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Maier, Hayes lead Marshall to second NCAA berth with 95-92 OT win over James Madison in Sun Belt
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — Meredith Maier scored 16 of her 20 points in the second half, Aislynn Hayes had nine of her 19 in overtime and Marshall earned its second NCAA Tournament berth with a 95-92 win over James Madison in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship game on Monday.
The Thundering Herd overcame their worst shooting game of the season to reach the Big Dance for the first time since 1997 in part because Hayes hit two 3-pointers in overtime and the team made 11 of 12 free throws.
Breanna Campbell added 15 points for Marshall (26-6), which set a school record for wins with its semifinal win and won its first-ever regular-season conference championship. Abby Beeman had 10 points, 11 assists and four steals and Mahogany Matthews had 10 points and five blocks.
Hevynne Bristow had 21 points and 12 rebounds for the defending champion Dukes (23-11), the third seed. Peyton McDaniel had 20 points, Kseniia Kozlova had 16 and Annalicia Goodman 10.
A game that featured 12 ties and 14 lead changes — and only seven seconds of one team holding a double-figure lead — had some very unusual stats.
James Madison was in the game despite 39 turnovers that Marshall turned into 48 points.
The Dukes had a 59-50 rebounding advantage but the Thundering Herd had 33 offensive rebounds for 25 second-chance points.
The teams combined for 63 fouls and James Madison was 33 of 45 from the foul line to 27 of 38 for the Thundering Herd.
Marshall put up an amazing 99 shots, making 30, putting its 30.3 shooting percentage just a click better than the 30.1% it had in its only conference loss, at home to James Madison. The 8 of 46 from 3-point range (17.4%) was the worst of the year for Marshall.
The Dukes shot 51% (27 of 53) and were 5 of 11 from 3-point range, a final one dropping through as time ran out.
Marshall scored the first 10 points of the fourth for the largest lead of the game at 62-52 but the Dukes battled back and it was a one-possession game for the last four minutes. James Madison tied it at 76 with two free throws by Goodman with 6.6 seconds to go, a play that saw Beeman, the Sun Belt player of the year, foul out. Maier missed a 3 from the left corner with seconds left.
Marshall went 1 of 18 from 3-point range and shot 31% overall (13 of 42) in the first half and James Madison took a 35-32 lead despite 17 turnovers.
Sydni Scott scored on a putback as time ran out in the third quarter to pull Marshall into a 52-52 tie.
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