HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Old Dominion women’s basketball battled with Marshall for all four quarters, but a late run by the Herd saw ODU fall, 77-70 in Huntington on Wednesday night.
“Tonight was a classic case of shooting yourself in the foot,” said ODU head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones. “Our turnovers and fouls cost us a great win we could’ve got while on the road. We must regroup quickly because we have a tough game versus Georgia Southern on Saturday.”
The Monarchs (10-6, 2-2 SBC) took a one-point lead with five minutes left in the fourth after a made pullup three from Simaru Fields gave ODU a 65-64 advantage. But Marshall’s (14-3, 5-0 SBC) Kassie Ingram nailed a three from the wing to regain the Herd’s lead, 67-65 and the Monarchs would only be able to cut its deficit to two points in the final three minutes of action.
Marshall opened the game on a 7-2 run but the Monarchs got its first lead of the night at the 5:34 mark in the first quarter. ODU trailed 12-9 before a Nakiyah Allen layup and a tip-in second chance layup by Kelsey Thompson brought the score to 13-12 with 5:34 remaining. The Monarchs would finish the quarter strong, scoring 11 to Marshall’s six in the final five minutes. It was capped by a Nevaeh Scott straight-on three-pointer to go up, 24-16. Timaya Lewis Eutsey scored the final bucket of the quarter in the paint as the first quarter ended, 24-18.
Old Dominion grew its lead to nine two and a half minutes into the second quarter thanks to a pair of free throws from Riley Stack, 30-21. Marshall clawed back to six with one made free throw from Blessing King and a bucket from Timberlynn Yeast at 6:50, 30-24. A made jumper in the paint from Mariah Clayton two minutes later brought ODU’s lead back to seven. However, a Peyton Ilderton three-pointer a minute later cut into ODU’s lead, 34-30. ODU went on a quick 5-0 run thanks to a layup by Laila Walker and a three ball from Fields that gave ODU a 39-30 advantage. The Monarchs’ largest lead of the night was 11 points, and it came in the second quarter after a Simaru Fields made jumper gave ODU a 41-30 lead. Marshall would end the half on a 7-0 run highlighted by a Ilderton three-pointer with five seconds left.
Stack opened the second half of play with a made jumper assisted by Scott to go up by six. Stack came back at the 7:45 mark and netted her only triple of the night to give ODU a seven-point lead but Lewis-Eutsey finished a layup in the paint 21 seconds later to cut the Monarchs’ lead to five. An and-one layup at 6:09 by Leyocha Marigney cut it to one basket. But before being able to tie the game, Buford hit nothing but net on a corner pocket three to regain a two-possession lead. Marshall tied the game with 10 seconds left in the quarter off a Lewis-Eutsey layup, but a last second Buford three-pointer gave the Monarchs a three-point lead heading into the final quarter of action.
Lewis-Eutsey opened the fourth quarter with a made and-one driving layup to make it a one-point game and converted at the charity stripe to knot the game at 56-56. Kelsey Thompson finished a fast break layup the next time down the floor and Yeast answered back with an and-one layup a minute later to tie the game at 58 and eventually take Marshall’s first lead since the early first quarter. Scott answered back with a three to go up two with 7:14 left in the quarter, 61-59. Simone Cunningham would go 2-for-2 at the line after drawing a foul by Blessing King to go back up by two possessions.
Fields brought ODU back within a bucket with 1:23 left to play, 71-69 but a pair of made free throws by Ilderton regained the Herd’s four-point advantage. Stack went 1-for-2 at the line on the next possession to cut it to three but a made jumper by Eutsey-Lewis brought the home team’s lead to five. Ilderton was fouled with 11 seconds remaining and made both free shots, Hama’ya Fielder had a corner three get blocked back down the court and the game ended, 77-70.
ODU shot the ball well tonight, shooting 48.3% from the field and 53.8% from behind the arc. At the charity stripe, ODU performed to its averages and made 5-of-7 free throws (71.4%). The Monarchs out-rebounded the Herd, 42-to-25. Fields led ODU in scoring with 17 points followed by Thompson’s 12 and Buford’s 11 points. Thompson finished with a double-double after grabbing a team high 12 rebounds. Marshall went 23-for-29 at the free throw line and Lewis-Eutsey finished with a game high 33 points on 11-20 shooting and went 11-for-14 at the free throw line.
UP NEXT:
Old Dominion’s next game will be a rematch against Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Ga. on Saturday, Jan. 10 at 1 p.m. ODU defeated GS, 87-84 in double overtime on the first day of the new year.