HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (ODU Sports) – Old Dominion women’s basketball built a 13-point lead in the second quarter and was tied at 34-34 at halftime, but 10 three-pointers by Marshall allowed the Thundering Herd to pull away for a 90-60 decision on Thursday night at the Cam Henderson Center.

Tied at 4-4 early in the first quarter, a pair of Brenda Fontana layups put the Monarchs (12-4, 4-2 Sun Belt) ahead 8-4 at the 7:25 mark. Kaye Clark scored a jumper and Fontana added a 1-for-2 effort at the free-throw line to push the lead to 13-8. A Meredith Meier three-pointer highlighted a 7-2 response by the Herd (12-5, 6-0) that evened the game at 15-15. The teams then traded baskets to close out the opening stanza tied at 17-17.

ODU turned in its best stretch of the game at the beginning of the second quarter, scoring 11 straight points in the first 2 minutes and 40 seconds. Clark got the run started with a jumper, Simone Cunningham followed with a pair of layups and Jordan McLaughlin added another, and En’Dya Buford capped off the run with a three-pointer from the right wing. However, long balls by Abby Beeman and Breanna Campbell and 8-for-8 shooting at the line late in the quarter allowed the home team to pull even yet again, 34-34 at halftime.

Coming out of the break, the Monarchs kept the game close for the first half of the third and went up 41-40 on a Mimi McCollister three-pointer, but two more threes from Meier opened up a 12-0 charge that swelled the Herd lead to 57-43. An old-fashioned three-point effort from Fontana and a layup by Clark got the deficit back to single digits at 57-48, but Marshall answered with yet another three.

The Monarchs went into the final quarter trailing 60-50, but the Herd kept its foot on the gas. Marshall came into the game ranked 10th in the country in threes made per game (9.4) and were held to just three in the first half, but knocked down seven more in the second half. The Herd outscored the Monarchs 18-3 over the final six minutes as ODU was unable to find its way back into the game.

Three players scored in double figures for the Monarchs. Buford and Fontana finished with 14 points and six rebounds each while Cunningham contributed a season-high 11 points with five rebounds. Buford also set a new career high with eight steals, Clark ended up with eight points and six steals, and McLaughlin tallied six points.

As a team, the Monarchs shot 23-for-64 (.359) from the floor, including 3-for-19 (.158) from distance, and 11-for-21 (.524) at the free-throw line. The 90 points allowed are the most by an opponent since ODU fell to Charlotte, 102-95 in double overtime on Feb. 10, 2021.

ODU wraps up its four-game road swing at James Madison this Saturday. First tip in Harrisonburg is scheduled for 2 p.m.