Blazers, Thundering Herd Battle Saturday on ESPN+

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The Marshall women's basketball team (6-8 overall, 1-2 Conference USA) will host UAB (9-6, 1-2) on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. All kids who arrive at the Cam Henderson Center wearing a jersey will be admitted for $2.

Game Details
Live Stats: HerdZone.com
Live Video: ESPN+ with Jake Griffith
Marshall Radio: 88.1 WMUL-FM and online www.marshall.edu/wmul on Stream 1
Series History: 29th all-time meeting – UAB leads 15-13
Last Meeting: Feb. 14, 2019 in Birmingham – UAB won 77-59

Last Time Out: Jan. 9 vs. Middle Tennessee (L, 75-55)
Anastasia Hayes recorded a triple-double of 17 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists to lead visiting Middle Tennessee to a 75-55 win over cold-shooting Marshall Thursday evening in the Cam Henderson Center.

The victory vaulted Middle to 10-5 overall and 2-1 in Conference USA. Marshall dropped to 6-8 and 1-2 in the league.

The Blue Raiders also got a double-double from Charity Savage (20 points, 10 rebounds), while Aislynn Hayes scored 15 and Taylor Sutton added 14.

Marshall was led by Savannah Wheeler's 14 points, eight of which came at the free throw line. Kristen Mayo chipped in 11 to go with Ashley Saintigene's nine rebounds and four blocked shots. Taylor Pearson posted a team-high three assists.

The Thundering Herd made just 30.5 percent from the field (18-for-59) and 11.1 percent from 3-point range (3-for-27). Middle Tennessee hit 12 of its 32 3-pointers (37.5 percent).

The Blue Raiders won the rebounding battle 45-38.

Marshall went up 7-5 in the early going on a pair of Wheeler free throws at the 5:22 mark, but Middle closes the first quarter on a 18-5 run, culminating with banked-in triple by Aislynn Hayes as time expired.

The visitors led by 15 at halftime (44-29) and by as many as 25 on a Sutton 3-pointer (71-46) with 5:08 left.

"I didn't think we played particularly well on offense, and when I go back and watch it, I'll probably see some shots that I like," said Marshall head coach Tony Kemper. "We got the ball to the rim some, but we didn't get anything out of it. We had some good looks from the outside but just didn't make nearly enough of them. How do you win a game shooting 11 percent from 3? The answer is you don't. You don't stay very close and it gets away pretty early."

"I think we have better fight in us than what we showed. I think (a lack of) confidence has bothered us at times this year. I didn't think we looked like a confident team, especially early in the game. I thought we were searching a little bit. Basketball is pretty fickle. If you don't make shots, and you don't keep your head in there defensively, it gets away in a hurry. That's kind've what happened tonight. (Middle Tennessee) is a good basketball team. I could rattle off a whole bunch of stats about how we aren't the first one who hasn't played well against them, but I'm probably most disappointed that I don't think they really took us out of what we wanted to do as much as they have in the past. We still didn't get much done around the rim and had open looks that we didn't make at all. That's disappointing."

Wheeler Hits the Glass
Coming into Thursday's game with Middle Tennessee, Savannah Wheeler had averaged 2.4 rebounds in Marshall's first 12 games. However, in her last two contests, she has grabbed 12 total (6.0 average) boards, including 11 on the defensive end of the floor.

Leading and Leading Late
Marshall is 6-1 this season when leading at the half and 5-1 when leading with five minutes left in regulation. Since the beginning of last season, the Thundering Herd is 19-6 when leading at the break and 19-3 when leading at the five-minute mark.

Hitting the Glass, Controlling the Paint
The Thundering Herd is 13-4 since the start of last season when it outrebounds the opposition and 15-3 when it scores more in the paint.

Career-Highs
Kia Sivils had a career-high 16 points and seven made field goals in the 68-59 win at North Texas.

