WINNING START

When a team seeks a turnaround season, it needs some potential corner-turning victories to fuel the fire.

Marshall University women’s basketball coach Tony Kemper hopes the catalyst for the Thundering Herd will be its first weekend in Conference USA play.

Execution on offense, grit on defense, determination at both ends of the floor sparked Marshall to wins over Old Dominion (57-48) and Charlotte (63-62) at Cam Henderson Center. Gone, at least for two games, were the lategame misfires that contributed to the Herd’s coming up short time and again in close games a year ago.

“After the last game (ODU), the last question was about maturity. I was close to saying mature,” Kemper said. “Second time’s a charm. I’d like to see it again. You’re never really satisfied. We did not back down. That’s a position they tried to put us in multiple times. We didn’t. Sometimes you find a way. This time we did. A goal of mine has been to make this a hard place for people to play. It hasn’t always been there. Maybe this weekend.”

After one week in C-USA play, Marshall found itself in a six-way tie for first with each team 2-0. Three were UAB, Rice and Middle Tennessee, the teams

picked in preseason to finish 1-2-3 in the league, along with North Texas and Western Kentucky.

“No one in league thought MU would be 2-0. I agree with that,” Kemper said on Jan. 5 after his Thundering Herd got a last-second basket by Kristen Mayo to edge Charlotte. “Look what we did last year. No one slighted us. That made sense. We have to earn our way out of it after 16 games.”

The Herd’s lone week 2 game was an 85-55 loss at Western Kentucky.

Despite the fast start, Kemper is keeping things in perspective as the Herd moves forward. Marshall finished in the cellar in the league last year (3-13, 9-20 overall). The Herd went 7-10 at home. Marshall’s win over Charlotte was its eighth at home this season to date. Two days earlier, the Herd blitzed Old Dominion.

“We need to be humble. Heck there’s a lot of season left,” Kemper said. “The question now is can they do it again?”

Against Old Dominion, the 48 points marked a season-low for the Monarchs, who also had a season-high 23 turnovers. The Herd watched an 18-point lead dwindle to five,

but then righted the ship and held on. Against Charlotte, the game went back and forth with Marshall making one more big play than the 49ers, the game-winning, driving layup by Mayo. The Herd had lost 10 straight to Charlotte. “To do what we did defensively, wow. We had the right idea how to do it. It’s all about how you go do it. Numbers said they did it,” Kemper said after the ODU win. “We made it hard on them. It was our most complete performance. If they were in there, they helped us. If not, they helped us.”

Kemper saw even more positives against Charlotte.

On offense, Marshall has shown balance. Guard Shayna Gore leads the way, but Taylor Porter, Mayo, Khadaijia Brooks, Princess Clemons and Kia Sivils can light it up at any time as well as show composure at crunch time. Getting the recently-injured Ashley Saintigene back on the court is also crucial.

“We’re a lot more calm. We did not press,” Kemper said. “We were aggressive the right way. We didn’t slack off. We always had a body in there. All wins look that way. We share the ball. When we’re at our best, it’s hard for them to really key on one player. We’ve been pretty balanced. We can play better. Buckle down, be solid in the scheme.”

On defense, the Herd’s been able to make opponents struggle shooting from the field (except for Bowling Green).

“Defensive field-goal percentage is pretty good,” Kemper said. “Bowling Green lit us up. When we want to, we can guard. I challenged them. I got after them this week. In the second half, you’re at the other end of the floor, on an island. You have to be on the same page, fight like crazy. We were noticeably better in the second half. We were much more in sync. We’d had ups and downs and that’s how we lost some of these games. Emotions due that. You have to be steady. Bottom line is they have to get in there and get it done. I didn’t tell them anything at the half (ODU game). I said, ‘you guys go out and figure out how to win this game.’ Comes down to guts. That’s what it comes down to in every sport. We found some.”

Looking ahead, UAB opened 13-1, its best start in school history. The Herd visits UAB on Feb. 14. Rice had a 9-3 non-conference mark with losses to Texas A&M, UCLA and North Carolina. The Owls come to Henderson Center on Feb. 9. Middle Tennessee logged a 10-3 mark in non-conference play. The Herd travels to Middle Tennesee on Feb. 16. In non-league play, here’s how other C-USA schools fared: Southern Miss, 8-5; Louisiana Tech, 8-5; North Texas, 7-5; UTSA, 5-7; FAU, 3-10; FIU, 3-10; UTEP, 3-10.

Kemper said having the first two league games at home worked in the Herd’s favor. After Western Kentucky, it’s a two-game swing to Florida. The goal is to be able to measure up regardless of where you play. The Herd was winless on the road going into C-USA play.

“It was a great weekend,” Kemper said. “48 (vs. ODU) and 62 (Charlotte) at the top end is OK. That’s a 55 average. If we can do that, we’ll be in a lot of games. We can score. We can play better on offense. In the fourth quarter (Charlotte), we finally figured things out. We’re going to a place where it’s dang near impossible to play. The challenge is how to remain level headed. Go in sky high, pass two times and make a three, it’s not the way it’s going to happen. If you don’t make good decisions, they run you right back on the bus.

“Happy or hungry? What are we? It’s good to start at home. It’s tough to win on the road. We played well enough, got tough and got it done (at home). If you don’t learn how to fight now, you’ve got to learn to fight on the road. Western Kentucky, then the trip to Florida. It gets a heck of a lot harder. We were chosen 13th. We’re 2-0. We put ourselves in a nice place.”