2003-04 Marshall Women's Basketball Season in Review
Part I: Preseason & Non-Conference

3/17/2004

The 2003-04 Thundering Herd enjoyed an 8-2 start with non-conference wins over Wake Forest and Texas A&M.

The footsteps that were heard around the Mid-American Conference this season grew louder and louder as the days and months of the 2003-04 season slipped by. MAC women’s basketball programs around the league knew it was coming, and kept a keen eye over their respective shoulders. The footsteps that pounded were that of a Thundering Herd, an assembly of talented and athletic individuals that came together to form a dangerous lineup that will continue to grow hungrier after tasting unheralded success this past season.

For a school that has adopted head football coach Bob Pruett’s creed of “We Play for Championships,” the Marshall women sure gave it an exceptional run last week in Huntington and in Cleveland at the MAC Tournament.

Royce Chadwick’s youth-laden team finished its regular season 16-11, the first winning campaign for a Marshall squad since the Herd’s final season in the Southern Conference in 1996-97. But regular season accomplishments are hollow to a coach such as Chadwick, who appeared in seven NCAA Tournaments at Stephen F. Austin with a Sweet 16 berth. He can be heard throughout the Cam Henderson Center emphasizing and echoing the word “March,” and the significance of that treasured month, over and over again.

The Herd was poised to make the coach’s sentiment its own.

But before the ball would be tipped in March of ’04, the regular season had to be played beginning in the fall of ’03. As the new season drew near, a pair of MU’s finest, senior forward Catie Knable and sophomore guard Sikeetha Shepard-Hall, were named to the preseason all-MAC East team. Marshall was also picked to finish third in the East Division. Chadwick was buzzing with anticipation for the new season, his third at Marshall.

“If we grow up and get team chemistry, we can be a good team in March,” he said at MAC media day in Cleveland in late October.

Terms like “growing up,” “young” and “freshmen” would become a chief component to any Chadwick interview throughout the season, and with good reason. The former WBCA National Coach of the Year was about to embark on a voyage with eight newcomers, seven of whom would play their first season in Division I. A highly touted recruiting class was about to get its shot at living up to the hype.

The journey began with the second annual Fifth Third MU Classic hosted by Marshall. The Thundering Herd ripped Morgan State and High Point by 54 and 20 points, respectively, to claim its second straight Fifth Third tournament title. Shepard-Hall was named tournament MVP and was joined by senior Nadia Swanigan on the all-tourney team.

A 2-0 start quickly became a 5-0 start after MU rattled off impressive double-digit wins over Radford, Wake Forest and Morehead State, all at home. The win over the ACC’s Demon Deacons came in front of a crowd of 4,234 in Jam the Cam 3. Knable began a season-long, double-double assault with 15 rebounds and 11 points versus WFU, while freshman forward Jameka White scored 11 points. The Herd’s 5-0 foundation was the fourth-best undefeated start in school history and finest since the 1971-72 season.

Early season success paid off in the form of votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. Marshall garnered four votes in early December to begin a month-long stretch in which it tallied recognition in one of the two major national polls. The Herd grabbed a season-high eight votes before the acknowledgment began to dwindle once the conference schedule came around.

The non-conference slate would heat up as the defending Ohio Valley Conference champion, Austin Peay, along with former Herd assistant Kidada Holtzclaw, invaded the Henderson Center for the sixth and final season-opening home game for Marshall. Despite a dramatic comeback effort from an eight-point deficit with just under two minutes remaining in the game, the Lady Govs handed the Herd its first loss of the year, 53-50, in a tight, defensive battle.

“From this game we learned that we need to execute every single play,” Chadwick said. Austin Peay would again claim the OVC and secure a 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The Herd would roam from Huntington for the first time when they flew south to the Lone Star State for dates with Texas-Pan American and Texas A&M. Versus the Lady Broncs, freshman point guard Teyonka Hodge would record a season-high 20 points to lead MU to a 74-59 road win after falling behind by eight points at halftime.

The Aggies of Texas A&M awaited the Herd in College Station. Marshall seemed to use its one-game, how-to-win-on-the-road crash course learned at UTPA to battle past the Aggies 61-56 and earn its second ever win over a Big 12 school. An interestingly called game by the officials (32-18 foul differential) could not stop the surging Herd, who rode a sensational performance from junior transfer Kim Griffin to victory. Griffin, a guard, scored a season-high 13 points with four assists and three steals.

To round out the non-MAC part of the schedule, other than the annual mid-year battle with West Virginia, Marshall traveled to Bethlehem, Pa., for the Christmas City Classic. The Herd cruised past host Lehigh, 68-55, behind Knable’s 22 points and 11 rebounds. A more formidable foe, the SEC’s Ole Miss, lay ahead for Marshall in the championship contest. Tournament MVP Genice Terry nailed a 3-pointer with seven seconds on the clock to lift the Rebels to a one-point, 54-53, win over Marshall on New Year’s Eve. Knable and Griffin gained all-tournament team honors.

Ole Miss would go on to earn a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Marshall started the year 8-2 in non-conference play, its best such start since becoming a member of the MAC. A tough league schedule loomed ahead for Marshall’s exuberant and largely inexperienced team.

By Brandon Parro, Marshall Sports Information