WBB to Face Marshall in Capital Classic
December 13, 2013 10:42 AM | General
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| Senior guard Taylor Palmer averages 12.7 points per game in her career against Marshall, with as many as 17 points in WVU's 2011 win. |
| Dale Sparks/All-Pro Photography photo |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Looking for its eighth consecutive season win, the West Virginia women’s basketball team will face Marshall at 1 p.m. on Saturday, in the Chesapeake Energy Capital Classic, at the Charleston Civic Center.
Saturday is the 53rd meeting in the historical series, dating back to Jan. 25, 1974. Having won the last eight games in the series, WVU leads Marshall, 36-16, all-time. Coach Mike Carey is 10-1 at the helm of the program when facing Marshall. His only loss was an 82-76 defeat to the Thundering Herd on Jan. 11, 2005.
Marshall is 3-4 this season, with wins over Bluefield College, Southern Illinois and, most recently, WVU Tech. The Thundering Herd have fallen to Robert Morris, Morehead State, Indiana State and Eastern Kentucky.
Marshall is led in scoring by junior-transfer Leah Scott with 12.0 points per game on 33.3 percent (27-81) shooting, including five threes this season. Behind Scott, juco-transfer AJ Johnson averages 8.9 points per game and has collected 12 threes in all games, including three starts, this season.
Senior forward Suporia Dickens is the third-leading scorer for Marshall with 8.1 points per game, and has pulled down the second-most rebounds for MU with 6.3 per game. Junior center Chukwuka Ezeigbo is Marshall’s leading rebounder with 7.4 boards per game and rounds out the top four scorers with 7.3 points per game. Ezeigbo leads the team in blocked shots with 15 this season.
Freshman guard McKenzie Akers is Marshall’s leading 3-point shooter, making 40 percent of her attempts with 16-of-42 recorded. Senior Erica Woods leads Marshall in both assists and steals with 19 and 12, respectively.
As a team, Marshall averages 64.6 points per game, shooting 38.5 percent (154-400) from the field and 43.7 rebounds per game. In comparison, WVU averages 78.6 points per game, is shooting 45 percent (219-487) and averages 45.4 boards per game.
The Mountaineers (7-1) are coming off a 94-47 win over Fairleigh Dickinson at the WVU Coliseum last Saturday. WVU has four players scoring in double figures, led by senior guard Christal Caldwell with 15.5 points per game. Caldwell averaged 20.5 points per game in two games last week to put herself in the scoring leader role.
Sophomore guard Bria Holmes averages 13.0 points per game, while senior guard Taylor Palmer and senior center Asya Bussie average 12.8 and 12.6 points per game, respectively. Palmer and Caldwell combine for 29 3-pointers, while Bussie leads the Mountaineers in rebounding with 8.1 boards per game. Linda Stepney and Brooke Hampton have 27 and 25 assists each, respectively.
All tickets for the women’s game are general admission and are $7 each. A group rate is available for groups of 10 or more at $3 per ticket. Tickets for the Chesapeake Energy Capital Classic are available at the Charleston Civic Center Coliseum Box Office. Fans can purchase tickets by calling (304) 345-SHOW.
The game will be broadcast live, locally, on television by West Virginia Media, and fans can listen online at WVUsports.com, as the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG will carry the game with Jeff Culhane and Ayana Dunning on the call. In Morgantown the game will air live on 100.9 WSZT-FM, in Cumberland, Md., on WCBC-AM 1270, in Parkersburg on WADC-AM 1050 and in Charleston on WSCW-AM 1410 and WJYP-AM 1300.
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