— by David Walsh
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall clamped down on Coastal Carolina in the second half, particularly over the last 7 minutes, to escape with an 80-74 victory in a Saturday matinee at Cam Henderson Center.
With Olivia Olson missing a second straight game with injury and leading scorer Timaya Lewis-Eutsey limited to 10 points, Peyton Ilderton hit for 20 points and Ni’Kiah Chesterfield came off the bench and scored 14 as the Herd completed a regular season sweep of the Chanticleers.
“Really thrilled and impressed with our second half on defense,” Marshall coach Juli Fulks said. “We didn’t defend well in the first half. Made really good adjustments and got them understanding what we were trying to accomplish after we saw what they were trying to do. Much better in the second half. We really wanted to be able to defend. Held them under 15 or so three times with has been our MO. Got to stop having that quarter where it really blows up on us.”
Marshall (15-3, 6-0 Sun Belt) extended its winning streak to 10, the first time that’s happened since 2023-24.
Marshall’s defense limited Costal (8-10, 1-4) to 15 points in the first and fourth periods and 13 in the second. It went south in the second when Coastal Carolina struck for 31 to build a 46-41 lead at the break.
With 7:40 left in the game, the Chanticleers held a 66-60 lead. The Herd then ran off nine straight on two threes by Ilderton and one by Yeast.
“I was just smart enough to run something for Peyton a couple of times in a row,” Fulks said. “Peyton just had their number.”
“I feel comfortable in those moments,” Ilderton said. “Pretty calm. I have that refuse to lose mentality. So if we’re down, there’s fight in us.”
Coastal Carolina had 17 turnovers to six for the Herd.
Marshall finished with 11 steals to one for the Chanticleers.
“We celebrate steals,” Fulks said.
Tessa Grady led the Chanticleers with 20 points. Kinsea Grimes had 16, Tracey Hueston 11 and Kristin Williams 10.
Lewis-Eutsey came in with a 17-point average. She was fresh off scoring a career-high 33 in Wednesday’s home win over Old Dominion and is now two points shy of 1,000 for her career.
Fulks and Chesterfield felt the home atmosphere helped will Marshall down the stretch.
“It’s really fun,” Chesterfield said. “Our teammates have each other’s backs. The crowd fires you up.”
“The crowd’s great. They’re (Herd players) fun to watch. Putting a team out there that does compete,” Fulks said. “They’re willing to do a lot of things. If you’re not willing to get on the floor, you don’t want to win enough. They’re worth watching.”
The Herd is off until Thursday when it plays at James Madison.
It’s possible Olson could return, but Fulks shows the Herd can hang in with any lineup.
“Find a way to win,” Fulks said. “That’s important in January. That’s one of the big keys if you get a group of players willing to try. Makes coaching a lot easier. We have a lot of players with a lot of skill sets. It’s our job to put them in the right places where they’re going to be successful. We got a really good effort from the interior today. We moved Tamaya to the post at the end and she got a couple of good looks and got to the free throw line when we needed to score. It’s hard because Olivia’s a big part of our offense. We try to adjust. Figure out how we can find lineups to be successful. We’re not quite sure yet.”