Huntington, W.Va—Marshall women’s basketball concluded its exhibition season Sunday with a 67-50 win over Kentucky State. Marshall defeated both its opponents in exhibition but the win this weekend was more of what is expected from the program.

“That was a little bit better,” Head Coach Matt Daniel said. “Today’s performance was a little more of what we expect.” Marshall scored the first nine points of the contest, but did not record its first field goal until 5:42 into the first half when sophomore Shay Weaver buried a three-point basket giving Marshall an eight point lead.

Marshall’s offensive attack put Kentucky State into early foul trouble, picking up its seventh team foul before the half-way point of the first half. After senior JoAnna Powell and freshman Taylor Sanders were forced to the bench early with two fouls each, Kentucky State Head Coach Serena King-Coleman turned to her bench for a spark.

Trailing Marshall by 11 just before halfway in the first half, Coleman turned to senior guard Jasmine Davis for a lift, and she gave more than expected. Davis rolled off back-to-back three pointers to cut the lead to three and finished the half as the game’s leading scorer with 10 points.

Marshall’s defensive pressure created 11 Kentucky State turnovers in the first half but managed only 31 points while shooting 32.3 percent from the field going to the locker room with a nine point lead.

Daniel made adjustments at half forcing his team to refocus on the game plan for the matchup. Junior guard Jasmine Shaw led the way for the Herd on both sides of the court. With 15:10 remaining in the game and Kentucky State trimming the lead to five, Shaw forced a turnover by Davis and converted the steal into a three-point basket.

Shaw contributed her preparation for her early season success. “It’s all about practice, working hard, and adjusting to the system,” Shaw said after the victory.

Shaw puts up a jumper in exhibition play.

Kentucky State would make one final push at the six minute mark trimming the lead to six, but Marshall’s defense created its offense, giving the Herd four fast-breaks resulting in lay-ups and its biggest lead of the game of 15 points. “We took a two possession game to a 10 possession game simply because of our focus,” Daniel added.

Daniel applauded the manner his team conclude the game in his “Full-Tilt” philosophy. “If players want to play one-on-one, they can do that tomorrow,” Daniel added. “Teams will play one on five against Marshall.”

Weaver put the final exclamation point on the win after draining a three-point bucket, running the lead to 20 and giving Marshall its largest lead of the game.

“When you are prepared, things go so much smoother,” Daniel said. “Game day is a celebration of preparation.”

Marshall had 10 players score in the contest as Shaw led the way with a game-high 18 points, nine which came from behind the arc. Weaver added 11 shooting 3-5 from behind the arc. Marshall finished the game shooting 41.1 percent from the field, 38.9 percent from behind the arc and 77.8 percent from the foul line.

Marshall’s starts its regular season at home Friday against Radford with a noon tip-off.