Marshall University Athletics
Thursday, January 14
Huntington, W.Va.
6:00 PM
Marshall University
-34, 23 CUSA
81
vs
54
Western Kentucky University
-27, 12 CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
WKU
16
13
11
14
54
Marshall
22
14
21
24
81
Savannah Wheeler
Marshall Rolls to 27-Point Home Win over WKU
1/14/2021 9:36:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Mayo, Wheeler go for combined 38
FINAL STATS
KEMPER POSTGAME COMMENTS
MAYO POSTGAME COMMENTS
WHEELER POSTGAME COMMENTS
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Guards Savannah Wheeler and Kristen Mayo combined for 38 points as the Marshall women's basketball team thumped visiting WKU 81-54 in a wire-to-wire win Thursday evening inside the Cam Henderson Center.
The win vaulted the Thundering Herd to 3-4 overall and 2-3 in Conference USA. The Lady Toppers fell to 2-7 and 1-2 in the league.
Wheeler scored 20 points and had six assists against no turnovers, while Mayo contributed 18 points (on 7-for-11 shooting) to go with five rebounds and four assists. Taylor Pearson also hit double digits with 10 points. Mahogany Matthews, the league's leading shot blocker, has continued to control the paint defensively. She did it again Thursday with three blocked shots.
The Tops got double-double efforts from both Fatou Pouye (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Raneem Elgedawy (17 points, 10 boards). Elgedawy, a 6-4 post player from Alexandria, Egypt, is a two-time all-league performer. She made her season debut Thursday and played 24 minutes off the bench for head coach Greg Collins.
Hope Sivori also added 10 points, four assists and three steals for WKU.
The Thundering Herd jumped on the Tops early with a 10-0 run to start the game. WKU, though, responded and cut the lead back to single digits by the end of the first quarter (22-16).
The margin was still seven (36-29) at halftime, but Marshall put the game away in the second half, scoring 45 points.
The advantage got into 20s for the first time on a Mayo steal and layup at the 7:50 mark of the fourth quarter to put the Herd ahead 61-40.
The Thundering Herd was red-hot in the final stanza, connecting on 10 of its 16 shots, en route to 24 points.
Marshall really turned up the heat on the defensive end throughout, forcing 19 WKU turnovers, which led to 17 Herd points off those miscues. The Thundering Herd also held a commanding 16-2 edge on fast break points.
Ten of Marshall's players found their way into the scorebook by game's end.
The win was Marshall's first against WKU anywhere but the 2016 Conference USA Tournament. Coming into the game, the Tops held a 14-1 lead in the all-time series between the two schools.
The two teams will battle again on Sunday, this time in E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Tip time there is 3 p.m. ET/2 CT and will, once again, be carried by ESPN+.
Postgame Quotes
Kristen Mayo
On finally being back on the court…
Honestly, it's frustrating but it is something that everyone is going through, so you just have to roll with it. You roll with the punches because it's life and you can't change the outcome of stuff. You just have to make the best of it.
On not playing…
It's defeating watching the game especially when you aren't out there, and you don't get to play. I think that the whole team was more energetic because we have everyone together and not certain people or anyone out.
On getting to finally play…
It's pretty awesome because this is it for me, so I think that I need to cherish every moment of what I have left. I am enjoying it and it's a lot of fun. You just have to go out there and enjoy yourself, as opposed to putting a lot of pressure on myself or the team in general.
On being a Kentucky native and playing against WKU…
It definitely felt good but there are still areas we need to work on … like rebounding. People want to point fingers at post players but us guards need to get down there and get the ball too. I thought we took care of the ball better than in recent games."
Savannah Wheeler
On playing WKU and being from Kentucky …
It gives us a little motivation being from Kentucky but overall, it felt good to have everyone back. Everyone was just playing within themselves. In the past, we have had trouble against them. Tonight, we were very patient and calm and got the ball around the perimeter and down low when we needed to.
On having everyone back, healthy and moving forward…
It is very important. I think that, with tonight's win and looking forward to Sunday, that we just need to move past this and get ready to go Sunday. I think everyone played within themselves … people coming off the bench and doing their job. It worked very well for us.
Tony Kemper
Tony Kemper opening remarks…
Obviously we needed a win. To come out tonight and take care of our home floor was really important. It is good to have everyone back. I've been talking about that for a while now. I do like this group. You saw, at times, what they can be. We have some good athleticism and pretty good skill. Having us all out there together was important. We have been together for four days now and we will take it. As you saw, we have some talent over there. It was a good night tonight, but we need to have a short memory. I don't think (tonight) was very reflective of who Western is. I think we played well, but I completely anticipate that we will have a tough go of it on Sunday. That has been a notoriously tough place to play for everyone who goes over there, and it has certainly had our number. We have our work cut out for us on Sunday. We are happy about this one but we have to reset really quickly.