Block Party
Senior Ashley Saintigene has returned to the Herd lineup with a vengeance this season on the defensive side. The senior has swatted 40 shots in 13 games to start the year. She has rejected at least one shot in each game and has had two or more in 12 contests. Her season-high thus far is five in a win over Coppin State (11/19). Saintigene is currently ninth in the NCAA in blocks per game (3.1). As a team, Marshall is 17th in the country in blocks per game (5.5).

The Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., native is fourth all-time in program history in blocked shots with 121. She became the seventh player to hit the century mark with her third and final block at Evansville. Saintigene had an excellent start to her career with 42 blocks (1.45 per game) in her freshman season, seventh-most in Marshall history. She tallied just 22 her sophomore season as she only played in 12 games (1.83 per game) after suffering an injury. Saintigene came back to the Herd briefly in 2018-19 playing in just nine games before re-aggravating the injury, but still came away with 17 more swats (1.89 per game). The Herd record for most in a season is 117 by Sharon Deal in 1988-89. Deal averaged 4.2 per game which is still a Southern Conference record. Deal is also Marshall's all-time leader with 188 in a career that spanned just two seasons (1987-89).

Marshall's Career Blocks Leaders
1. 188 - Sharon Deal (1987-89)
2. 153 - Tynikki Crook (2007-11)
3. 135 - Talequia Hamilton (2015-18)
4. 121 - Ashley Saintigene (2016-Pres.)
5. 119 - Modupe Ishola (2003-07)
119 - Chelsey Romero (2013-16)
7. 115 - Chukwuka Ezeigbo (2011-15)
8. 91 - Chris McClurkin (1984-88)
9. 87 - Lisa Pruner (1980-84)
10. 71 - Tammy Simms (1986-87)
**Khadaijia Brooks currently has 65.**

Ranked in the NCAA
Marshall is ranked in the top 70 in the NCAA in several categories.

17th in blocks per game - 5.5 (leads C-USA)
21st in total blocks - 77 (leads C-USA)
36th in field goal percentage defense - 35.5%
56th in 3-point field goals per game - 7.6
58th in rebounds per game - 41.6
59th in fewest turnovers - 202
68th in total 3-pointers - 107
69th in fewest turnovers per game - 14.4
Ashley Saintigene is ninth in blocks per game (3.1)
Ashley Saintigene is 13th in total blocks (40)
Savannah Wheeler is 63rd in free throw percentage (82.8)

Notable Active Herd Streaks: (last game without stat in parentheses)
Taylor Pearson 47-straight games with a rebound (2/17/18 at WKU)
Khadaijia Brooks 38-straight games with a point (12/4/18 at Wisconsin)
Taylor Pearson 36-straight games with a point (12/4/18 at Wisconsin)
Kristen Mayo 34-straight games with a point (12/18/18 at Clemson)
Ashley Saintigene 31-straight games with rebound (11/19/17 at Cleveland State)
Khadaijia Brooks 29-straight starts (1/17/19 at FAU)
Ashley Saintgene 13-straight games with a block (12/29/18 vs. Delaware State, *last game played of 2018-19*)
Dazha Congleton 12-straight games with a rebound (every game this season)

A Great Start
Freshman Savannah Wheeler got off to a great beginning to her Marshall career scoring 18 points in her collegiate debut against Kentucky Christian, then adding 19 more versus Norfolk State. Wheeler was named Conference USA Freshman of the Week after scoring 37 combined points on 13-of-18 (72.2 percent) shooting from the field and 7-of-10 (70 percent) from three. She also tallied four steals against KCU. She is already over 150 points for the season, averaging 12.4 per game. She got the first start of her career at North Texas (1/4) and responded by scoring 17 points. For the season, she is averaging 26.5 minutes per contest.

Up Next
Marshall will travel to Charlotte on Thursday (7 p.m.) and Old Dominion on Saturday (2 p.m.).

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!

Blazers, Thundering Herd Battle Saturday on ESPN+

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Players Mentioned

Khadaijia Brooks

Kristen Mayo

Taylor Pearson

Ashley Saintigene

Kia Sivils

Savannah Wheeler

Marshall University Athletics