Visiting Marshall looked sharp early against Friday night against Edison. The Statesmen roared to a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the game, forcing Edison coach Dianne Lewis to call a time out.
Then Edison got hot–really hot. The Eagles promptly embarked on a 19-2 run and held Marshall to just 12 points over the next 22 minutes, cruising to a 63-31 victory.
“I told them to calm down, they’ve had their fun but let’s go now,” Lewis said of the early time out. “They kept their heads and we did well, really well after that.”
In the process the Eagles secured a key National District win, beating the Statesmen for the second time out of three total meetings this year. The Eagles’ other win over Marshall was in a tournament and did not count in the district standings, so the Eagles had to have the victory to stay on track for a first-place finish in the National.
The Eagles (6-1, 13-3) simply overwhelmed Marshall with their physicality as their defense forced turnover after turnover. When Marshall was able to get up a shot the Eagles controlled the boards, with Carole Miller alone registering more rebounds, sixteen, than Marshall’s entire team.
Miller also added 12 points and five assists, while fellow starter Charlotte Jewell contributed 11 points and seven assists. The bench was top-notch for Lewis as well. As a unit the Eagles reserves had 29 points and 12 rebounds, with sophomore Bri Johns standing out. Johns (10 points, eight rebounds) came in after the early Marshall run and buried a couple shots from outside. That got the team going as well as the crowd.
“We knew tonight that if our bench came in and contributed it would be huge because we wanted to press, we wanted to keep the pressure on. That gets tiring and so our bench came through for us in a big way.”
It just wasn’t Marshall’s night. Star center and Boston College commit Clara Ford fouled out almost halfway through the third quarter, and even with her the Statesmen seemed a little off their game. Edison’s defensive pressure had a lot to do with that, but even from the free throw line the Statesmen couldn’t convert, making only 50% of their attempts on the evening.
Barring an upset, Marshall (5-1, 13-3) will likely get another crack at Edison in the National District Tournament. The Eagles, meanwhile, will worry about that possible rematch later and enjoy the moment.
–Chris Jollay
all statistics are unofficial
| EDISON | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| MILLER | 5-8 | 2-3 | 12 | 16 | 5 | |
| KAI LEE | 0-0 | 2-2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| GRAY | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| JEWELL | 5-11 | 0-0 | 11 | 4 | 7 | |
| HARRIS | 2-5 | 3-4 | 7 | 1 | 0 | |
| Johns | 3-8 | 2-2 | 10 | 8 | 1 | |
| Evans | 1-4 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kaitlyn Lee | 3-4 | 2-2 | 8 | 1 | 1 | |
| Henderson | 3-7 | 1-3 | 7 | 2 | 0 | |
| Castma | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 24-50 | 12-16 | 63 | 34 | 17 | |
| Threes: Johns 2-4, Jewell 1-3, Evans 0-2 | ||||||
| MARSHALL | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| C.TRIVISONNO | 1-6 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
| GRILL | 1-4 | 1-3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | |
| DONNELLAN | 1-2 | 0-2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| DIRKSE | 1-3 | 2-5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | |
| FORD | 3-4 | 3-7 | 9 | 3 | 0 | |
| Soule | 1-4 | 3-5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | |
| McFaul | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| South | 0-0 | 2-2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| Leap | 0-2 | 3-4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| DeMesa | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Catterton | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 8-25 | 14-28 | 31 | 15 | 4 | |
| Threes: Soule 1-1, Leap 0-2 | ||||||