Marshall University Athletics
Wednesday, December 9
Lexington, KY
7:00 PM
Marshall University
-11,00 CUSA
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at
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University of Kentucky
5-0,0-0SEC
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Marshall
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Kentucky
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Photo by: Tim Letcher
Women’s Basketball Falls at No. 9 Kentucky
12/9/2020 9:57:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Johnson nets career-high 16 points
Final Stats (PDF)
Women's Basketball Falls at No. 9 Kentucky
Johnson nets career-high 16 points
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Marshall women's basketball team dropped its first road contest of the 2020-21 season, 79-45, to the 9th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats. Sophomore Alexis Johnson scored a career-high 16 points in the loss.
Marshall falls to 1-1 while Kentucky improves to 5-0.
"Kentucky is a very talented team," head coach Tony Kemper said. "They have some advantages on us that we struggled with, size, and we couldn't handle their pressure in the first half. We are just coming around as far practices and I think that conditioning affects us a little bit. But, that (Kentucky) is a good basketball team and they can cause some problems that everyone we play can't do, and we need to learn from it."
Johnson built on her career-day against Radford leading the Herd versus the No. 9 Wildcats. Johnson shot 6-of-9 from the field, including 2-for-2 from three. She added four rebounds and three steals. Johnson has already surpassed her freshman season points total of 27 in just the first two games of the year, now with 28.
"Alexis Johnson played really well coming off the bench and I think she gave us a little bit of a spark there (in the second quarter) and scored some baskets that we weren't getting," coach Kemper said. "I just told her in the locker room that she has earned some more minutes based on the way she has performed. She needs to continue to grow and practice."
Sophomore Savannah Wheeler was next with nine points. Freshman CC Mays contributed six and redshirt sophomore Mahogany Matthews finished with five. The Herd shot 30.4 percent from the floor in the game, but did convert 14-of-20 free throws.
It was a fight for the Herd to get rolling in the first quarter as the 9th-ranked Wildcats began the game with a 13-0 run. Johnson tallied the first points for Marshall at the 4:41 mark with a layup off a great pass from freshman Ksenija Mitric. The Herd managed just seven points in the opening frame as Johnson scored four and Matthews had three. Marshall trailed 22-7.
The Herd came out with a little more fire in the second quarter, outscoring Kentucky for most of the period. Johnson scored five more points while Mays added five and junior Lorelei Roper netted four. With 1:13 left in the second, Wheeler grabbed a steal by mid-court and then stopped for a long jumper just inside the three-point line, buried the shot and cut the deficit to eight. The Wildcats called timeout and then finished the quarter on a 7-0 run. Marshall went in at the half trailing 41-26.
Kentucky dominated in the second half. Pulling away for its fifth win of the season.
Marshall continues the season with another road contest at St. Bonaventure on Sunday, Dec. 13. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. The Herd has only played the Bonnies once, and it was back on Dec. 29, 1995, as St. Bonaventure won 84-73 at a neutral site. This will be Marshall's first trip to Olean, N.Y.
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!
Women's Basketball Falls at No. 9 Kentucky
Johnson nets career-high 16 points
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Marshall women's basketball team dropped its first road contest of the 2020-21 season, 79-45, to the 9th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats. Sophomore Alexis Johnson scored a career-high 16 points in the loss.
Marshall falls to 1-1 while Kentucky improves to 5-0.
"Kentucky is a very talented team," head coach Tony Kemper said. "They have some advantages on us that we struggled with, size, and we couldn't handle their pressure in the first half. We are just coming around as far practices and I think that conditioning affects us a little bit. But, that (Kentucky) is a good basketball team and they can cause some problems that everyone we play can't do, and we need to learn from it."
Johnson built on her career-day against Radford leading the Herd versus the No. 9 Wildcats. Johnson shot 6-of-9 from the field, including 2-for-2 from three. She added four rebounds and three steals. Johnson has already surpassed her freshman season points total of 27 in just the first two games of the year, now with 28.
"Alexis Johnson played really well coming off the bench and I think she gave us a little bit of a spark there (in the second quarter) and scored some baskets that we weren't getting," coach Kemper said. "I just told her in the locker room that she has earned some more minutes based on the way she has performed. She needs to continue to grow and practice."
Sophomore Savannah Wheeler was next with nine points. Freshman CC Mays contributed six and redshirt sophomore Mahogany Matthews finished with five. The Herd shot 30.4 percent from the floor in the game, but did convert 14-of-20 free throws.
It was a fight for the Herd to get rolling in the first quarter as the 9th-ranked Wildcats began the game with a 13-0 run. Johnson tallied the first points for Marshall at the 4:41 mark with a layup off a great pass from freshman Ksenija Mitric. The Herd managed just seven points in the opening frame as Johnson scored four and Matthews had three. Marshall trailed 22-7.
The Herd came out with a little more fire in the second quarter, outscoring Kentucky for most of the period. Johnson scored five more points while Mays added five and junior Lorelei Roper netted four. With 1:13 left in the second, Wheeler grabbed a steal by mid-court and then stopped for a long jumper just inside the three-point line, buried the shot and cut the deficit to eight. The Wildcats called timeout and then finished the quarter on a 7-0 run. Marshall went in at the half trailing 41-26.
Kentucky dominated in the second half. Pulling away for its fifth win of the season.
Marshall continues the season with another road contest at St. Bonaventure on Sunday, Dec. 13. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. The Herd has only played the Bonnies once, and it was back on Dec. 29, 1995, as St. Bonaventure won 84-73 at a neutral site. This will be Marshall's first trip to Olean, N.Y.
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!
---HerdZone.com---
Team Stats
MAR
UK
FG%
.304
.541
3FG%
.150
.318
FT%
.700
.600
RB
26
40
TO
17
12
STL
6
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
5
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F/C
/ Women's Basketball
G
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