Marshall University Athletics
Thursday, January 20
Huntington, W.Va.
6 PM
Marshall University
-105,51 CUSA
62
vs
59
FIU
-96,13 CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
FIU
7
18
13
21
59
Marshall
18
17
16
11
62
Marshall Holds off Panthers in 62-59 Home Win
1/20/2022 9:36:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Wheeler nets 23
FINAL STATS
ROPER/KEMPER PRESS CONFERENCE
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Savannah Wheeler nailed four of her five three-point attempts and scored a game-high 23 points as host Marshall won 62-59 in a wire-to-wire victory over visiting FIU Thursday evening at the Cam Henderson Center.
The Thundering Herd, winners of seven of its last eight, improved to 10-5 overall and 5-1 in Conference USA. The Panthers dropped to 9-6 and 1-3 in the league.
Kennedi Colclough added 12 points and Brianah Ferby posted 11 to go with Lorelei Roper's team-high eight rebounds. Roper's plus-minus total was a game-high plus-13 in 25 and a half minutes of action. Aaliyah Dunham led the way in assists with three and Wheeler contributed three steals.
The Panthers had three players in double figures, as Grace Hunter (12) and Ariel Colon (11) combined for 23 points off the bench. Tanajah Hayes also posted 11, while Emerald Ekpiteta recorded a game-high 11 rebounds.
Kyla Nelson, FIU's leading scorer who came into Thursday averaging 13.2 points per game and C-USA's three-point percentage leader (37.8), was limited to just eight points on 2-for-10 shooting and 1-for-6 from distance.
The Thundering Herd had an excellent first quarter, shooting 60 percent (6-for-10) from the field, while holding the visitors to a 20 percent (3-for-15) clip to build an 18-7 lead.
In the second quarter, FIU trimmed a 16-point Herd lead (23-7) down to seven twice before Wheeler connected on a pull-up triple with 1:19 left for the 35-25 halftime margin.
Marshall pushed the bulge back to 17 (48-31) on two CC Mays free throws at the 3:52 mark of the third quarter and took a 13-point lead (51-38) into the game's final quarter.
That's when the Panthers' defense stiffened, limiting the Herd to just a 2-for-10 shooting effort, which included an 0-for-5 mark from deep.
FIU cut it to three (59-56) on a Nelson free throw with 45 seconds left, but Mays got a big offensive rebound on the other end, which resulted in two Dunham free throws.
Colon made a triple to cut the lead back to three (62-59) with less than a second left and the Panthers fouled Mays on the inbound. The Tampa, Florida native missed both, but Colon was unable to get off a desperation heave before the final horn sounded.
FIU was dogged by foul trouble throughout the game as Hayes, Nelson, Hunter and Maria Torres all fouled out and Zaida Gonzalez finished with four personals.
The Panthers finished with a 27-7 advantage on bench points and were up 28-18 on points in the paint.
Marshall won the rebounding battle 39-33.
"Every win is a good win in league play," said Marshall head coach Tony Kemper. "It doesn't matter if it's ugly, pretty or what. We were pretty for quite a while and I have to do a better job of helping us stay aggressive.
"That's the story of the game. We went into protection-mode way too early. We have to stay aggressive on both ends of the floor. Hopefully we learned that tonight and we learned it with a win."
The Thundering Herd is back in action Saturday at 1 p.m. as Florida Atlantic (4-12, 0-5) visits for a 1 p.m. tip inside the Cam Henderson Center. The Owls fell at WKU 73-49 on Thursday as leading scorer Amber Gaston (13.1 points per game) missed her third straight game.
Notes
- Eight of Marshall's last nine opponents have been held to under 60 points.
- The last time Marshall had 20 or more made free throws in a game was Nov. 14, 2021 at Radford (20-for-24).
- Thursday was just the sixth time this season – out of 15 games – that Marshall committed 15 or more turnovers.
- Savannah Wheeler surpassed Tamira Higgins (1991-95) and is now 21st in program history with 1,028 career points. Wheeler has now made 301 field goals in her career.
- Wheeler scored in double-figures for the 18th-straight game and the 54th time in her career. It was her sixth 20-point game of the season and 15th of her career.
- Wheeler hit four three-pointers for the seventh time in her career (third of the season).
- Lorelei Roper has grabbed at least six boards 10-straight games. She has 350 in her career.
- Wheeler had her ninth game of the year with at least two steals.
- Aaliyah Dunham had her eighth game of the year with at least two steals and the 48th of her career.
- Dunham has dished out at least two assists in 96 of her 120 career games played.
- Kennedi Colclough scored in double-digits for the sixth-straight game, the 12th time this season and the 46th time in her career.
- Brianah Ferby scored in double-figures for the eighth time this season and 45th time in her career.
