The Marshall University women’s basketball team put on a show in front of new university president Jerome Gilbert Saturday as it dominated Rice University 81-52 to achieve its largest margin of victory over a Conference USA opponent in its 11 seasons as a member.

The Herd (12-4, 2-3) were led by senior forward Leah Scott who scored 18 points on 6-12 shooting to go along with three rebounds and three assists.

Freshman guard Logan Fraley totaled 13 points off the bench, connecting on all four of her 3-point attempts, while fellow reserve Chelsey Romero pulled down 13 rebounds to go with five points.

The Marshall bench played a key role in the victory as it outscored Rice’s bench 30-9 and helped lift the Herd to a 42-24 halftime lead after the team outscored Rice 20-7 in the second quarter.

Scott said the team’s victory had more to do with its intensity level than anything else.

“It was our energy,” Scott said. “I think our energy has to be there if we’re going to keep winning. We have plenty of talent. We just have to keep up that energy.”

Head coach Matt Daniel said after losing three of its last four games, it was nice to see his team playing with a renewed amount of energy.

“When our energy is there, we are dangerous,” Daniel said. 

Daniel said the Herd’s energy led to improved efficiency in all aspects of the game.

“We did not turn the ball over too bad,” Daniel said. “We owned the glass, and we shot the ball better. And it all comes from energy.” 

The Herd will attempt to maintain that level of energy when it hosts the University of North Carolina at Charlotte 6 p.m. Thursday at the Cam Henderson Center.