Handy, Crook hope to relive March Moments

TULSA, Okla. — The clock was ticking on Marshall's season and the Herd's Tania Walters was waiting patiently for the play to develop.

With 12 seconds left, it wasn't open yet so she kept dribbling, keeping an eye on the left corner of the floor.

Eleven seconds ... 10 seconds ... nine seconds ...

Walters still had the ball. The game was still hanging in the ballots.

Eight seconds ... seven seconds ... six seconds ...

Finally, she came open. Chantelle Handy, Walters' target, flashed to the corner, some 17-feet from the basket.

Five seconds ...

Walters whipped the pass. Handy caught it and took the shot.

Four seconds ...

Swish.

"Tynikki (Crook) had screened me open. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be open," Handy said. "They definitely made a mistake on defense. They switched and they shouldn't have.

"So I just kind of stepped up and hit the shot."

Nearly a year to the day, Handy is back on the stage that sent her into Marshall women's basketball lore.

She's back at the Conference USA Tournament.

Handy's winning jumper in last year's C-USA quarterfinal game against UTEP not only got Marshall into the semifinals for a second consecutive season, it gave the Durham, England, native the moment of her life.

"It's a shot you can't forget," Handy said.  

Marshall hasn't had too many of those moments this season.

In fact, it was on the unfortunate end of a buzzer-beater by UAB's Amber Jones on Feb. 27, giving the Herd loss No. 4 on a current five-game losing streak.

It goes without saying that come 1 p.m. ET today, Marshall could use a little of that postseason magic that it's been able to cook up the last two years.

It really needs it.

"I think there are two things you have to look at," said Herd head coach Royce Chadwick. "Yeah, No. 1, we've been there and have gotten the job done, but what happens is you begin to look ahead and start thinking about your future. Your future is now.

"Your future is this instant, this moment, this space in your career. If you don't take care of this moment there is no tomorrow."

Crook may not be peeking ahead at tomorrow, but it may be wise of her to reflect back on yesterday for a confidence boost before this year's tournament tips off.

Simply stated, Crook has owned this stage.

The junior has played in six career C-USA Tournament games. She's recorded a double-double in all of them.

"It's live or die," Crook said of her March motivation. "You live to get to another day of being out there.

"It's just live or die."

For the most part, Crook's play has kept the Herd alive in the last two tournaments.

While Handy and Kizzy Hart, a former Marshall player who nailed a game-winner in the Herd's quarterfinal win in 2008, have gotten the glory, it's been Crook who's provided Marshall's guts.

Sure, Handy hit the game's most important shot in last year's thriller in New Orleans, but the Herd may have not been in that position had Crook not hit a tough leaner in the lane some 40 seconds earlier to give Marshall a two-point lead.

And a year earlier, prior to Hart's heroics, it was Crook who hit two free throws at the end of regulation to push the Herd's tilt with UAB to overtime.

"March is an exciting month," Crook said. "There is definitely a different feel and intensity to the game when it comes to college basketball.

"In high school, the only basketball I watched was in March. I really didn't watch the regular season.

"(In March), all I saw was how hard the players were going and I try to model myself after that."

Andrew Ramspacher can be contacted at ramspacher@marshall.edu.