Marshall Searches for Sixth League Road Win at ODU

NORFOLK, Va. – The Marshall women's basketball team returns to action Saturday when it travels to ODU. Tipoff against the Monarchs is set for 4 p.m. in the Ted Constant Center.

The Thundering Herd enters the game with a record of 15-12 and 9-5 in Conference USA play. The Monarchs are 17-9 and 8-6 and lead the all-time series 7-4.

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
Dee Givens posted a double-double effort of 23 points and 13 rebounds to lead visiting WKU to a 69-66 overtime victory at Marshall Saturday afternoon in Conference USA Women's Basketball action at the Cam Henderson Center.

The Lady Toppers snapped a four-game losing streak to improve to 15-13 overall and 9-5 in Conference USA, while the Thundering Herd dropped to 15-12 and 9-5 in the league.

WKU, by virtue of its season sweep over the Thundering Herd, will now have the seeding tiebreaker for the Conference USA Tournament (March 13-16 in Frisco, Texas) between the two schools should they end the regular season tied.

Givens made eight of her 10 free throws, while the rest of her team made just eight of 19 (42.1 percent) from the charity stripe.

Raneem Elgedawy (7-for-13 shooting) added 16 points and nine caroms before fouling out near the end of the extra session. Alexis Brewer and Arame Niang notched 11 points apiece. Meral Abdelgawad had a game-high five assists against just one turnover.

Marshall was led by Shayna Gore's 26 points (10-for-24 shooting, 6-for-13 from 3-point range). Kristen Mayo (13), Taylor Porter (12) and Khadaijia Brooks (10) also finished in double figures. Porter, Gore and Kia Sivils all had a team-high five rebounds, but Marshall lost the battle on the glass by 13 (45-32), including by a margin of 18 in the second half and overtime.

WKU attempted to dump it down low to Elgedawy on nearly every possession and held a 38-22 edge on points in the paint. The Tops also led 13-2 on bench points and 8-0 on fast break points. The Tops actually committed one more turnover than did the Thundering Herd (14-13), but got the better of its breaks with a 16-7 margin in points off those miscues.

Marshall led by one (32-31) at the half and kept that advantage through three quarters of play. The score was tied at 61-apiece in the waning moments of regulation but Givens stole a Thundering Herd post entry pass as time expired and the game went into overtime.

The Thundering Herd had a three-point lead in overtime (65-62) but WKU responded with an Elgedawy bucket and two Givens free throws to take a one-point lead with 1:57 left. Elgedawy then fouled out near midcourt on a Marshall inbounds pass with seven seconds left to send Marshall's Porter to the free throw line. However, she made just one of two and Niang boarded the second shot and was quickly fouled by Marshall's Brooks.

Niang then split her free throws to give the Thundering Herd one more chance, down two with six seconds left, but MU could not respond and suffered a turnover in the backcourt to end its chance to pull out the win.

"That's a tough loss … that one hurts," said Marshall head coach Tony Kemper. "We're over moral victories. We don't have any time for that. That's a good thing and a lot better than what it was 18 months to two years ago."

The game saw 12 ties and 18 lead changes.

34.4
Shayna Gore is currently averaging a team-high 34.4 minutes per game. The last time a Thundering Herd player logged more for an entire season was Chantelle Handy's 36.6 during the 2008-09 season.

The Magic Number
Marshall is 10-1 this season when it scores 70-plus points and 5-11 when it falls short of that mark.

Rarified Air
Marshall secured its ninth league win in the 59-53 win over Middle Tennessee, clinching a winning record in league play. The last time the Thundering Herd did that was its first year in the league (2005-06, 9-7).

Road Warriors
Marshall will have a chance to make school history when it takes the floor on Saturday. The Thundering Herd could gain its sixth road conference victory, which would be a program record. Marshall also won five in 1986-87 as a member of the Southern Conference and again in 2004-05 during its final season as a member of the Mid-American Conference.

Clemons Makes Them Count
Marshall's Princess Clemons has made 16 of her last 17 free throws (94.1%) since starting the season 10-for-21 (47.6%) from the charity stripe.

Thursday Triumphs
Despite its 77-59 loss at UAB, the Thundering Herd is still 6-1 on Thursdays in 2018-19.

Gore Closing in on Big Marks
Marshall guard Shayna Gore is second all-time at Marshall with 679 career field goals, passing Marshall Athletics Hall of Famer Kristina Behnfeldt (1995-99). Karen Pelphrey (1982-86), another Herd HOFer, had 1,175 to hold the school's top mark. Gore also has 1,972 career points, 28 shy of 2,000. Pelphrey (2,746) and Behnfeldt (2,117) are 1-2 there as well.

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 11 outings, she has hit on 39.5 percent (15-for-38) 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 292 and ninth in scoring with 1,972 career points.

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 scoring (19.7) and 3-pointers per game (3.1), fourth in minutes per game (34.4), fifth in steals (1.8) and free throw percentage (81.5%), tied for eighth in assists (3.3) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.4) and ninth in 3-point percentage (37.9). In conference games, she leads the way with 35.9 minutes per game.

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

Herd Rules the Paint (in wins)
Marshall is 12-1 this season when it has more points in the paint (or as many) and 3-11 when the opposition has more.

Hitting the Glass
Marshall is 7-1 when outrebounding the opposition this season and 8-11 when it fails in that endeavor.

Five to Play
Marshall is 13-1 this season when it leads (or is tied) with five minutes left in regulation and 2-11 when it does not.

Freebies
The Thundering Herd is 11-4 when it makes more free throws (or tied) and 4-8 when the opposition has the higher total. The Thundering Herd has had a higher (or the same) free throw percentage than the opposition in 10 consecutive games. The last time it had a longer streak was the final six contests of 2016-17 and first five of last season for 11 straight.

Taking Care of It
Marshall is 10-3 when committing fewer turnovers than the opposition (or as many) and 5-9 when it has more.

Up Next
Marshall returns to Huntington to face FIU on Thursday in the regular season finale for both schools.

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

Marshall Searches for Sixth League Road Win at ODU

Players Mentioned

Khadaijia Brooks

Princess Clemons

Shayna Gore

Kristen Mayo

Taylor Porter

Kia Sivils

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