KEMPER POSTGAME COMMENTS
MAYO POSTGAME COMMENTS
WHEELER POSTGAME COMMENTS
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Guards Savannah Wheeler and Kristen Mayo combined for 38 points as the Marshall women's basketball team thumped visiting WKU 81-54 in a wire-to-wire win Thursday evening inside the Cam Henderson Center.
The win vaulted the Thundering Herd to 3-4 overall and 2-3 in Conference USA. The Lady Toppers fell to 2-7 and 1-2 in the league.
Wheeler scored 20 points and had six assists against no turnovers, while Mayo contributed 18 points (on 7-for-11 shooting) to go with five rebounds and four assists. Taylor Pearson also hit double digits with 10 points. Mahogany Matthews, the league's leading shot blocker, has continued to control the paint defensively. She did it again Thursday with three blocked shots.
The Tops got double-double efforts from both Fatou Pouye (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Raneem Elgedawy (17 points, 10 boards). Elgedawy, a 6-4 post player from Alexandria, Egypt, is a two-time all-league performer. She made her season debut Thursday and played 24 minutes off the bench for head coach Greg Collins.
Hope Sivori also added 10 points, four assists and three steals for WKU.
The Thundering Herd jumped on the Tops early with a 10-0 run to start the game. WKU, though, responded and cut the lead back to single digits by the end of the first quarter (22-16).
The margin was still seven (36-29) at halftime, but Marshall put the game away in the second half, scoring 45 points.
The advantage got into 20s for the first time on a Mayo steal and layup at the 7:50 mark of the fourth quarter to put the Herd ahead 61-40.
The Thundering Herd was red-hot in the final stanza, connecting on 10 of its 16 shots, en route to 24 points.
Marshall really turned up the heat on the defensive end throughout, forcing 19 WKU turnovers, which led to 17 Herd points off those miscues. The Thundering Herd also held a commanding 16-2 edge on fast break points.
Ten of Marshall's players found their way into the scorebook by game's end.
The win was Marshall's first against WKU anywhere but the 2016 Conference USA Tournament. Coming into the game, the Tops held a 14-1 lead in the all-time series between the two schools.
The two teams will battle again on Sunday, this time in E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Tip time there is 3 p.m. ET/2 CT and will, once again, be carried by ESPN+.
Postgame Quotes
Kristen Mayo
On finally being back on the court…
Honestly, it's frustrating but it is something that everyone is going through, so you just have to roll with it. You roll with the punches because it's life and you can't change the outcome of stuff. You just have to make the best of it.
On not playing…
It's defeating watching the game especially when you aren't out there, and you don't get to play. I think that the whole team was more energetic because we have everyone together and not certain people or anyone out.
On getting to finally play…
It's pretty awesome because this is it for me, so I think that I need to cherish every moment of what I have left. I am enjoying it and it's a lot of fun. You just have to go out there and enjoy yourself, as opposed to putting a lot of pressure on myself or the team in general.
On being a Kentucky native and playing against WKU…
It definitely felt good but there are still areas we need to work on … like rebounding. People want to point fingers at post players but us guards need to get down there and get the ball too. I thought we took care of the ball better than in recent games."
Savannah Wheeler
On playing WKU and being from Kentucky …
It gives us a little motivation being from Kentucky but overall, it felt good to have everyone back. Everyone was just playing within themselves. In the past, we have had trouble against them. Tonight, we were very patient and calm and got the ball around the perimeter and down low when we needed to.
On having everyone back, healthy and moving forward…
It is very important. I think that, with tonight's win and looking forward to Sunday, that we just need to move past this and get ready to go Sunday. I think everyone played within themselves … people coming off the bench and doing their job. It worked very well for us.
Tony Kemper
Tony Kemper opening remarks…
Obviously we needed a win. To come out tonight and take care of our home floor was really important. It is good to have everyone back. I've been talking about that for a while now. I do like this group. You saw, at times, what they can be. We have some good athleticism and pretty good skill. Having us all out there together was important. We have been together for four days now and we will take it. As you saw, we have some talent over there. It was a good night tonight, but we need to have a short memory. I don't think (tonight) was very reflective of who Western is. I think we played well, but I completely anticipate that we will have a tough go of it on Sunday. That has been a notoriously tough place to play for everyone who goes over there, and it has certainly had our number. We have our work cut out for us on Sunday. We are happy about this one but we have to reset really quickly.
Team Stats
WKU
MAR
FG%
.389
.492
3FG%
.167
.375
FT%
.529
.800
RB
37
35
TO
19
9
STL
7
7
Game Leaders
Pts
20
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
3
Pts
18
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
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