Charlotte WBB Headed for Huntington on Saturday

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The Marshall women's basketball team returns to the Cam Henderson Center for its second Conference USA game of the regular season. Tipoff against Charlotte is set for Saturday at 1 p.m.

The Thundering Herd enters the game with a record of 7-7 and 1-0 in Conference USA play after defeating ODU 57-48 on Thursday. The 49ers are 8-5 and 0-1 after falling at WKU by the score of 76-58.

The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and Jake Griffith will have the call. The game will also be broadcast on 88.1 WMUL-FM and with audio streamed online at www.marshall.edu/wmul through one of the Listen Live links.

Last Time Out
Marshall's women's basketball team limited Old Dominion to 13 first-half points via 15 turnovers and held off a late comeback attempt by the visitors to secure a 57-48 victory Thursday evening in the Cam Henderson Center. The contest was the league opener for both schools.

Marshall improved to 7-7 overall, while ODU, who entered the game with the nation's 31st-best RPI, dropped to 9-4.

The Thundering Herd was led by Shayna Gore's 14 points, while Khadaijia Brooks added 12 and Taylor Porter had 11. Gore and Kia Sivils had a team-high four assists, Brooks added three blocks and the tandem of Gore and Porter combined for seven of Marshall's 12 steals. Porter and Princess Clemons had a team-high six rebounds apiece.

ODU was led by Ajay Wayne's 14 points (on 13 field goal attempts) and 11 off the bench from Aziah Hudson to go with Amari Young's 12 rebounds. However, Marshall's defense did a masterful job defending Wayne, Victoria Morris and Taylor Edwards, allowing just a 10-for-31 field goal clip from that trio. It also forced Edwards into eight of ODU's 23 turnovers.

Marshall led 27-13 at the half and grew the margin to as many as 18 (34-16) on a Gore layup just over two minutes into the second half.

ODU used heavy full-court pressure and rallied to within five of the home team (44-39) on a Young layup with 8:13 left in the game.

Marshall, though, steadied itself down the stretch and made five of its final six free throws to secure the win.

The Monarchs outrebounded the Thundering Herd 44-32.

Season/Career-Highs
Kia Sivils had a career-high four assists in the 57-48 win over ODU and Princess Clemons played a career-high 24 minutes, while Khadaijia Brooks hit a career-high five free throws. Taylor Porter logged a season-high 32 minutes.

Herd Shows Defensive Prowess on Thursday
Marshall's 57-48 win over the Monarchs produced remarkable defensive numbers that the Thundering Herd hadn't accomplished in league play in quite some time. The last time Marshall allowed a lower field goal percentage (.314 on Thursday) was .297 in a December 30, 2016 contest vs. FIU. The last time it forced more turnovers (23 on Thursday) was 28 in a January 14, 2016 game vs. North Texas. The last time it allowed fewer points (48 on Thursday) was 45 to North Texas on February 7, 2015. Finally, you have to go all the way back to Marshall's days in the MAC to find the last time the program allowed fewer points in EITHER half (13 during Thursday's first half). The Akron Zips posted just eight in the first half against Marshall on February 26, 2002.

Five to Play
Marshall is 7-1 this season when it leads (or is tied) with five minutes left on the clock and is 0-6 when it does not.

Freebies
The Thundering Herd is 6-1 when it makes more free throws and 1-6 when the opposition has the higher (or tied) total.

Thieves on the Floor
Marshall has ripped off 138 steals and is second in Conference USA with 9.9 thefts per game. 54.1 percent (138-of-255) of the opposition's turnovers have resulted in a Thundering Herd steal. Shayna Gore leads the team with 30 steals and has recorded at least one in 12 of 14 games. Kristen Mayo is next with 25 steals. Taylor Porter (21) and Kia Sivils (18) are right behind and both had a season-high five steals with Porter against Bluefield State and Sivils at Appalachian State. Gore (5th - 2.1), Mayo (8th - 1.8) and Porter (10th - 1.5) all rank in the top 10 in C-USA in steals per game.

The Herd has posted at least seven thefts in the past six games. Marshall has recorded at least five steals in every game this season and has grabbed at least five in now 25-straight games dating back to last season. The last time the Herd did not have at least five steals in a game was against WKU on Jan. 21, 2018.

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 581 after the Old Dominion 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 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 currently sits third all-time at Marshall with 1,692 points. 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.

Conference USA Player of the Week
Taylor Porter was honored with the weekly award for the first time in her career with a couple of great performances. In the loss at Wisconsin, Porter scored a season-high 16 points and tied her career-high with eight boards. Back at home in the win over Cleveland State, the redshirt senior set a new season-high with 22 points, established a career-best with six made three-pointers, contributed five assists and three steals.

Let it Fly from Outside
Marshall's 16 made three-pointers against Coppin State was a program record. The previous high was 15 versus Maine Fort Kent on Dec. 20, 2016. In the win over Coppin State, Kristen Mayo set a career-high going 6-for-6 and establishing a new mark for the highest perfect score from beyond the arc in program history. Tamira Higgins went 5-for-5 against Chattanooga on Jan. 17, 1994. Shayna Gore hit five 3-pointers and six different players hit one from outside. Jovana Vucetic hit the record-breaker, sinking the Herd's final three of the day with 1:23 remaining in the game.

Overtime-less Streak Comes to an End
Marshall's 72-65, overtime victory against Evansville ended a long running streak. It had been 131 games - or 1,730 days - since the Herd played an overtime period, and ended the second longest active streak in Division I women's basketball behind Maryland. The last time Marshall played an overtime game came on March 5, 2014, on Senior Night against the UTSA Roadrunners in the Cam Henderson Center. That year, the Herd's freshmen were in the eighth grade and only Taylor Porter was on a collegiate court during her freshman season at Murray State.

Welcome Back - Khadaijia Brooks & Taylor Porter - Season-Opener
The season-opener against Indiana State saw the return of two players for Marshall who missed the 2017-18 season with medical redshirts. Taylor Porter and Khadaijia Brooks both made their comebacks to the floor on Nov. 7, in the Cam Henderson Center. Brooks led Marshall with 16 points, 11 boards and added two blocks while shooting 7-of-13 from the floor. Porter struggled offensively from the field going 2-of-9 and 1-of-5 from three-point range. However, Porter's energy, intensity and toughness on the floor will be a welcomed sight back for Marshall in her senior season.

Up Next
Marshall travels to WKU for a 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT game on Saturday.

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.

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Players Mentioned

Khadaijia Brooks

Princess Clemons

Shayna Gore

Kristen Mayo

Taylor Porter

Kia Sivils

Jovana Vucetic

Marshall University Athletics