The Marshall Thundering Herd women’s basketball team will travel to El Paso, Texas to face off against the University of Texas at El Paso in the first of a two-game stretch on the road that will see the Herd take on two Conference USA rivals in the Lone Star State. 

Marshall head coach Tony Kemper said that the Herd needs to play better defense in Texas. 

“Against Southern Mississippi, (USM) shot well over 50 percent in the field and that is too easy.” Kemper said on Tuesday. “We need to go back to playing tough defense, forcing tough shots and then rebounding.” 

The Herd is coming off a loss at home where it was defeated by conference rival Southern Miss, 64-52, and Kemper said that the Herd needs to play more consistent.

“There are always some things you do well, and we played well in stretches of that game,” Kemper said. “But we didn’t play well in long enough stretches of that game. We need to play a little bit better on both sides of the floor against the (University of Texas at El Paso) and the (University of Texas San Antonio).”

Despite the loss to Southern Mississippi, Kemper said the atmosphere around the team is determined.

 “I think we are hungry,” he said. “Our last time out against Southern Miss, we didn’t quite play as well as we wanted to. So, I think we are focused on trying to come back and playing a little bit better.” 

Kemper said that the Herd has played some pretty good players this past week and they are going to play some pretty good players this weekend.

“We need to try and make them do things they are not comfortable doing,” he said. “The biggest focus is on the defensive end and whether or not we can turn it up and make it hard on them to score.” 

The Herd will take on the University of Texas at El Paso Miners on Thursday at the Don Haskins Center. Tipoff is slated for 9 p.m. The Herd will also take on the University of Texas San Antonio Roadrunners Saturday at the Convocation Center in San Antonio. Tipoff is slated for 3 p.m.

Millard Stickler can be contacted at [email protected].