The Marshall University women’s basketball team improved its winning record Thursday by defeating the University of Alabama at Birmingham, 73-65.

The Herd (17-9, 7-8) defeated the Blazers in a tight matchup earlier this season winning by three, but this time around, Marshall took control in the third quarter, scoring 29 points to the Blazers’ 13.

“The team that is the most focused that can handle adversity in a typical good game is going to win the game,” Marshall head coach Matt Daniel said, “and we were better for it today.”

Senior forward Leah Scott led all scorers in the game with 21 points and also collected nine rebounds.

Along with Scott’s game-high 21 points, junior forward Chelsey Romero added 19 points and six rebounds coming off the bench. Daniel said Romero was a major key to winning the game with her effort as a reserve.

“When Chelsey’s energy is good her productivity is better,” Daniel said.

With the Conference USA tournament three weeks away, the Herd is working toward bettering its seeding within the tournament. Daniel said Thursday’s victory was a considerable step in the right direction.

“Everybody is competing for conference seat, and today was big for us with that,” Daniel said.

“I agree with Coach Daniel,” Scott said. “We just need to win the rest of these games to secure a good seat; I think we need it really bad.”

Daniel said he is excited for the team’s next contest against Middle Tennessee State University 1 p.m. Saturday at the Cam Henderson Center.

It will be the team’s home finale this season and the final home game of Scott’s career at Marshall. Scott said it’s going to be difficult to control her emotions, but with the Blue Raiders in second place in the conference, Scott knows it’s a big game for the team’s postseason outlook.

Danielle Wright can be contacted at [email protected].