HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia State University women's basketball team outscored Marshall University 26-20 in the fourth quarter Thursday morning, but ended up dropping the NCAA Division I exhibition game 73-60.
Kalisha Phillips led the Yellow Jackets with 16 points and nine rebounds in 36 minutes played. Alline Ballard scored 12 points, with Pashawna Wheeler adding 10 points on the afternoon. Krissy Biscette scored nine points and pulled down five rebounds, along with handing out three assists.
The first points of the game came at the 8:09 mark when Biscette made a layup to tie the score at 2-2. After the Thundering Herd lead reached 10-4, Phillips made a layup followed 30 seconds later by a tip-in layup, making the score 12-8 Marshall. Ballard added a jumper late in the quarter, but the Thundering Herd used a three-point play and a layup to take a 19-10 lead after the first 10 minutes.
The Marshall lead reached 23-12 early in the second quarter before Biscette hit a jumper, followed a short time later by Phillips making a short jumper to trim the score to 23-14. Layla Pierce hit a 3-pointer at the 5:56 mark, complemented by Aliyah Young making a 3-pointer of her own off an offensive rebound to bring WVSU to within 27-20. The Thundering Herd made six free throws in the final three minutes of the quarter, with Mika Jarrett hitting a jumper in the final minute to make the halftime score 35-25.
Coming out of halftime, Marshall scored the first 11 points of the third quarter before Ballard made a pair of free throws for the Yellow Jackets. Phillips recorded a steal and quick jumper with 1:32 left. In the final minute of the quarter, Pierce scored five points, highlighted by a 3-pointer before making a jumper in the final seconds to make it 53-34 heading into the final quarter.
Biscette started the fourth quarter with a layup off another Marshall turnover. The Thundering Herd stretched their lead to 62-36 with 7:55 left before Wheeler made a 3-pointer to start the Yellow Jackets' comeback. That started a 9-0 WVSU scoring run, trimming the Marshall lead to 17 points on a Ballard jumper.
The Thundering Herd kept the lead around 17 points until 2:47 remained, when Biscette made a jumper to start an 8-0 Yellow Jackets scoring run that trimmed the Marshall lead to 67-55 with under two minutes remaining. Marshall went 6-of-8 from the free-throw line in the closing two minutes to hang on for the 73-60 victory.
The Yellow Jackets will open the regular season Nov. 18 when they face Slippery Rock University in a nonconference contest. The home opener is Nov. 24 against Ohio Dominican University.