- CC Mays has pulled down five or more rebounds in seven games this season and 12 times in her career.
ROPER/KEMPER PRESS CONFERENCE
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Savannah Wheeler nailed four of her five three-point attempts and scored a game-high 23 points as host Marshall won 62-59 in a wire-to-wire victory over visiting FIU Thursday evening at the Cam Henderson Center.
The Thundering Herd, winners of seven of its last eight, improved to 10-5 overall and 5-1 in Conference USA. The Panthers dropped to 9-6 and 1-3 in the league.
Kennedi Colclough added 12 points and Brianah Ferby posted 11 to go with Lorelei Roper's team-high eight rebounds. Roper's plus-minus total was a game-high plus-13 in 25 and a half minutes of action. Aaliyah Dunham led the way in assists with three and Wheeler contributed three steals.
The Panthers had three players in double figures, as Grace Hunter (12) and Ariel Colon (11) combined for 23 points off the bench. Tanajah Hayes also posted 11, while Emerald Ekpiteta recorded a game-high 11 rebounds.
Kyla Nelson, FIU's leading scorer who came into Thursday averaging 13.2 points per game and C-USA's three-point percentage leader (37.8), was limited to just eight points on 2-for-10 shooting and 1-for-6 from distance.
The Thundering Herd had an excellent first quarter, shooting 60 percent (6-for-10) from the field, while holding the visitors to a 20 percent (3-for-15) clip to build an 18-7 lead.
In the second quarter, FIU trimmed a 16-point Herd lead (23-7) down to seven twice before Wheeler connected on a pull-up triple with 1:19 left for the 35-25 halftime margin.
Marshall pushed the bulge back to 17 (48-31) on two CC Mays free throws at the 3:52 mark of the third quarter and took a 13-point lead (51-38) into the game's final quarter.
That's when the Panthers' defense stiffened, limiting the Herd to just a 2-for-10 shooting effort, which included an 0-for-5 mark from deep.
FIU cut it to three (59-56) on a Nelson free throw with 45 seconds left, but Mays got a big offensive rebound on the other end, which resulted in two Dunham free throws.
Colon made a triple to cut the lead back to three (62-59) with less than a second left and the Panthers fouled Mays on the inbound. The Tampa, Florida native missed both, but Colon was unable to get off a desperation heave before the final horn sounded.
FIU was dogged by foul trouble throughout the game as Hayes, Nelson, Hunter and Maria Torres all fouled out and Zaida Gonzalez finished with four personals.
The Panthers finished with a 27-7 advantage on bench points and were up 28-18 on points in the paint.
Marshall won the rebounding battle 39-33.
"Every win is a good win in league play," said Marshall head coach Tony Kemper. "It doesn't matter if it's ugly, pretty or what. We were pretty for quite a while and I have to do a better job of helping us stay aggressive.
"That's the story of the game. We went into protection-mode way too early. We have to stay aggressive on both ends of the floor. Hopefully we learned that tonight and we learned it with a win."
The Thundering Herd is back in action Saturday at 1 p.m. as Florida Atlantic (4-12, 0-5) visits for a 1 p.m. tip inside the Cam Henderson Center. The Owls fell at WKU 73-49 on Thursday as leading scorer Amber Gaston (13.1 points per game) missed her third straight game.
Notes
- Eight of Marshall's last nine opponents have been held to under 60 points.
- The last time Marshall had 20 or more made free throws in a game was Nov. 14, 2021 at Radford (20-for-24).
- Thursday was just the sixth time this season – out of 15 games – that Marshall committed 15 or more turnovers.
- Savannah Wheeler surpassed Tamira Higgins (1991-95) and is now 21st in program history with 1,028 career points. Wheeler has now made 301 field goals in her career.
- Wheeler scored in double-figures for the 18th-straight game and the 54th time in her career. It was her sixth 20-point game of the season and 15th of her career.
- Wheeler hit four three-pointers for the seventh time in her career (third of the season).
- Lorelei Roper has grabbed at least six boards 10-straight games. She has 350 in her career.
- Wheeler had her ninth game of the year with at least two steals.
- Aaliyah Dunham had her eighth game of the year with at least two steals and the 48th of her career.
- Dunham has dished out at least two assists in 96 of her 120 career games played.
- Kennedi Colclough scored in double-digits for the sixth-straight game, the 12th time this season and the 46th time in her career.
- Brianah Ferby scored in double-figures for the eighth time this season and 45th time in her career.
- CC Mays has pulled down five or more rebounds in seven games this season and 12 times in her career.
Team Stats
FIU
Marsh
FG%
.393
.378
3FG%
.292
.368
FT%
.571
.656
RB
33
39
TO
16
19
STL
10
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
7
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
7
FGM
1
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F/C
/ Women's Basketball
G
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