Marshall Women’s Basketball remains at the top of the Sun Belt following a 89-75 victory over the Old Dominion Monarchs on Saturday, Feb 17. The game was the second in a stretch of four away matchups.
The win, which is Marshall’s 13th in conference play, granted the team a double-bye in next month’s conference championship tournament in Pensacola, Florida.
“Happy to get out of there with a win. That’s a really good team,” head coach Kim Caldwell said about her team’s performance. “They’re playing really well right now. That was a very tough environment.”
In the first half, the Herd forced 16 Monarch turnovers and shot 51.9% from the field on 14-for-27 shooting en route to a 33-31 halftime lead. Old Dominion had 8 turnovers in both the first and second quarters.
The third quarter was huge for Marshall as they outscored the Monarchs 32-12 to go into the fourth quarter up by 22 points. That same domination would continue for the rest of the half.
Senior Breanna Campbell scored 10 of her 13 points in the third quarter. She shot 100% from the field making all three of her shots. Campbell was also perfect from the free throw line in the third, going 4-for-4 from the line.
Sophomore Meredith Maier led the Herd in scoring 16 points on 75% shooting. She went 6-for-8 from the field on Saturday, with four of her shots being three pointers.
“Meredith was big; she got frustrated early but didn’t blink, and she had a great second half for us as she usually does,” Caldwell said. “Someone with her size that can do what she does, it’s really special to see at this level.”
Second half scoring runs of 13-2, 13-0 and 8-0 saw the Herd turn a two-point halftime lead into a 28-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
Along with Campbell and Maier, the Herd saw three more players score in double-digits: sophomore CC Mays, grad student Abby Beeman and junior Aislynn Hayes.
Mays had 11 points on 5-for-9 shooting with one made three. Beeman had 15 points on 7-for-11 shooting with one made three. Hayes had 15 points on 4-for-10 shooting, with 12 of her points scored in the second half.
The win keeps Marshall at the top of the Sun Belt, at19-6 overall and 13-1 in Sun Belt play.
Old Dominion, however, drops to 18-7 overall and 9-5 in Sun Belt Play.
The Herd finishes its final away games of the regular season with matchups against Texas State and Louisiana Monroe on Feb. 21 and Feb. 24, respectively.
