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by Pierce Yarberry

Women's Basketball falls in overtime at Marshall, 73-70

Women's Basketball falls in overtime at Marshall, 73-70Women's Basketball falls in overtime at Marshall, 73-70
Jeremiah Howell

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Down by five with under five minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Old Dominion women’s basketball was able to force overtime on an En’Dya Buford layup with 50 seconds left, but it was Marshall who came out on top, 73-70 on Thursday night at the Cam Henderson Center.

Madison Kellione started off extra time with a three-pointer and Aislynn made a pair of free throws to give the Thundering Herd (8-17, 3-10 Sun Belt) a 67-62 lead. The Monarchs (14-12, 6-7) responded with a pair of scores from Brenda Fontana and Buford to stay within a point at 67-66 with 49 seconds remaining. CC Mays then went 2-for-2 at the line, but Buford answered with another layup.

From there, Kellione and Mays combined to make another four free throws to stretch Marshall’s lead to 73-68. Kelsey Thompson nailed a jumper from the left side and had a look at a potential game-tying three with three seconds left, but her shot was off the mark and the Herd held on.

Five Monarchs scored in double figures on the night. Simone Cunningham recorded a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double with five steals and three blocks, and Thompson turned in a double-double of 10 points with 11 rebounds. Simaru Fields matched Cunningham in the scoring column with 13 points, Buford finished with 12 points, and Fontana had 10 points. Camryn Hill contributed nine points with five rebounds.

ODU shot 29-for-67 (43.3%) on the night and 3-for-13 (23.1%) from beyond the arc, but made just 9-of-17 (52.9%) shots at the line. The Monarchs won the battle on the glass (46-40) and scored more second-chance points (18-5) but committed 19 turnovers that Marshall turned into 23 points.

After a slow start saw the Monarchs fall behind 7-3 in the opening minutes, a long ball from Fields and a layup by Thompson got the team back to within 9-8 at the 5:27 mark. The Herd pushed their lead to 15-8 and later 17-10, but Cunningham followed a Thompson jumper with a 2-for-2 effort at the line to close out the first quarter.

Layups by Fontana and Thompson helped ODU take its first lead, 20-19, with 8:36 to play in the second. Hill scored a pair of buckets to highlight an 8-0 run that put the Monarchs ahead 28-21, but the Herd scored four unanswered points to cut the ODU lead to 28-25 at halftime.

The Monarchs put together another 8-0 stretch to open the third quarter and make it a 36-25 advantage. However, the Herd whittled away at that lead and only trailed by two, 48-46, heading into the final 10 minutes of regulation.

Old Dominion was up 51-49 with 7:39 to play in the fourth when the home team put together a 9-2 swing. Cunningham then scored in the paint and Fields made a three from the logo to even the game at 58-58. The sides then traded baskets to close out the final 2:45 before heading into overtime.

ODU will be in Harrisonburg, Virginia on Saturday for a 2 p.m. TowneBank Royal Rivalry game against James Madison.