With three double-digit performances from Marshall players, senior Suporia Dickens and freshman Chelsey Romero led the way with 16 points apiece, followed by Leah Scott’s 13 for Erica Woods and her Marshall University Women’s Basketball teammates in a 77-66 losing decision at FIU at FIU Arena in Miami.
Woods went 1 for 6 from the Field and 4 for 4 from the Free Throw Line for her 6 points on the night, Woods grabbed 1 Rebound, to go along with 1 Assist in 25 minutes of action.
For the first time since a 53-51 loss against Morehead State, November 18th, Marshall started the combination of Scott, AJ Johnson, Woods, Chukwuka Ezeigbo and Dickens.
FIU opened the action with a 7-0 run, holding Marshall scoreless until 16:38 when Scott converted a layup. After a 9-4 run, Marshall tied the score for the first time at 11-11 with 14:11 to go before halftime. After three more ties over a five-minute span, a 10-3 run (with all 10 scored by Jerica Coley) gave FIU a 36-29 lead at 2:20, matching FIU’s largest lead of the half at seven points. Two Coley free throws sent the teams to the locker rooms with Marshall trailing, 39-33.
Coming out of the break, Marshall closed the gap to two points, down 39-37, after a layups by Scott and Romero. The teams traded field goals for the next few minutes until back-to-back jumpers made it 48-41 in FIU’s favor at 14:04. Romero hit two free throws to make it 48-43, but a 3-pointer by Taylor Shade gave FIU its largest lead of the game up to that point, at 51-43.
Late in the game, Marshall mounted a comeback with a 7-0 run over 2:30, with Dickens’ third three of the game and field goals by Scott and Ezeigbo to cut FIU’s lead to two at 57-55 with 6:30 on the clock. The margin was close for the next few minutes, but a 6-0 run gave FIU its first double-digit lead at 68-58 at 3:38. Marshall kept competing, scoring five unanswered points to make it 68-63, but Marshall would not come any closer to FIU’s lead than that. Tynia McKinzie was fouled on a layup and converted the extra point to put FIU up, 71-63. Dickens answered by hitting her fourth 3-pointer of the game at 1:51, tying her season high, but Marshall found itself in a losing situation, as FIU hit four free throws to end the game with its largest lead of 11, at 77-66.
Despite shooting 43.6 percent from the field to FIU’s 39.7 percent, Marshall was outrebounded, 41-36, and lost the battle in the paint, 34-32. FIU put up 20 points off Marshall’s 18 turnovers, and Marshall converted only nine points off 13 FIU errors. The nation’s second-highest scorer, Coley, paced FIU with a double-double of 35 points, 15 rebounds and five assists.
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