BUFFALO, NY - The Marshall Thundering Herd used a 21-3 run midway through the second half, holding the Bulls without a field goal for over eight minutes, to run away with a 72-51 win over the University at Buffalo women's basketball team in front of 1,196 fans this afternoon in Alumni Arena.

Heather Turner

Marshall (9-7 overall, 3-2 Mid-American Conference) was just 3-for-7 from three-point range in the game, but all three makes came in the first three minutes of the first half as the Thundering Herd went 4-for-4 from the floor to jump out to an early 11-5 lead. Marshall upped its lead to double digits, 27-17, with 6:31 remaining in the first half, but the Bulls used a 9-2 run, with five of the points coming from freshman Heather Turner (West Seneca, NY/Mount Mercy Academy), to battle back to within three, 29-26, with 3:01 to play. KaShawna Curry answered with a layup that started a 9-1 Marshall run to close the half and send the Thundering Herd to the lockerroom with a 38-27 advantage. Marshall's other seven points in the run came from the free throw line.

Freshman Stephanie Bennett (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge) opened the scoring in the second half with a three-pointer at the 19:22 mark, but Curry then converted a three-point play and added a layup during a 7-0 Marshall run that put the Herd up by 15, 45-30, with 17:38 on the clock. A layup by Turner at the 16:01 mark made the score 47-34, and Marshall then embarked on the 21-3 run to blow the game open. The Bulls were 0-for-6 from the floor and 3-for-9 from the foul line during the span of 8:36 before Turner hit another jumper at the 7:25 mark. The Herd led by as many as 33 points, 72-39, down the stretch before Buffalo closed the gap with a 12-0 run to end the game at 72-51.

Turner led Buffalo with 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the floor while also grabbing six rebounds. Senior Allison Bennett (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge), playing in her 100th career game, reached double digits with 10 points, while Stephanie Bennett grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds. The Bulls shot 37.3 percent from the floor in the game (19-for-51) and were just 12-for-24 from the free throw line.

Marshall's Sikeetha Shepard-Hall led all scorers with 23 points, while Crystal Champion posted a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Curry added nine points and eight boards. Marshall outrebounded the Bulls by a 45-37 margin and grabbed 19 offensive rebounds that resulted in 21 second-chance points. The Thundering Herd outscored the Bulls in the paint by a 40-22 margin and had 19 points off of Buffalo's 19 turnovers. Marshall finished the game shooting 41.5 percent from the floor (27-for-65).

"Heather Turner was obviously a bright spot for us," said Buffalo head coach Cheryl Dozier. "We were right in the game in the first half. We gave up too many offensive rebounds, our free throw shooting has to be better, and we didn't get enough production from our bench."

The Bulls (3-13, 1-4 MAC) are on the road for their next two games, beginning at Toledo on Wednesday, January 26 at 7 pm.