STATESBORO, Ga. -- Groundhog Day came a few hours early for Marshall.
òòò½ÊÓƵ with Bill Murray in the 1993 movie, the Thundering Herd women's college basketball team repeated. Marshall (7-15, 2-9 Sun Belt Conference) defeated Georgia Southern 71-66 in Saturday afternoon, the second time since Jan. 22 the Herd has beaten the Eagles.
"That was a big win," MU coach Juli Fulks said. "It was really tough with Meredith (Maier) going down."
Maier, a junior who leads the Herd in rebounding and is second in scoring, was injured nine minutes into the contest. She never took a shot.
The rest of the Herd picked it up in Maier's absence. C.C. Mays scored a career-high 25 points and Peyton Ilderton tallied a career-best 10. Aislynn Hayes scored 14 points. Blessing King grabbed a team-best six rebounds.
The game was one of streaks. Marshall went on a 10-0 run to take a 12-2 lead, only to see Georgia Southern (9-14, 2-7) run off 14 straight points. The Eagles led by seven before Timberlynn Yeast scored to spark a 15-7 Herd string to close the first half.
Mays' bucket with 5 seconds left before intermission put the Herd up 30-29.
"We needed something good and positive to happen going into the locker room," Fulks said of Mays' basket for the lead.
Mays hit another key shot with 3:39 left in the third quarter to give the Herd a 44-43 lead it never relinquished. Marshall built its advantage to 12 on a 14-3 run that ended with a Mays basket with 4:01 left in the game.
The Eagles pulled within 65-61 when Indyia Green scored two of her team-high 16 points with 1:26 remaining. Ilderton followed with a 3-point play before Green scored again to make it 68-63 with 14 seconds left.
Mays made a foul shot and Hayes converted two before Georgia Southern's Liv Fuller scored at the buzzer to set the score.
"We had good possessions in the fourth quarter and executed really well," Fulks said.
Without Maier and injured TreShondra Williams, and with King, Hayes and Leyocha Marigney in foul trouble, the Herd made do. Fulks alternated offensive and defensive lineups and Marshall turned 17 steals into 31 points off 32 Eagles turnovers.
Hayes was 8 of 8 on free throws and the Herd was 20 of 23 overall. Marshall also grabbed 20 offensive rebounds to Georgia Southern's 10 and finished with a 34-27 edge on the boards.
Shanti Simmons scored 10 points for the Eagles.
Marshall is back on the court at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Louisiana (9-11, 5-6). The Eagles visit Southern Mississippi (8-14, 4-7) at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
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