Nov. 14, 2007

Game Notes

OXFORD, Ohio - The Marshall women's basketball team will conclude the Preseason WNIT beginning on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. when the Thundering Herd will face IUPUI at Millett Hall in Oxford, Ohio.

Miami (Ohio) and Radford will face off on Friday at 6 p.m., followed by the Marshall game. The losers of Friday's games will play on Saturday at 6 p.m. with the winners playing 30 minutes following the first match.

The Thundering Herd (0-1, 0-0 C-USA) is coming off of a tough loss at Evansville in the opening round of the WNIT. Holding a lead of as many as 16 points in the second half, the Herd was unable to hold off a 26-0 charge by the Purple Aces in the 89-77 loss.

There were many bright spots for the Herd, starting with leading scorer Alix Barnette. The sophomore from Chapel Hill, N.C. tallied 15 points, the second-highest total of her career. Her play was pivotal to Marshall's success in the first half as she notched ten points, eight in the final four minutes. Meg Withrow also had a strong start with 13 points, six assists and five steals.

Several newcomers had strong debuts against Evansville, starting with junior Casey Baker. After stealing the ball 11 times in two exhibition games, she had four more against the Purple Aces. With ten points, she was one of four players in double-digits in the opener.

Senior Kizzy Hart led all newcomers in the opener, playing 33 minutes, while tallying six points to go along with three assists. Freshman forward Tynikki Crook had nine points while grabbing a team-high six rebounds.

IUPUI is 0-1 following a 65-35 loss to Michigan State in its opening-round WNIT game. The Jaguars will face Morehead State at home on Wednesday night before traveling to Oxford.

The Jaguars return four of five starters, including the defending Mid-Continent Defensive Player of the Year Jernisha Cann. Cann grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds in the opener against nationally-ranked Michigan State. Julia Whitted was the top scorer for IUPUI against MSU, scoring ten points, the only Jaguar in double digits.

While Marshall has never faced IUPUI, the team has a history with both of the possible opponents on Saturday, facing Radford and Miami a combined 43 times.

Miami, a former Mid-American Conference rival of Marshall, was topped by Notre Dame, 98-50 last weekend. The Herd has not faced the RedHawks since the 2004-05 season, the team's last season in the MAC. In the last meeting, Marshall halted Miami's 15-game winning streak over the team, topping the RedHawks, 76-63. Miami own a 16-3 advantage in the series, however, all three Marshall wins have come on the road.

In its series against Radford, the Herd holds a 13-11 edge. The last meeting, which took place in 2003, saw Marshall come away with an 80-50 win. Radford fell to TCU by 11, 74-63, in its first WNIT game.

Following the WNIT, Marshall will continue its four-game start on the road, traveling to Morehead State next Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Herd will holds its home opener the following Saturday, playing host to Niagara at 1 p.m.