CHARLESTON, W. Va. – Led by sophomore guard Taylor Palmer, the West Virginia University women’s basketball team defeated Marshall, 69-57, at the Chesapeake Energy Capital Classic on Tuesday night at the Charleston Civic Center. 

After an extremely competitive and physical first half, the Mountaineers (13-5) came out of the locker room to start the second half holding onto just a 31-27 lead over the Thundering Herd (12-5). Both teams would continue to trade points, with Marshall threatening to within one point of the lead on three occasions, until a jumper from redshirt-sophomore guard Christal Caldwell at the 12:13 mark sparked the Mountaineer offense and brought the score to 44-41 in favor of West Virginia.A layup and free throw from junior center Asya Bussie at the 11:32 mark followed by four straight free throws from sophomore forward Jess Harlee brought the score to 51-41 with 11:20 remaining in regulation. While Marshall would threaten, bringing the score to 63-54 with 5:13 left to play, the Mountaineers would ultimately pull away for the win.

Palmer led all players in scoring with 17 points, having sunk three 3-pointers and on 6-of-8 shooting from the line. She was followed by sophomore guard Brooke Hampton who scored 14 points, including a pair of threes and 8-of-10 shooting from the charity stripe. Caldwell rounded out the top three scorers just shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds, marking her sixth-straight game in double figures for the Mountaineers.For her scoring efforts, Palmer was recognized as the Player of the Game for the Mountaineers.Despite the double figures performances from these players, neither team had particularly strong offensive performances, with West Virginia going just 36.4 percent (16-of-44) from the field, 33.3 percent (5-of-15) from 3-point range and 80.0 percent (32-of-40) from the line.In comparison, Marshall converted just 25.5 percent (14-of-55) from the field and 23.3 percent (7-of-30) from beyond the arc, while converting 78.6 percent (22-of-28) from the charity stripe.

Foul trouble and turnovers also proved key, as Marshall committed 30 personal fouls and West Virginia was called on 22 personal fouls allowing for plenty of chances at the line. Additionally, 22 Marshall turnovers led to 26 points for the Mountaineers.West Virginia was out-rebounded for just the third time all season, the first two occurrences having taken place against Cal-State Northridge and Duquesne. Marshall pulled down 44 boards in comparison to 33 boards from West Virginia, allowing The Herd the opportunity to score 14 second-chance points.“Give Marshall a lot of credit,” coach Mike Carey said. “We were out-rebounded, we turned it over and we let them back in the game and we can’t do that. We have to get better at that.”Senior guard Lateidra Elliot led Marshall in scoring with 13 points. She was followed by freshman guard Shay Weaver who scored nine points, and senior guard Alaya Mitchell who posted eight points.Weaver was named the Player of the Game for the Thundering Herd.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist posted career highs of 24 points and 19 rebounds, leading third-ranked Kentucky to a 69-62 victory over No. 4 Louisville at Rupp Arena.Anthony Davis contributed 18 points, all in the second half, to go along with 10 rebounds and six blocked shots for Kentucky (13-1), which has won five straight since its lone loss of the season at Indiana on December 10. The Wildcats also extended the nation's longest home winning streak to 44 games.Doron Lamb, Kentucky's leading scorer at nearly 16 points per game, battled foul trouble and chipped in 10 points on just 1-of-7 from the field. He made 8-of-9 free throws as part of the Wildcats' 32-of-43 effort from the line."You wonder why we're shooting free throws better. For every free throw we miss, we have to have a 33-second run," Kentucky head coach John Calipari said. "So that's nine 33-second runs they're going to have to get in before our next game.

So I'm just challenging them that way. So they'll come in and practice because they don't want to run." Louisville was whistled early and often, leading to Kentucky's parade to the stripe. Peyton Siva, Kyle Kuric and Chane Behanan were all saddled with early foul problems and Gorgui Dieng was called for three early in the second half.Russ Smith picked up the slack off the bench and poured in 30 points for the Cardinals (12-2), who were coming off their first loss of the season on Wednesday against Georgetown.Louisville trailed 36-33 at the intermission and tied it at 40-40 when Smith converted a four-point play. The Cardinals then went cold for the next four minutes, missing eight shots with a turnover.Kentucky couldn't create too much distance, scoring only seven points -- mostly at the line.

Davis made four straight free throws for a 47-40 lead before Behanan answered with two from the stripe for Louisville with just over 11 minutes remaining.A jumper by Smith kept Louisville within striking distance at 54-48, but a pair of dunks by Davis pushed Kentucky's lead to 10 with five minutes to play. The advantage reached 13 on two Davis free throws in the final minute and the Cardinals hit a pair of three-pointers to make it somewhat close.Louisville shot a dismal 32.3 percent overall and connected on only 4-of-18 from beyond the arc. Siva and Chris Smith, the Cardinals' starting backcourt, combined to make just 4-of-23 shots.Kentucky was even worse from the field, making only 29.8 percent overall with a 3-for-16 effort from three-point range, but its dominance inside proved to be the difference. The Wildcats claimed a 57-31 edge on the boards.Louisville's only lead of the contest was 2-0. After Dieng's early bucket, Darius Miller countered with a three-pointer and the Wildcats never trailed again.

Kidd-Gilchrist's three gave Kentucky a 16-8 edge, and he later finished a 10-2 run with a layup to give the Wildcats a 31-16 cushion with just over five minutes to play in the half. The Cardinals answered with the next 13 to pull within two and trimmed the deficit to one at 34-33 before Kyle Wiltjer's bucket in the final minute sent Kentucky to the break with a three-point lead.Game Notes