App State women’s basketball opened conference play with a trip to Huntington, West Virginia and lost to the Marshall University Thundering Herd Wednesday by a score of 75-62.
Senior guard Emma Smith started the scoring during the first Mountaineers possession with a mid-range jumper.
Marshall guard Olivia Olson splashed a 3-pointer to give the Thundering Herd a 9-6 lead and give her an early 5 points.
Smith was getting it done on both sides of the floor early, disrupting some of the Thundering Herd’s shots while also scoring and assisting on a 3-pointer for junior guard Daisia Mitchell.
Mitchell connected from behind the arc at the end of the first quarter, giving the Black and Gold a 17-13 advantage after the first 10 minutes.
App State struggled offensively to begin the second quarter, going scoreless in the first three minutes with 5 turnovers. Marshall tied the game at 17, but freshman forward Addie Biel scored a free throw, giving the Mountaineers their first point of the quarter.
Olson continued to have the hot hand for the Thundering Herd, scoring again to give Marshall a 21-18 lead, tallying 11 points for her.
The Black and Gold didn’t score a field goal in the second quarter until the 2:17 mark with a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Jayden McBride, giving the Mountaineers a 24-23 lead; Marshall had offensive struggles in the quarter.
Marshall found some points in the final minute of the first half, and both teams went into the locker room with the Thundering Herd leading 27-24.
Smith began the second half just as she did in the first by scoring a 3-pointer on the first possession. App State regained the lead with a layup from sophomore forward Feryal Defne Atli.
Smith continued to take over in the third quarter, scoring to tie the game at 36, giving her 8 points in the quarter. Both teams were playing well offensively, with each team matching their total from the second quarter five minutes into the third.
Senior guard Emily Hege made her first triple of the game to tie the contest at 43, with both teams’ offenses exploding in the third quarter.
Marshall connected on 2 3-pointers to take a 6-point lead into the fourth quarter. The Thundering Herd followed that up with the first 4 points in the final 10 minutes giving them a double digit lead.
App State’s offense scored the ball at an efficient rate in the second half, but Marshall was better, and were over 60% from the field in the half, extending their lead to 10 once again.
The Mountaineers had no answer for guard Timaya Lewis-Eutsey, who finished the game with a season-high 31 points. Marshall ended up running away with the game after it was close through three quarters and won the game 75-62.
