There were senior moments last night, but on Senior Night Erica Woods and her Marshall University Women's Basketball teammates made it an even more memorable one with a win.
In a stirring comeback in the regular-season finale and last Henderson Center appearance for Williams and fellow seniors Erica Woods and Suporia Dickens, Marshall rallied from a 13-point deficit with 15:45 to play and downed UTSA in overtime, 81-76.
Woods who saw 20 minutes of action did not score, but did grab 3 rebounds to go along with 3 assist was asked in the post game press conference about senior night.
The victory sends Marshall into a Conference USA Tournament first-round game next Tuesday in El Paso, Texas, against ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic, which won 87-68 last week at the Henderson Center.
Marshall is the last-place No. 16 seed, but in the home finale, the Herd didn't feel like - and didn't play like it.
Marshall, which had won only two of its previous 15 games, limited UTSA to 9-of-31 shooting in the second half and overtime.
Marshall had four scorers in double figures, including junior post player Chukwuka Ezeigbo, who had her second double-double of the season with 14 rebounds and 12 points. She also had a Marshall season-high six blocks - matching the individual high in a C-USA game this season -- and made her last six free throws when they counted most.
It was Marshall's first overtime win since Dec. 2nd, 2010, a 64-61 double-OT triumph over George Washington at the Henderson Center.
It also was only Marshall's second win this season after trailing at halftime in 14 games. The other was a 71-56 home win over Wofford on Dec. 19th, after trailing 25-23.
Sophomore point guard Norrisha Victrum led Marshall with 17 points - 12 of those on four 3-pointers -- and Dickens had 14 points to go with nine rebounds, while freshman center Chelsey Romero scored 14.
Dickens, Williams and Woods combined for 20 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in 68 minutes.
"I was just proud of my team because we worked hard to get us this win," Dickens said.
Williams made only her fourth start of the season. The 5-foot-7 veteran from Memphis, Tenn., was averaging only 2.0 points and 7.9 minutes per game, but her "buying in" with second-year coach Matt Daniel and his staff is indicative of what has allowed Marshall to turn in efforts like the one in the final 25 minutes on Senior Night.
"I'm glad we ended up with this set of coaches, because they motivate us in every way," Williams said. "They just give us the drive to go out and try to win every time we play."
In a postgame interview, the senior trio agreed this victory was perhaps a bit off-the-wall.
After group laughter, Woods explained that the Herd has a "forecast board" on which game goals are listed on a locker room wall. Daniel "hit it with his fist," she said, "and it came down off the wall."
"We were down at half; we really didn't play to our potential," Woods said. "Coach got on us in the locker room, and no matter -- underclassmen, upperclassmen -- we all bought into the system and what Coach is trying to get us to do. We came out on the upper end. And that's great, because obviously it's our last home game."
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