After losing three major contributors from last year’s team, Marshall University’s women’s basketball team will look to younger talent to replace the loss production.

Of the 16 players on the roster, eight are freshman and two have yet to play a game for the Herd — leaving only six players who have experience playing at Marshall.

Aside from having to depend on inexperienced players, the Herd lost a key veteran for the season when junior guard McKenzie Akers tore her ACL in practice.

Though things may not seem promising, senior guard Leah Scott offers stability as the team adjusts to its new players.

Scott was named to the Conference USA Preseason All-Conference team after averaging 15.4 points per game and 6.6 rebounds per game last season.

Along with Scott, Marshall returns senior guard Norrisha Victrum.

Victrum went down last season with a knee injury but said she is excited to return.

“[I’m] coming back hungry,” Victrum said. “Just helping out the team as much as I can, whether it’s cheering or getting them in the right spots is important. I know every night I have to give it my all.”

Outside of its youth, this Marshall team brings a different aspect to its playing style than in recent years past.

Head coach Matt Daniel said the roster is one of the most versatile he has coached.

“I have the ability to put a lot of different pieces to a puzzle in a lot of different places,” Daniel said. “I like our roster. I think it’s a dangerous roster up and down.”

Among those versatile pieces is junior transfer Talequia Hamilton.

The 6-foot Huntington native will see her first Division-I action since leaving the University of Cincinnati after the 2012-13 season, in which she played one game.

The Herd’s new roster will take the court for its first game Nov. 4 at the Cam Henderson Center in an exhibition game against Kentucky Christian University.

Last season, Marshall finished with a 17-15 record and recorded the program’s first postseason berth since 1997 when it defeated top-seeded Northern Kentucky University 81-79 in the first round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational, which was the Herd’s first postseason win in a major college NCAA event.

Ishmael Witten can be contacted at [email protected].