Marshall University Athletics
Friday, March 5
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
7:00 PM EST/6:00 PM CST
Marshall University
-810,79 CUSA
54
at
61
Middle Tennessee
-147,124 CUSA
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2
3
4
F
Marshall
14
14
9
17
54
Middle Tennessee
15
12
12
22
61
Kia Sivils
Blue Raiders Use Late Spurt to Hold Off Thundering Herd
3/5/2021 10:14:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Marshall grabs 49 rebounds
FINAL STATS
MAYO/KEMPER POSTGAME REMARKS
MURFREESBORO, Tn. – Middle Tennessee's women's basketball program gave up an 11-0 run and fell behind by six in the early stages of the fourth quarter, but held Marshall without a field goal for more than seven minutes to pull out a 61-54 win Friday evening at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro.
The Blue Raiders improved to 14-7 overall and finished 12-4 in Conference USA, while Marshall dropped to 8-10 and 7-9 in the conference.
Anastasia Hayes (17), Aislynn Hayes (15) and Courtney Whitson (14) combined for 46 of the home team's points, while Anastasia Hayes also posted eight assists and seven rebounds.
Marshall was led by Taylor Pearson's 15 points, while Savannah Wheeler had 13 and Alexis Johnson posted 10 to go with nine rebounds. CC Mays had a team-best three assists.
The Thundering Herd trailed by one (15-14) through one quarter, held a 28-27 advantage at the half and trailed by two (39-37) through three periods.
Wheeler connected on a layup at the 8:09 mark of the fourth quarter to put Marshall ahead 45-39, finishing off an 11-0 scoring run for the visitors.
That's when the Blue Raiders limited Marshall to just four free throws until Wheeler struck again with a triple with 55 seconds left to pull the Herd within one possession at 55-52.
However, Aislynn Hayes buried a 3-pointer from the left wing with 19 seconds left on the ensuing possession to put the contest out of reach.
Marshall held big advantages in rebounding (49-28), second chance points (20-9) and bench points (19-7), but Middle Tennessee committed just five turnovers to the Herd's 16 and turned that margin into a 13-4 edge on points off those miscues.
Marshall will play on Wednesday in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament. The Thundering Herd will learn its opponent and game time, officially, once the league office releases the bracket Saturday evening.
Quotes
Kristen Mayo
On making the trip and not playing…
I think it's going to be tough the rest of the season. I have been very fortunate in my basketball career to not have to sit out due to injuries and now it's like this is a new territory. This season showed us better than anything that you can't control what happens, you just have to roll with the punches.
On providing support from the bench…
It's a different perspective. They asked if I wanted to come or not and I think me being here is like taking the role as a leader. Giving them energy as well as not showing my Debbie Downer side. It's one thing for me to be here but it's another for me to be positive and be here. They're still playing basketball, they're still playing really good basketball. It doesn't matter whether I'm there or not. It doesn't matter. My team fights its tail off every day
On being named to the C-USA All-Academic team…
As we go through college, we're considered Division I athletes. We're not considered students a lot of times. I think that it's important because the student aspect is what you take with you after the basketball is over. I'm honored by it, but I think that anybody on our team could have won that this year. I think that we hit the books pretty hard most of time and we stay on top of our classes.
Head Coach Tony Kemper
On the game…
It was probably a little bit deserved that (Aislynn Hayes) hit that three. That was key. They missed a lot of shots for us this weekend. We had a good defensive possession. They were patient, ran it all the way down and they made one in a big moment.
We were out of sorts for a lot of the day. They get some credit for that with some pressure on us and spots on the floor and things like that. I thought they moved us off where we wanted to pass the ball and really got us out of out of character a little bit. I was proud that we mounted a hard charge and I know for a fact there was a time or two there where we were wobbly. We showed some toughness to grind it and get a lead and then they did make some big shots at the end there. I think they made three 3-pointers in the last four minutes and they hadn't made many all weekend.
