Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
22-6,12-3Sun Belt
Arkansas State
20-7,11-3Sun Belt
Marshall Women’s Basketball Earns Key SBC Win Over Arkansas State
2/14/2026 4:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Herd defense shuts down Red Wolves’ 3-point barrage in 62-54 win
Box Score | Coach Fulks Post-Game Press Conference
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall Women's Basketball jumped out to an early lead and limited Arkansas State to 14 percent shooting from 3-point range to earn a key 62-54 win over the Red Wolves in front of 1,576 fans at Cam Henderson Center on Saturday.
With the win, Marshall moves to 22-6 overall and 12-3 in Sun Belt play while picking up a victory over an Arkansas State team that came into the week in first place in the SBC.
"I was really proud of that effort," Marshall head coach Juli Fulks said. "I thought the first six or seven minutes was the best basketball we've played since I've been here. We really understood the plan and the execution was flawless."
Marshall's 22 regular season wins are the third-most in program history and the 12 wins in league play are the second-most for the Herd in a single season.
Timaya Lewis-Eutsey led the Herd with 19 points and added four assists while Peyton Ilderton had 17 points and three steals for the Herd, who had 13 as a team.
Leyocha Marigney fell just short of a double-double, finishing with nine points and a career-high 15 rebounds – all on the defensive end for the Herd. Marigney also did not have a turnover despite Arkansas State's guards swarming her following rebounds as part of their 40-minute full-court pressure.
"We've been emphasizing those things to our bigs in practice – Keep it high! Keep it high!" Marigney said. "As soon as I brought it down, I saw the little guards were coming and the pressure was coming."
Marshall never trailed in the contest, and each time Arkansas State made a run, the Herd was there with an answer – several times in the form of Ilderton.
Arkansas State (20-7, 11-3 SBC) cut the lead to two possessions late in the third, but a pair of Kassie Ingram free throws preceded an Ilderton 3-pointer to push the lead to nine heading into the fourth.
The Red Wolves again made a run to get within striking distance with under two minutes to play, but Ilderton beat the Red Wolves' pressure and found Marigney for a layup that ended the comeback attempt.
"I knew that they were going to go on runs and I just told everybody, 'It's so important that we stay together,'" Ilderton said. "I thought our team did a great job of doing that. They went on their run, but it didn't matter because we just still played our game. I'm really proud of our team today."
The Herd scored the first seven points of the game to jump out to an advantage with Meredith Maier knocking down a 3-pointer early and Marigney notching four straight that got Marshall's offense in rhythm.
The closest the lead got was 16-14 after an Arkansas State basket, but Ilderton drained a 3-pointer and the Herd got layups from Lewis-Eutsey and Ingram to ignite a 14-2 run that produced a 30-16 lead.
Part of Marshall's success was being able to defensively communicate and get out on Arkansas State's 3-point shooters, which proved pivotal. The Red Wolves ended the game only 7 of 50 from 3-point range.
The game was part of Marshall's "Week of HERd" which celebrated women in sports. Saturday's game followed the annual Sweetheart Clinic at Chris Cline Indoor Athletic Complex and participants got a ticket to the game and pizza. The team wore pink jerseys for the contest while signing autographs after the game, as well.
The Herd now hits the road for its final road swing of the 2025-26 regular season this week, starting with Thursday's 6 p.m. contest at Georgia Southern.
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