Marshall University Athletics
Wednesday, March 9
Frisco, Texas
12:00 PM EST/11:00 AM CST
Marshall University
-1513,108 CUSA
62
vs
80
(4W) Rice
-1412,89 CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Marshall
17
8
16
21
62
Rice
20
18
19
23
80
Savannah Wheeler
Balanced Attack Powers Rice Past Herd at C-USA Tourney
3/9/2022 3:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Wheeler nets 27
FINAL STATS
KEMPER POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
FRISCO, Texas – Marshall's Savannah Wheeler scored 27 points on the strength of five three-pointers but it wasn't enough as the Rice women's basketball team put five players in double figures in an 80-62 win Wednesday in the second round of the 2022 Conference USA Tournament.
The event is being held at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco.
The Owls improved to 14-12, while Marshall dropped to 15-13. Rice now advances to face Charlotte, the East Division's top seed, in Thursday's quarterfinal at 12 p.m. ET/11 a.m. CT.
Ashlee Austin shook off early foul trouble to lead the Owls with 19 points, while Malia Fisher had a tremendous double-double performance of 17 points and 16 rebounds. Maya Bokunewicz also had a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Trinity Gooden posted 13 points as well. India Bellamy finished with 10 to account for all but eight of Rice's points.
Joining Wheeler atop the Herd's scoring column was Aaliyah Dunham, who had 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting (4-for-8 on triples). Kia Sivils led the team in rebounding with six and Kennedi Colclough paced Marshall with three steals.
Wheeler also recorded four assists.
Both teams came out firing in the first quarter, where Marshall led three times by three points. Dunham made a triple at the 6:16 mark to put the Herd up 10-7, but the Owls responded with a 10-0 run on points by Austin and Fisher to go up 17-10 at the 4:04 mark.
But then Marshall came right back with a 7-0 run of its own to tie the contest at 17 before a Bokunewicz three-pointer gave the Owls a 20-17 lead through 10 minutes of play.
Rice led 38-25 at the half, as the Owls went 12-for-12 at the line in the second quarter. Marshall struggled to a 2-for-18 clip from the field and 1-for-9 from downtown during that stretch.
The Herd got it back into single-digits (43-34) on a Brianah Ferby jumper at the 6:39 mark of the third quarter, but the Owls pushed it back to a 16-point advantage (57-41) by the end of the period.
The Rice lead never dropped below 14 points in the final quarter.
The Owls came into the game shooting 69.8 percent from the free throw line on the season. On Wednesday, however, they were nearly perfect, connecting on 25 of 27 attempts (92.6 percent).
The Rice bench outscored Marshall 16-0 and the Owls held a commanding 43-26 edge on rebounds.
"We just got beat by a better team today, in all phases," said Marshall head coach Tony Kemper. "They were more physical from the jump and I didn't think we adjusted to that at all. Defensively, it was not the game we wanted. We fouled way too much. We couldn't guard the dribble, really, at any spot. We didn't play well enough to beat them today.
"We have to give credit to them. It was a disappointing day. I know we were capable of playing better. Rice improved a lot through the course of the year. We really struggled with their zone during the second quarter and that's when it kind've got away from us. I thought we tried to mount comebacks late but we just didn't play defense well enough and couldn't stack enough stops together to put real pressure on them."
The Thundering Herd will now await further postseason opportunities, should they arise.
Individual program records for the Conference USA Tournament
-Wheeler: 5 three-pointers (T-1st)
-Dunham: 4 three-pointers (T-3rd)
-Wheeler: 9 field goals (T-2nd)
-Dunham: 8 field goals (T-4th)
-Wheeler: 27 points (T-2nd)
Team program records for the Conference USA Tournament
-10 three-pointers (2nd)
KEMPER POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
FRISCO, Texas – Marshall's Savannah Wheeler scored 27 points on the strength of five three-pointers but it wasn't enough as the Rice women's basketball team put five players in double figures in an 80-62 win Wednesday in the second round of the 2022 Conference USA Tournament.
The event is being held at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco.
The Owls improved to 14-12, while Marshall dropped to 15-13. Rice now advances to face Charlotte, the East Division's top seed, in Thursday's quarterfinal at 12 p.m. ET/11 a.m. CT.
Ashlee Austin shook off early foul trouble to lead the Owls with 19 points, while Malia Fisher had a tremendous double-double performance of 17 points and 16 rebounds. Maya Bokunewicz also had a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Trinity Gooden posted 13 points as well. India Bellamy finished with 10 to account for all but eight of Rice's points.
Joining Wheeler atop the Herd's scoring column was Aaliyah Dunham, who had 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting (4-for-8 on triples). Kia Sivils led the team in rebounding with six and Kennedi Colclough paced Marshall with three steals.
Wheeler also recorded four assists.
Both teams came out firing in the first quarter, where Marshall led three times by three points. Dunham made a triple at the 6:16 mark to put the Herd up 10-7, but the Owls responded with a 10-0 run on points by Austin and Fisher to go up 17-10 at the 4:04 mark.
But then Marshall came right back with a 7-0 run of its own to tie the contest at 17 before a Bokunewicz three-pointer gave the Owls a 20-17 lead through 10 minutes of play.
Rice led 38-25 at the half, as the Owls went 12-for-12 at the line in the second quarter. Marshall struggled to a 2-for-18 clip from the field and 1-for-9 from downtown during that stretch.
The Herd got it back into single-digits (43-34) on a Brianah Ferby jumper at the 6:39 mark of the third quarter, but the Owls pushed it back to a 16-point advantage (57-41) by the end of the period.
The Rice lead never dropped below 14 points in the final quarter.
The Owls came into the game shooting 69.8 percent from the free throw line on the season. On Wednesday, however, they were nearly perfect, connecting on 25 of 27 attempts (92.6 percent).
The Rice bench outscored Marshall 16-0 and the Owls held a commanding 43-26 edge on rebounds.
"We just got beat by a better team today, in all phases," said Marshall head coach Tony Kemper. "They were more physical from the jump and I didn't think we adjusted to that at all. Defensively, it was not the game we wanted. We fouled way too much. We couldn't guard the dribble, really, at any spot. We didn't play well enough to beat them today.
"We have to give credit to them. It was a disappointing day. I know we were capable of playing better. Rice improved a lot through the course of the year. We really struggled with their zone during the second quarter and that's when it kind've got away from us. I thought we tried to mount comebacks late but we just didn't play defense well enough and couldn't stack enough stops together to put real pressure on them."
The Thundering Herd will now await further postseason opportunities, should they arise.
Individual program records for the Conference USA Tournament
-Wheeler: 5 three-pointers (T-1st)
-Dunham: 4 three-pointers (T-3rd)
-Wheeler: 9 field goals (T-2nd)
-Dunham: 8 field goals (T-4th)
-Wheeler: 27 points (T-2nd)
Team program records for the Conference USA Tournament
-10 three-pointers (2nd)
Team Stats
Marsh
Rice
FG%
.367
.471
3FG%
.294
.333
FT%
.533
.926
RB
26
43
TO
11
16
STL
7
3
Game Leaders
Pts
27
FGM
9
3FGM
5
FTM
4
Pts
20
FGM
8
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
F
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