— By David Walsh
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall coach Juli Fulks remembers well the nightmare against Troy when the Trojans rattled the Thundering Herd in the second half and overcame a 20-point deficit to win.
Arkansas State tried to stage a similar comeback Saturday, but this time the Herd had answers. The Red Wolves played from behind all day, but closed to within four points twice in the final period.
On the next possession, Peyton Ilderton drove the lane, dished off to Leyocha Marigney and she scored to make it 57-51. Timberlynn Yeast hit two free throws with 21.9 seconds left
and the Herd escaped with a 62-54 win in the Sweetheart Clinic game at Cam Henderson Center.
“The first six or seven minutes is the best basketball we’ve played since I’ve been here,” Fulks said. “Our execution was flawless. When their pressure ramps up, there’s going to be pressure on us. That’s one of the things we tried to learn from the Troy game. When the game got hard in the third quarter, we didn’t do a great job of staying together as a group. Coming together, talking to each other about what was open. Instead we tried to handle that individually. So we talked about that and made sure we worked on that in practice and communicated that.
“That was great, because they had two different runs where it got a little hairy for us with the press, had some turnovers, but we found a way to get a positive possession. The most important thing is we stopped and talked to each other. We found a way to get through it. That really matters when you play them.”
Marshall improves to 22-6 overall and 12-3 in the Sun Belt. The 22 regular-season wins are the third most in program history.
Arkansas State came in ranked high nationally in three-point baskets (10 a game), steals (15.7) and turnovers forced (27). The Red Wolves came up with 14 steals and forced 24 turnovers. Unfortunately, it was not their day behind the arc. They took a single-game high 50 and made seven.
“We had a lot of really good defensive moments,” Fulks said. “Obviously we don’t want to give up 50 threes, but we were flying around their shooters. We did a good job of making them hard and challenging every three they took, most of them anyway. Sometimes that means you are taking some that aren’t great. Our job was trying to limit the ones they were standing there open. Those are just easier to make.”
Timaya Lewis-Eutsey led the Herd with 19 points and Ilderton contributed 17.
“The three she hit after that run settled us down, helped us to keep the lead,” Fulks said of Ilderton. “We really needed that shot. Big-time shooter make big-time shots.”
The Red Wolves (20-7, 11-3) used a 7-0 run late in the second period to trail 36-30 at the break. Arkansas State sank three triples in the third period, but still trailed 50-41 after three. A 6-point run got them close, but the Herd had solutions this time to hold on.
Ilderton was quite relieved after the win. Quite the contrast to the collapse against Troy.
“I was a terrible leader that Troy game,” Ilderton said. “That’s something we talked about, staying together, having confidence. We knew they would go on runs and I just told everybody, ‘It’s so important that we stay together.’ I thought our team did a great job of doing that. They went on their run, but it didn’t matter because we just still played our game. I’m really proud of our team today.”
Marigney pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds.
“We learned from Peyton. Stay together,” Marigney said. “Keep the ball high. When I brought it down I knew there’d be pressure. No turnovers.”
With 50 attempted threes, Fulks knew that could lead to many rebounds. Arkansas State won the board battle, 48-37 and 22-4 on the offensive glass.
“They didn’t shoot particularly well, and when that happens there’ll be a lot of rebounds,” Fulks said. “We did a good job on the boards contesting everything. Rebound the ball and keep it up. Everyone try to be available to get the ball out. We had good looks at the other end.”
Fulks used Yeast in a different manner and she came through with eight points and eight rebounds.
“Give Timberlynn a lot of credit,” Fulks said. “We changed people, put them in different spots for who carries the load in the backcourt. We tried to mix it up. We did an awesome job. We’ll take away a lot from this game. It was such a great crowd. We have awesome fans. The Sweetheart Clinic. It was a fun day on campus.”
Zion Shannon led Arkansas State with 17 points. Tarver finished with 10. The visitors made just 19-of-74 shots for 25.7 percent shooting.
Marshall’s next game is Thursday at Georgia Southern. The Eagles won Saturday and share the Sun Belt lead with Troy. The Herd is a half-game back.