— By David Walsh
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — When a rout’s in the making, it’s good to have some interesting statistics to harp on.
Marshall’s one of many Monday night goes down as a season-high six players reach double figures and the Thundering Herd overwhelmed Salem, 115-56, at Cam Henderson Center.
“It’s really fun to get everyone involved,” the Herd’s Breanna Campbell said. “It’s nice to see my teammates do it.”
First-year coach Kim Caldwell used 13 players and 12 scored. Aislynn Hayes led the way with 23 points and tied teammate Abby Beeman for team-high rebound honors with seven.
Beeman finished with 15 points and 10 assists for her fourth double-double of the season. Campbell netted 14, Mahogany Matthews 12 and CC Mays and Sydni Scott 10 each.
The win gives the Herd (4-4) a 3-0 home mark. Marshall had been off since December 2 when it beat Florida, 91-88, at home.
“It’s good to get two wins in a row at home and it’s nice to get something from everyone,” Caldwell said. “It’s fun to see everybody off the bench produce. Not junk play. It’s fun to coach.”
This was Marshall’s last home game of 2023. The Herd’s next game is Friday at Jacksonville. Then it visits Elon on Sunday at Wake Forest of the Atlantic Coast Conference on Dec. 21.
“We have not done well on the road,” Caldwell said of a 1-4 mark. “I want the team that shows up here to show up on the road.”
“We’ve been struggling on the road,” Campbell said. “I look forward to see how we handle adversity on the road.”
Marshall is now 11-0 all-time against Salem and 2-0 in games since 2014. The Herd won that one, 84-41.
“Anything can happen,” Campbell said of Salem which came in a big underdog. “Respect our opponent. Play hard regardless of division.”
“They get an experience,” Caldwell said of the Tigers playing up. “It’s a building thing for them.”
Marshall led 20-12 after the opening period. The Herd started to pull away from the Tigers in the second thanks to 35-13 cushion for a 55-28 lead at the break. Tamia Lawhorne’s three-pointer with 5:53 left put the Sun Belt Conference member over the century mark at 101-50.
Beeman had a fan-pleasing moment with 2:56 left in the second period when a behind-the-back, no-look pass found Mays in full stride on the way to a layup.
“Abby knows the time and the place,” Caldwell said. “It was an apparent time to make a risky pass.”
Roshala Scott, the Herd’s top scorer, missed her second straight game. Caldwell was quiet about that matter.
“We’ll still keep it in the program,” Caldwell said.
Hayes came to the Herd via the transfer portal (March 31). She had played at Middle Tennessee and Mississippi State before joining Marshall. She sat out last season with an injury.
“It’s a matter of time before she puts it together,” Caldwell said. “She’s getting into the system, finding her stride and it helps the program. She does so much more.”
Salem (formerly Salem International) is an NCAA Division II independent. Salem and the Mountain East Conference have a non-conference scheduling agreement after Alderson Broaddus closed in August. This game counted as an exhibition for the Tigers (2-7). Carine Pinkney led the visitors with 13 points and Emerson Wells added 11.
Salem had 35 turnovers to 12 for the Herd. Marshall had wide margins in points off turnovers, 45-13; points in the paint, 56-20; second-chance points, 18-6; fast break points, 29-2; and bench points, 41-18. The Tigers never led in the contest.