Three old, two new, a lead borrowed and an ending blue.
That summed up Marshall University womenƵs basketballƵs night Monday in a 71-68 season-opening loss at Toledo Monday night in front of 3,754 spectators at Savage Arena.
The Thundering Herd built a 16-point lead but couldnƵt sustain it against a Rockets squad with three six-footers in the lineup most of the time. The contest was the first for new Marshall coach Juli Fulks and the initial game without graduated stars Abby Beeman and Brianna Campbell.
C.C. Mays, a junior from Tampa, Florida, paced the Herd with 20 points. Alasia Hayes scored 11 and Meredith Maier 10. All three are returnees from last season. They were joined in the starting lineup by Tennessee Tech transfer Madison Kellione and TreShonda Williams, who came to MU from Columbia State Community College.
Fulks said she was pleased with many aspects of the game, more so than her players.
ƵTheyƵre competitive,Ƶ Fulks said. ƵThey didnƵt like (losing). TheyƵre coachable and they buy in.Ƶ
Marshall was hindered by fouls. The Herd was called for 26, Toledo for 19, as MU struggled with the RocketsƵ height. Williams, Blessing King and Leypcha Marigney all came off the bench and fouled out, forcing Fulks to juggle the lineup and even put together some the squad hadnƵt worked with in practice.
ƵAt the end of the day, we controlled what we could control,Ƶ Fulks said, not disagreeing with fouls called. ƵWe defended really well and made some really good stops.Ƶ
Fulks said playing Toledo, picked fifth in the Mid-American Conference, will help the Herd.
ƵI love me some Sun Belt-MAC Challenge,Ƶ Fulks said of the format that pitted teams from the HerdƵs current league against one of its former conferences. ƵI was really excited for the Toledo draw.Ƶ
The MAC won eight of the 12 games with Sun Belt teams, with the Marshall game one of the closer battles. Northern Illinois topped Louisiana 57-55, Akron beat Georgia State 81-73, Buffalo edged Troy 80-78, Western Michigan defeated Arkansas State 61-52, Ball State won over Old Dominion 60-46, Miami (Ohio) routed Appalachian State 75-48, Bowling Green nipped Southern Mississippi 71-67, Coastal Carolina beat Central Michigan 65-62, Texas State defeated Eastern Michigan 75-71, James Madison pulled away from Kent State 67-56 and Georgia Southern defeated Ohio 82-70.
The Herd returns to action at 1 p.m. Sunday at home vs. Northern Kentucky (0-1), which lost 79-58 to Middle Tennessee Monday.
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