Bowling Green and moved into fourth place all-time in Marshall scoring history. Gore surpassed former Herd great Tynikki Crook (2007-11) in the third quarter and finished the game at 1,485 career points. Gore buried six 3-pointers, the third time in her career with six or more, in helping to move ahead of Crook.

Gore continued her move up the scoring column with 24 points in the win over Tennessee State (12/15) to move into third place all-time, passing Sikeetha Shepard-Hall (2002-06). She now has 1,799 points for her career. Next up in second place is another Herd Hall of Famer in Kristina Behnfeldt (1995-99) with 2,117, and whose number hangs in the rafters in the Cam Henderson Center.

A Long Time
The Thundering Herd's 86-58 win at FIU produced numbers that hadn't been accomplished by the program in league play in quite some time.

13 3-pointers (most in the 2000s)
54 points in a half (last time MU had that many was vs. UAB on 2/10/06)
16 road assists (last time MU had more was 18 at Rice on 1/5/10)
46.4 3-point percentage (last time MU went higher was 47.8 at Southern Miss on 3/5/16)
86 road points (last time MU had more was 88 at UTSA on 1/26/17)
54.4 field goal percentage (last time MU went higher was 56.8 at Southern Miss on 2/2/17)

Big Number
Marshall's 28-point victory over FIU was the program's largest margin of victory in a league game since the Thundering Herd downed Old Dominion 69-37 in Norfolk on January 8, 2015. (MU's 76-44 win over FIU in the 2016 Conference USA Tournament is technically a "non-conference" game.)

Up Next
Marshall hits the road for a pair of games in Texas. The Thundering Herd faces UTEP Thursday at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT and UTSA on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT.

For all of the latest information on the Marshall women's basketball team, follow the Herd on Twitter @HerdWBB, Facebook at Marshall University Basketball and on www.herdzone.com.

To follow all Thundering Herd sports and get live stats, schedules, and free live audio, download the Marshall Athletics App for iOS or Android!

Marshall University Athletics

Southern Miss Invades Henderson Center Saturday at 1

Players Mentioned

Khadaijia Brooks

Shayna Gore

Kristen Mayo

Taylor Pearson

Taylor Porter

Lorelei Roper

Kia Sivils

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