Shepard-Hall Named to Honorable Mention All-MAC Team

3/8/2004

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall sophomore guard Sikeetha Shepard-Hall (Houston, Texas) garnered a spot on the honorable mention all-Mid-American Conference womens' basketball team, as announced by the league office on Monday. Voting on the all-MAC teams was conducted by the conference’s 13 head coaches.

Shepard-Hall ended the regular season as Marshall’s leading scorer and currently owns an 11.4 points per game average (23rd in MAC). She has guided the Thundering Herd, the No. 6 seed in the ongoing Kraft MAC Tournament, to first round wins in her initial two seasons of collegiate basketball, defeating Northern Illinois her freshman year and Buffalo on Saturday. Her 20 points versus the Huskies and 17 against the Bulls were both team-high totals.

The first-round victories marked Marshall’s first ever league tournament wins since joining the MAC in 1997.

Shepard-Hall, an all-MAC freshman team selection last season, struggled in the early stages of the season while getting acclimated with eight new teammates after averaging 15.0 points per game last year. But, the explosive shooting guard dominated the play and tempo of the Herd’s final seven games, averaging 17.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in leading Marshall to a 5-2 record in that span.

Shepard-Hall leads the Herd in points (320), 3-pointers made (33), free throw attempts (109), free throws made (77) and minutes (28.1/game). She is one of two all-freshman honorees from a year ago to make an all-MAC team this season (EMU’s Nikki Knapp, all-MAC second team).

Despite leading the MAC in double-doubles this season with 10 and finishing the regular season as the league’s third leading rebounder, senior Catie Knable (Floyd Knobs, Ind.) did not make any all-MAC team after grabbing an honorable mention accolade last season. Freshman point guard Teyonka Hodge (Washington, D.C.) was also left off the all-freshman team. Hodge leads all MAC freshmen with 3.50 assists per game (9th overall in MAC and upped her production to 4.00 apg in MAC-only games) and assist/turnover ratio (1.17, 9th overall in MAC). She is third among league rookies with 2.14 steals per game (7th overall in MAC).

2004 All-MAC Women’s Basketball Team

First Team
Ryan Coleman, Jr., E. Michigan
Colleen Day, Sr., Miami (Ohio)
Kate Endress, Jr., Ball State
Casey Rost, Jr., W. Michigan
Lindsay Shearer, So., Kent State

Second Team
Andrea Csaszar, Jr., Kent State
Nikki Knapp, So., E. Michigan
Kim Lancaster, Sr., Miami (Ohio)
Cindi Merrill, So., Miami (Ohio)
Stefanie Wenzel, Sr., Bowling Green

Honorable Mention
Lindsay Austin, Sr., Bowling Green
Marion Crandall, Sr., E. Michigan
Johna Goff, Sr., Ball State
Karin Hoogendam, Jr., Toledo
Maria Jilian, Jr., W. Michigan
Jessica Kochendorfer, Sr., Buffalo
Ali Mann, Fr., Bowling Green
Sikeetha Shepard-Hall, So., Marshall
Kelly Walker, Sr., Toledo
Jennifer Youngblood, Sr., N. Illinois

All-Freshman Team
Amanda Jackson, Miami (Ohio)
Ali Mann, Bowling Green
Carrie Moore, W. Michigan
Stephanie Raymond, N. Illinois
Sarah VanMetre, E. Michigan