Women's Hoops Returns From Break To Face Murray State
Herd and Racers to square off on Tuesday

Dec. 29, 2009

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Marshall University women's basketball team will return from Christmas break to take on Murray State on Tuesday, December 29 at the Cam Henderson Center.

The Thundering Herd is playing its best basketball of the season, winning four straight games to improve its record to 6-4. Tuesday's opponent will mark the third Ohio Valley Conference foe that Marshall will face in as many games as it faced Morehead State and UT-Martin in its previous two contests.

Last time out, Marshall grabbed a 65-48 win over UT-Martin on December 20. It marked the first home game for the Herd in a month. The team took advantage of the home atmosphere, scoring the first six points and never looking back, leading by as many as 23 points in the win.

Chantelle Handy has been the top scorer for Marshall in its last two games, scoring 16 at Morehead State before recording 14 against UT-Martin. Over her last six games, the senior has averaged 14.7 PPG after scoring an average of just 5.3 PPG in the first four games of the season.

Redshirt freshman Adrian Randall has also been on a solid streak before the break. Randall did not score a point and notched seven rebounds in her first seven games, but over her last two, Randall has excelled. Against the Eagles, Randall scored four points while tying for the team lead in rebounds with eight and dishing out five assists. She followed that up with nine points and six rebounds against the Skyhawks.

Murray State enters the game with a 5-7 mark. After beginning the season 4-0, the Racers dropped seven-straight before topping IUPUI, 88-68, last time out. Rachel Isom holds the lone double-digit scoring average for MSU, tallying 11.0 PPG.

The game will mark the second of the Fifth Third Challenge. Fifth Third Bank, which also sponsored the UT-Martin contest, will give away t-shirts to the first 150 fans at the game. The bank will also give away up to $1,000 to one lucky fan.

 

 

Tip is set for 7 p.m. at the Cam Henderson Center. On December 31, the Herd will wrap up the calendar year with a Noon home game against Radford. Conference USA play will begin with the Herd traveling to East Carolina to face the Pirates on January 4. ECU currently holds the best record in the league at 10-1. That game will be televised by CBS College Sports.