HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — Timaya Lewis-Eutsey scored 14 of her 27 points in the first quarter and Marshall beat Illinois State 66-41 on Saturday to claim the Thundering Herd's first WNIT championship.
Lewis-Eutsey, who came in averaging 19.8 points per game, made 12 of 17 shots and all three of her 3-ponters for the Thundering Herd (28-9). All 10 Marshall players who got into the game had at least one basket.
Addison Martin had 11 points to lead the Redbirds (24-14) and Trista Fayta scored nine. Doneelah Washington led the team with a 17.1 scoring average, but she missed all seven of her shots against Marshall and failed to score.
Lewis-Eutsey buried all six of her first-quarter shots with two 3-pointers, scoring the first 11 points for Marshall in building a five-point lead in the first 4:35. Lewis-Eutsey hit a 3-pointer and Kassie Ingram followed with a layup for a 21-10 lead before both teams went scoreless over the final 2:37.
Blessing King's layup at the first-half buzzer gave Marshall a 31-21 advantage at the break.
King and Ingram had the final two baskets in a 12-0 run to begin the third quarter and Marshall cruised to the finish.
Marshall shot 49% overall, made 6 of 22 from distance and went 4 for 4 at the free-throw line. Illinois State shot 29.2%, made 3 of 17 from distance and 10 of 12 foul shots.
The Redbirds beat South Dakota 67-60 on the road in the semifinals, while Marshall posted a 69-62 road win over Arkansas State to advance to the title game.
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Woodside Musical Theatre proudly presents Jesus Christ Superstar in Concert — the company’s … Read moreJESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR in Concert
“Side-splittingly funny and brilliantly chaotic” Read moreThe Play That Goes Wrong
John Baker said:
CA Is Burning said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.