Listen Live on WMUL-FM: No. 6 Toledo vs. No. 3 Marshall, Wed. at 7:30 p.m.

Marshall's leading scorer Sikeetha Shepard-Hall averaged 17.3 points per game in the 2004 MAC Tournament. Photo by Matt Riley

CLEVELAND -- Marshall’s last shot at a Mid-American Conference championship begins with the quarterfinals of the 2005 Kraft MAC Tournament on Wednesday versus No. 6 Toledo at Cleveland’s Gund Arena. The No. 3 Thundering Herd earned a first-round bye in the tournament and a share of the East Division title for the first time in school history in its last year in the league before moving to Conference USA next season.

After some much-needed rest, Marshall (18-9, 12-4 MAC) will take on a Toledo team that it defeated by 17 points on Jan. 29 at the Cam Henderson Center. The Herd has won the last two meetings with the Rockets (14-14, 9-7 MAC).

Marshall features All-MAC second team selection Sikeetha Shepard-Hall (Houston, Texas) and her team-leading 17.1 points per MAC game. She is joined by All-MAC honorable mention Crystal Champion (Washington, D.C.). The sophomore tallied six double-doubles this season, aided by her 10.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per outing. In the regular season meeting with UT, Shepard-Hall scored a game-high 21 points while Champion pulled down 12 rebounds.

Toledo is led by its two All-MAC third team honorees in senior Karin Hoogendam and sophomore Danielle Bishop. The duo scores over 12 points apiece per game. Hoogendam blocks 1.9 shots per game and is among the league’s rebounding leaders. Guard Olivia Terry is an all-freshman team recipient.

Marshall scores 71.9 points per game (No. 1 in MAC) while Toledo puts up 64.9 points (t-8th). The Rockets surrender only 62.0 points (4th) to the Herd’s 65.2 points on defense (8th).

The Thundering Herd and Rockets will meet for the eighth and perhaps final time, with UT leading the series 5-2. Toledo won the first five games of the series - all as MAC foes - followed by Marshall’s wins in the previous two. The schools met one time in MAC Tournament play as the No. 1-seeded Rockets dealt the ninth-ranked Herd an 80-66 loss in 2003. The quarterfinal game was MU’s first at Gund Arena.

All of Marshall’s MAC Tournament games will be broadcast live on WRVC 930-AM and on Marshall’s student station, 88.1 WMUL-FM, which will also utilize a web broadcast at www.marshall.edu/wmul.