Marshall Women’s Basketball Preview
By Ben Westfall, FM88 Sports
Feb. 26, 2025
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WMUL-FM) – Marshall looks to gain momentum to end the regular season, beginning the final home stretch with a matchup with ULM.
Marshall is coming off back-to-back road wins at Appalachian State 76-58 and at Georgia State 70-59.
With those two wins, Marshall is now 5-11 in conference play, and currently in eleventh place in the Sun Belt Conference standings. The Herd is in a battle to move up in the standings to avoid playing seven games in seven days for a conference title.
In the previous matchup with Georgia State, the Herd used a dominant first quarter to prevail, outscoring the Panthers 29-9. Georgia State would attempt a comeback, but Marshall would hold strong for victory.
Marshall had three players score double digits against the Panthers, with Aislynn Hayes leading the way with 26 points. Meredith Maier had 18 points, along with CC Mays who finished with 11.
One stat that helped the Herd to victory was free-throw shooting, where the Herd went 83%, going 15-for-18. Meanwhile, the Panthers went 7-for-12 for 58%.
ULM is also coming off back-to-back wins, but in the home confines of Fant-Ewing Coliseum in Monroe, Louisiana. The Warhawks got the win against Troy 84-73 and the latest win coming against in-state rivals Louisiana 62-58.
For the Warhawks, Jakayla Johnson was the leading scorer, notching 20 points along with 7 assists. Katlyn Manuel finished with 13 points, and Sakyia White finished with 11 points.
ULM is fifth in the conference in scoring, averaging 68.3 points per game. Marshall is right below at sixth with 68.2 points per game.
For leading scorers, Marshall is led by Aislynn Hayes, who averages 18 points per game, while the Warhawks are led by Jakayla Johnson, who averages 15.8 points per game.
Aislynn Hayes has been a strong player for the Herd all season long, but the last two games earned her Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week, thanks to the 29-point performance at App State and the 26-point performance at Georgia State.
Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at the Cam Henderson Center with live coverage on WMUL-FM 88.1 and online at www.marshall.edu/WMUL. FM88 Sports’ Ben Westfall and Ethan Peltier will have the call with pregame coverage beginning at 5:30 p.m. and tip-off slated for 6 p.m.