Marshall Heads to San Antonio in Search of Seventh League Win

SAN ANTONIO, Tx. – The Marshall women's basketball team returns to action Saturday afternoon when it travels to UTSA. Tipoff against the Roadrunners is set for 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT in the Convocation Center.

The Thundering Herd enters the game with a record of 12-9 and 6-2 in Conference USA play. The Roadrunners are 6-14 and 1-7.

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 women's basketball team overcame a 14-point second quarter deficit and survived two shots in the last seven seconds by host UTEP to win 63-60 Thursday evening in Don Haskins Center.

The Thundering Herd improved to 12-9 overall and 7-2 in Conference USA, while the Miners dropped their seventh straight to fall to 4-17 and 1-7.

The win was Marshall's third straight league road win, the longest such mark for the program since its last year in the Mid-American Conference (2004-05), when it was won five straight on the road.

The 7-2 conference start is Marshall's best conference start since 2006-07 when it has the same mark through nine league games.

Khadaijia Brooks had her sixth career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Thundering Herd. Shayna Gore had the team's top scoring honors with 17 points and Taylor Porter chipped in 12 points. Kristen Mayo had a solid all-around game with six points, a career-high eight rebounds and four assists.

Zuzanna Puc had a masterful game for the home team, scoring 19 of her 23 points (9-for-18 shooting) in the first half to go with a double-double effort of her own (14 rebounds). Neidy Ocuane added 14 points and Katarina Zec tallied 12 and four assists.

The Miners made six of their 10 3-pointers in the first quarter and shot 62.5 percent (10-for-16) for the stanza. UTEP held a 14-point lead (45-31) on a Zec jumper with 1:19 left in the second.

However, Marshall ratcheted up the defensive intensity in the third quarter and held the hosts without a point for the first five minutes, 56 seconds and had the lead down to one (50-49) through three quarters of play.

Marshall pulled out to a seven-point advantage (57-50) on a Porter triple from the corner with 6:06 left and the Miners gradually cut down the lead. UTEP had a chance to win with seven seconds left, trailing 61-60.

On that possession, Zec misfired from the left elbow and Brooks grabbed the rebound and made the ensuing free throws with seven tenths of a second remaining. UTEP had one last gasp but Jordan Alexander's 3-point attempt from the top of the key sailed wide, allowing the Thundering Herd to escape with the victory.

Marshall committed a season-low five turnovers and held a 16-8 edge on second chance points. The Thundering Herd also won the rebounding battle 41-38.

Good Start, Road Record
With a win Thursday at UTEP, Marshall would improve to 7-2 in Conference USA, the best league start for the program since the Thundering Herd began 7-2 during the 2006-07 season. A victory would also be Marshall's fourth-straight road win in league play. The last time the program had a longer road winning streak in conference action was 2004-05 when MU won five straight during its last season in the Mid-American Conference en route to a 12-4 mark.

Thursday Triumphs
After Marshall's 63-60 win at UTEP, the Thundering Herd is 5-0 on Thursdays in 2018-19.

Conquering Miscues
Marshall committed just five turnovers in the 63-60 win at UTEP, the fewest total for the program since posting that number in a 76-53 win over Florida Atlantic on January 1, 2017.

Mayo Finding the Range
Marshall guard Kristen Mayo made all six of her 3-point attempts against Coppin State on December 1st and then encountered a 7-for-42 (16.7 percent) swoon over her next nine games. However, in her last five outings, she has hit on 44.4 percent (8-for-18) from the arc.

Moving up the C-USA Career 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 268 and 11th in scoring with 1,827 career points. The up-to-date leaders are below.

Gore in C-USA This Season
Gore can be found near the top of every statistical category in Conference USA this season. She is currently second in 3-pointers game (2.9), third in scoring (18.5), fourth in free throw percentage (83.8%) and steals (2.0), fifth in minutes per game (33.4), eighth in assists (3.3) and ninth in 3-point percentage (36.5%) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5).

Long-Range
Marshall leads Conference USA with 8.5 3-pointers per game in league-only tilts.

Career-Highs
Marshall's Kristen Mayo had a career-high eight rebounds in the 63-60 win at UTEP.

33.4
Shayna Gore is currently averaging a team-high 33.4 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 17.1 times per game. The last time a Marshall team averaged more was 2011-12 (19.4).

Herd Rules the Paint (in wins)
Marshall is 10-0 this season when it has more points in the paint and 2-9 when the total is even or the opposition has more.

Five to Play
Marshall is 11-1 this season when it leads (or is tied) with five minutes left on the clock and 1-8 when it does not.

Freebies
The Thundering Herd is 8-2 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 185 steals and is second in Conference USA with 8.8 thefts per game (the last time a Marshall team averaged more was 10.5 in 2011-12). 51.4 percent (185-of-360) of the opposition's turnovers have resulted in a Thundering Herd steal. Shayna Gore leads the team with 41 steals and has recorded at least one in 19 of 21 games. Kristen Mayo is next with 30 steals. Taylor Porter (29) and Kia Sivils (21) 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 13 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 10-2 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 629 after the UTEP 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 1,827 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.

Up Next
Marshall returns to the Cam Henderson Center to face North Texas on Thursday at 6 p.m. and Rice Saturday at 1.

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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Marshall Heads to San Antonio in Search of Seventh League Win

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Players Mentioned

Khadaijia Brooks

Shayna Gore

Kristen Mayo

Taylor Porter

Kia Sivils

Marshall University Athletics