I think there's some stuff for us to learn. I think, mentally, we need to be a little more present with what's going on. We just weren't quite as focused on things like that as we have been, and I thought that showed. I did think there were moments where we focused, especially down the stretch. We need to get that back going into Frisco.
MAYO/KEMPER POSTGAME REMARKS
MURFREESBORO, Tn. – Middle Tennessee's women's basketball program gave up an 11-0 run and fell behind by six in the early stages of the fourth quarter, but held Marshall without a field goal for more than seven minutes to pull out a 61-54 win Friday evening at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro.
The Blue Raiders improved to 14-7 overall and finished 12-4 in Conference USA, while Marshall dropped to 8-10 and 7-9 in the conference.
Anastasia Hayes (17), Aislynn Hayes (15) and Courtney Whitson (14) combined for 46 of the home team's points, while Anastasia Hayes also posted eight assists and seven rebounds.
Marshall was led by Taylor Pearson's 15 points, while Savannah Wheeler had 13 and Alexis Johnson posted 10 to go with nine rebounds. CC Mays had a team-best three assists.
The Thundering Herd trailed by one (15-14) through one quarter, held a 28-27 advantage at the half and trailed by two (39-37) through three periods.
Wheeler connected on a layup at the 8:09 mark of the fourth quarter to put Marshall ahead 45-39, finishing off an 11-0 scoring run for the visitors.
That's when the Blue Raiders limited Marshall to just four free throws until Wheeler struck again with a triple with 55 seconds left to pull the Herd within one possession at 55-52.
However, Aislynn Hayes buried a 3-pointer from the left wing with 19 seconds left on the ensuing possession to put the contest out of reach.
Marshall held big advantages in rebounding (49-28), second chance points (20-9) and bench points (19-7), but Middle Tennessee committed just five turnovers to the Herd's 16 and turned that margin into a 13-4 edge on points off those miscues.
Marshall will play on Wednesday in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament. The Thundering Herd will learn its opponent and game time, officially, once the league office releases the bracket Saturday evening.
Quotes
Kristen Mayo
On making the trip and not playing…
I think it's going to be tough the rest of the season. I have been very fortunate in my basketball career to not have to sit out due to injuries and now it's like this is a new territory. This season showed us better than anything that you can't control what happens, you just have to roll with the punches.
On providing support from the bench…
It's a different perspective. They asked if I wanted to come or not and I think me being here is like taking the role as a leader. Giving them energy as well as not showing my Debbie Downer side. It's one thing for me to be here but it's another for me to be positive and be here. They're still playing basketball, they're still playing really good basketball. It doesn't matter whether I'm there or not. It doesn't matter. My team fights its tail off every day
On being named to the C-USA All-Academic team…
As we go through college, we're considered Division I athletes. We're not considered students a lot of times. I think that it's important because the student aspect is what you take with you after the basketball is over. I'm honored by it, but I think that anybody on our team could have won that this year. I think that we hit the books pretty hard most of time and we stay on top of our classes.
Head Coach Tony Kemper
On the game…
It was probably a little bit deserved that (Aislynn Hayes) hit that three. That was key. They missed a lot of shots for us this weekend. We had a good defensive possession. They were patient, ran it all the way down and they made one in a big moment.
We were out of sorts for a lot of the day. They get some credit for that with some pressure on us and spots on the floor and things like that. I thought they moved us off where we wanted to pass the ball and really got us out of out of character a little bit. I was proud that we mounted a hard charge and I know for a fact there was a time or two there where we were wobbly. We showed some toughness to grind it and get a lead and then they did make some big shots at the end there. I think they made three 3-pointers in the last four minutes and they hadn't made many all weekend.
I think there's some stuff for us to learn. I think, mentally, we need to be a little more present with what's going on. We just weren't quite as focused on things like that as we have been, and I thought that showed. I did think there were moments where we focused, especially down the stretch. We need to get that back going into Frisco.
Team Stats
MARSH
MT
FG%
.370
.328
3FG%
.250
.237
FT%
.667
.737
RB
49
28
TO
16
5
STL
3
4
Game Leaders
Pts
15
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
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