Marshall Faces UTEP in First Round of Conference USA Tournament

FRISCO, Tx. – The sixth-seeded Marshall women's basketball team returns to action when it faces 11th-seeded UTEP at 3 p.m./2 p.m. CT Wednesday at Ford Center in Frisco, Texas.

The Thundering Herd enters the game with a record of 16-13. The Miners are 8-21.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ 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.

Tourney Time
Marshall is 8-12 all-time at the Conference USA Tournament, but 4-2 as its six seed. In fact, two of the Thundering Herd's three trips to the semifinals have come from that spot in the bracket (2008, 2016). The Thundering Herd is 1-1 vs. UTEP (W in 2009's quarterfinals, L in 2013's first round).

Gore Named First-Team All-Conference USA
Marshall's Shayna Gore was named first-team All-Conference USA Monday morning following a vote by the league's head coaches and media representatives.

Gore becomes the program's second first-team All-Conference USA selection, following Leah Scott's honor in 2016.

Herd's Improvement Among Nation's Best
Marshall's improvement from three league wins in 2017-18 to 10 this season stacks up well with totals from around the nation. The leaders in that category are listed below.

Sam Houston State, +10
VCU, +9
Clemson, +8
Tennessee Tech, +8
Georgia State, +7
Marshall, +7
Pepperdine, +7
Towson, +7
UNCW, +7

Porter Named Conference USA's Player of the Week
Marshall senior Taylor Porter was named Conference USA's Player of the Week for the second time this season after her career day in the Thundering Herd's 87-42 win over FIU on Thursday.

The Louisa, Kentucky native shattered Marshall's single-game 3-point record with 10 drilled in 12 attempts on Thursday's Senior Night. She made 10-straight and came just one short of tying the C-USA mark, while fueling a Thundering Herd offense that broke Marshall's single-game triples mark (18) en route to a program-best 10 league wins. Porter amassed a career-high 30 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a steal in her 30 minutes.

Marshall victory secured the six seed in next week's Conference USA Tournament.

Climbing the Charts
Shayna Gore's 90 3-pointers are a new single-season school record, breaking her mark of 86 from last season. Taylor Porter currently has 59 and that total is goood for sixth. The program's top seven single-season totals are below:

1. 90, Shayna Gore (2018-19)
2. 86, Shayna Gore (2017-18)
3. 72, AJ Johnson (2014-15)
4. 70, Shayna Gore (2016-17)
5. 69, Shay Weaver (2012-13)
6. 68, Kizzy Hart (2007-08)
7. 59, Taylor Porter (2018-19)

Last Time Out
Marshall's senior backcourt tandem of Taylor Porter and Shayna Gore rewrote part of the school's record book in an 87-42 rout by the Thundering Herd over visiting FIU Thursday afternoon in the Cam Henderson Center.

Marshall improved to 16-13 overall and finished Conference USA play with a 10-6 record, its highest league win total since joining in 2005-06. FIU dropped to 5-24 and 2-14.

Porter drilled a school-record 10 3-pointers (on 12 attempts) en route to a career-high 30 points. As a team, Marshall made 18 shots from downtown, which was also a school record. Porter's 10 triples were one off the Conference USA record of 11 by Middle Tennessee's KeKe Stewart (1/8/14) and Kat Wright (1/30/16).

Gore scored 29 points and made 12 field goals to go with eight rebounds and six assists. Porter also had seven rebounds. Khadaijia Brooks notched her seventh career double-double with 11 points and 10 caroms.

FIU was led by Ce'Nara Skanes, who had a double-double of her own with 10 points and 11 rebounds. She also posted four steals.

Marshall hounded the Panthers into just a 3-for-26 effort (11.5 percent) from 3-point range and outrebounded the visitors 53-34, including a 17-6 advantage on the offensive end.

The Thundering Herd made half as many turnovers (8 to 16), and turned those FIU miscues into a 24-4 edge in points off turnovers.

"These two … I've said the same thing all year about them," said Marshall head coach Tony Kemper in reference to Porter and Gore. "They really like to play and love to compete. Sometimes they wear that on their sleeves a little too much, but they both brought tremendous crowds from their hometowns tonight, as they always do."

"Our team played well tonight and played hard. I thought we did a better job on the glass in the early part of the game. We boxed out and held them to one shot and were off to the races."

Hitting the Glass
Marshall recorded 17 offensive rebounds and 53 total caroms in the win over FIU. The last time the program had more in both categories was February 4, 2017 against Louisiana Tech (19 offensive boards) and January 5, 2012 (59 total rebounds).

Career-Highs
Marshall's 30 points and 10 field goals (and 10 3-pointers) against FIU were all career-highs. Shayna Gore's 12 field goals tied a career-high as well.

34.2
Shayna Gore is currently averaging a team-high 34.2 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 11-1 this season when it scores 70-plus points and 5-12 when it falls short of that mark.

Drive For 10
Marshall secured its 10th league win in the 87-42 victory over FIU, the most the program has ever won since joining C-USA. The previous mark was nine during its first year in the league (2005-06, 9-7).

Clemons Makes Them Count
Marshall's Princess Clemons has made 17 of her last 19 free throws (89.5%) since starting the season 10-for-21 (47.6%) from the charity stripe.

Thursday Triumphs
After the 87-42 win over FIU, the Thundering Herd is 7-1 on Thursdays in 2018-19.

Gore Closing in on Big Marks
Marshall guard Shayna Gore is second all-time at Marshall with 698 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 2,020 career points. Pelphrey (2,746) and Behnfeldt (2,117) are 1-2 there as well.

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 297 and ninth in scoring with 2,020 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 (20.0) and 3-pointers per game (3.1), third in minutes per game (34.2), fifth in free throw percentage (81.6%), sixth in assists (3.3), eighth in steals (1.7) and 10th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.4).

Long-Range
Marshall leads Conference USA with 8.9 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 4-12 when the opposition has more.

Hitting the Glass
Marshall is 8-1 when outrebounding the opposition this season and 8-12 when it fails in that endeavor.

Five to Play
Marshall is 14-1 this season when it leads (or is tied) with five minutes left in regulation and 2-12 when it does not.

Freebies
The Thundering Herd is 12-4 when it makes more free throws (or tied) and 4-9 when the opposition has the higher total. The Thundering Herd has had a higher (or the same) free throw percentage than the opposition in 12 consecutive games.

Taking Care of It
Marshall is 11-3 when committing fewer turnovers than the opposition (or as many) and 5-10 when it has more.

Up Next
The winner of Wednesday's game will face third-seeded Middle Tennessee Thursday at 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT in another game that will be carried on ESPN+.

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 Faces UTEP in First Round of Conference USA Tournament

Players Mentioned

Khadaijia Brooks

Princess Clemons

Shayna Gore

Taylor Porter

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