Marshall Women’s Basketball kicked off its season with a big defensive showcase against the University of Buffalo Bulls, 53-39, the lowest score put up against Marshall by a DI opponent since Nov. 22, 2022.

Being led by second year head coach Juli Fulks, Marshall had control of the game from the very start with the Herd outscoring the Bulls 22-7 during the first quarter.

The Bulls opened the second quarter on a 5-0 run courtesy of back-to-back buckets, but Marshall answered with a layup at the other end to maintain a 29-14 by the middle of the second. The Herd beat the buzzer with a Ni’Kiah Chesterfield layup to take a 31-18 lead at the half.

After the first quarter, the Herd did take a step back with the hot offense but, in exchange, traded it for hot defense with Marshall forcing 26 Buffalo turnovers and converting those turnovers into 16 points. 

Despite the Bulls being crowned WNIT 2025 Champions, the Herd was able to use crucial points through defense to take the win.

“Well, I thought we started really well,” Fulks said. “We were rebounding well on the offensive boards, so even if we weren’t hitting our first shots, we were applying a lot of pressure on them with a lot of second looks.”

Freshman guard Olivia Olson led the way with 14 points, hitting 4-for-8 from beyond the 3-point line and having three steals in 24 minutes. 

Other key Marshall players for the match were Chesterfield and Kassie Ingram, with each scoring 11 points for the Herd, and Blessing King, who led the game with 11 rebounds. 

Marshall was able to take the win, but Fulks said there’s still a long way to go in the season.

“It looked a little bit like the first game jitters, and you would expect that,” Fulks said. “We didn’t shoot it as well as we have in practice, but the piece that we wanted to be really good at this year was on defense and on the boards. We have spent so much time rebounding on both ends, but especially defensively, and that showed up today.” 

Buffalo’s next opponent is a home match for the No. 24 Kentucky Wildcats, who Marshall faces Nov. 15.

For the Herd, it hosts the Northern Kentucky Norse Nov. 6 and then travels to BIG 10 powerhouse Indiana Hoosiers Nov. 11.

Nate Harrah can be contacted at [email protected].