The Cougars look to take advantage of what they do best when they travel to Huntington, W. Va., Sunday: pushing the ball up the court with their guards to get easy baskets in transition.
After a loss to UAB, UH looks to rebound and seek victory against Marshall.
Head women’s basketball coach Todd Buchanan made the transition game one of his priorities during their victory against Memphis because UH doesn’t push the pace in transition as well without senior guard Porsche Landry.
“When she’s not in the game, we lose our way of how aggressive we want to play and how much we want to push the basketball in transition.”
Even though Marshall has lost four straight and five of their last six, the Cougars have yet to win a road game all year.
Marshall has two guards that can put the ball in the basket.
Sophomore guard Shay Weaver (10.7 PPG) stands out — she has picked up her scoring average by 5 points per game from the previous season. Weaver is also shooting better than 38 percent from long-range and 9-20 in her last two games. On the other side of the backcourt, freshman guard Norrisha Victrum is averaging 8 points per game and shooting 43 percent from long-range.
The deciding factor of this game could be if UH, which thrives off running the fast break and getting points in transition, can force enough turnovers to open easy field-goal attempts. Marshall turns the ball over 18 times a game, and if UH can force an amount in that range, it will be tough for Marshall to overcome their mistakes.
Buchanan stressed how imperative it is for his team to take advantage of turnovers and to get better from the free-throw line.
“We’ve got to do a better job of making the most out of every single possession,” Buchanan said. “We’ve got to be a 75 percent plus free-throw shooting team.”
UH could have the edge in the rebounding category. Junior center Yasmeen Thompson has been anchoring the frontcourt, averaging better than 13 rebounds per game in her last three outputs, including 18 against UAB. If junior forward Te’ Onna Campbell and freshman forward Marsche Amerson crash these boards early and often, the Cougars can get more opportunities to push the basketball in the open court.
Should the Cougars get their first road victory — something they haven’t accomplished all season — it would bring them to a 2-1 conference record and put them at .500 with an 8-8 record.
The Cougars and the Thundering Herd will tip off at 11:00 a.m.