Post Game Interview

HUNTINGTON, W. VA—Marshall remains unbeaten to start the 2015-16 season following a 63-50 win over visiting NJIT Sunday afternoon at The Cam Henderson Center.

The Herd (4-0) began the season scoring 100+ points in the first two contests and recorded back-to-back wins at home against Brecia (92-40) and Rhode Island (72-62) before topping the Highlanders Sunday.

Redshirt senior forward Leah Scott, a preseason Conference USA second-team honoree, led the way for Marshall with a double-double, 20 points and 11 rebounds.  Her 20 points against NJIT came on 7-for-16 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 from the free throw line.

Reigning C-USA Freshman Player of the Week Shayna Gore scored 17 points off the bench on 6-of-12 from the field and 3-of-8 from 3-point range.  Chelsey Romero and Talequia Hamilton scored nine and eight points, respectively, for The Herd.

NJIT's top scorer was freshman Kelly Guarino, who scored a career-best 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field, with all five field goals coming from behind the arc (four in the first half). The Highlanders other double-double figure scorer was junior forward Leah Horton, who finished just shy of a double-double with 12 points and team-high nine rebounds.

The Highlanders, who dished out 16 assists as a team, were led by junior co-captain Alana Dudley's personal-best 7 assists, which surpassed her old mark of four assists on four different occasions, most recently in the 2015-16 season opener at Binghamton last week.

NJIT jumped out of the gates early,  going ahead 18-10 in the first quarter behind Guarino's 12 points in the opening 5 minutes.  Marshall responded with a 9-0 run in the final four minutes of the quarter for a one-point advantage, 19-18, through one.

The Herd scored the first two points of the second half, but the Highlanders went on an 8-2 run sparked by Horton's six points in the spurt for a 26-23 lead with 5:38 left in the second quarter.  Marshall scored four straight points to claim a 27-26 advantage before the teams traded baskets in the final 3:27 and headed into the locker room tied at 31. 

NJIT's Guarino led all scorers with 12 points at the half and Romero paced the Herd with eight points.

NJIT's Guarino knocked down her fifth three-pointer of the game to open the second half. but Marshall scored the next eight points to take a 39-34 lead at the 4:30 mark in the third quarter. 

The home team took a six-point lead later after a pair of free throws by Gore made the score 42-36, Marshall, with 2:31 left in the third.

NJIT's sophomore guard Bianca Picard connected on a three from the corner and Alana Dudley finished a layup with 47 seconds on the clock pulling the visitors within a point, 42-41.  Marshall's Gore closed out the quarter with a three giving her team a 45-41 edge heading to the final quarter.

Marshall pushed its lead to nine on three occasions in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, the latest after a Gore layup at 4:57.  NJIT cut the deficit to six twice, just under the four-minute mark and after a jumper by Tatianna Torres with 3:00 left to play made the score 56-50.  But the home team would score the final seven points of the contest for a 63-50 victory.

The Highlanders have a pair of Thanksgiving week home games against non-Division I foes. St. Joseph's Brooklyn comes in on Tuesday at 7 pm and College of St. Joseph (VT) visits on Saturday 28 at 2 pm. The Highlanders hosted both teams last season, posting wins in each.