— By David Walsh
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — The Marshall women’s basketball team secured its first major postseason championship and has a new single-season point producer to go with it.
The Herd completed the daily double Saturday afternoon when it rolled past Illinois State, 66-41, in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament championship game front of a full house at Cam Henderson Center.
Timaya Lewis-Eutsey, a transfer from VCU and the Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year, finished her one-year imprint on the program with a team-leading 27 points to become the all-time single-season leader in points with 741.
The WNIT Most Valuable Player made history with a three-pointer with 2:53 left in the third period, much to the delight of 5,475 fans. She passes Karen Pelphrey, who tallied 732 points in the 1985-86 season.
Lewis-Eutsey made 12-of-17 shots and all three of her treys. As a team, the Herd shot 28 for 57, 6 of 22 from three and 4 for 4 on free throws. Marshall (29-7) enjoyed a 44-18 advantage in paint points and 17-8 in points off turnovers.
The Redbirds (24-14) made only 14-of-48 shots, including 3 of 17 from three. They average 14 turnovers a game, but finished this contest with 23.
When the final horn sounded, Herd players cut down the nets, got championship hats and t-shirts and a trophy to put a big bow on a single-season school record 29-win season.
Illinois State coach Kristen Gillespie felt her team faced Marshall at the wrong time.
“I want to congratulate Marshall. They were by far the better team today,” Gillespie said. “We ran into a buzzsaw. Give credit to the community for a great environment. We didn’t have an answer. It’s been an unbelievable year. So proud of them. We were playing with house money with how young we were. This group will walk out with their heads held high. One game does not define us.”
Fulks also felt the environment played a role in the outcome.
“I said after every press conference this has been a great crowd,” Fulks said. “We had one day of preparation and did a good job. They understood they’d try to be dominant inside. Our post players did a good job of shoving them off the block. They are the reason why I want to work at Marshall. I’m grateful for all they’ve done, the way they conduct themselves. We get to be part of history.”
Lewis-Eutsey reveled in the moment she went atop the program record books.
“A great feeling,” she said.
She added seven steals to bring her single-season program record total to 141.
“She reminds me of two of our past players of the year,” Gillespie said of Lewis-Eutsey. “We had been pretty good about keeping people at bay. I said man it’s going to be hard to guard a player with her skill set. We knew we’d be in trouble after the first quarter (Lewis-Eutsey had 12 points). She’s very good. They’re as good as advertised. They’d be a good (Missouri) Valley team. Forty minutes against a zone with one day prep’s a little challenging. In a hostile environment. The young lady is probably the best we’ve faced all year.”
The Herd led 31-21 at the break and didn’t let up, starting the third period on a 12-0 run and enjoing a 10-0 spurt at the start of the fourth to open the lead.
Peyton Ilderton, a starting guard from Logan playing in her final game, went out in fitting fashion. She started as a walk-on and played under three different head coaches.
“Go from walk-on and wonder if I’d get to play to this,” Ilderton said. “You play and in front of a sold-out crowd. Everybody cheering. We’re blessed to have a program like this and go out like this.”
Another fortunate senior is Arionna Redman. She overcame injuries to get back and contribute in her final campaign.
“I’m living proof of the ups and downs,” Redman said.
Meredith Maier, who played at Fairmont Senior High School, hit two threes to bring her career total to 91. She’s second behind Shayna Gore, who had 96 in 2018-19.
Marshall’s all-time postseason mark is 7-5 (0-2 NCAA, 5-1 WNIT, 2-2 WBI). The Herd’s career win total is now 801.