Marshall brought its signature scrappy style of defense to the court against McLean on Saturday afternoon, but it was no match for the Highlanders' precision shooting as the Statesmen fell 54-28.
The win helped McLean improve to above .500 on the season, and improve its district playoff seed.
McLean Sophomores Shellie Kaniut and Lisa Murphy dominated the perimeter and paint respectively to control the floor for all four quarters.
Find out what's happening in Viennawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
After a tight first quarter of play, the Highlanders outscored Marshall 17-8 in the second quarter behind precise perimeter shooting form Kaniut, who went six of nine for 12 points off the bench. Murphy dominated the paint for short jumpers and easy layups to go four of six for 12 points and six boards. She gave McLean the inside edge over the Statesmen for most of the game.
“The important thing was to stay concentrated, not give up points and box out constantly,” Murphy said. “Our height obviously help but we tried to come out with aggression and dominate the boards.”
Find out what's happening in Viennawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Marshall did not go down easy. Madison O’Beirne and Anna Greenwood combined for 15 points on the afternoon. Rachel Waldron followed her strong performance against Stone Bridge last week with another stellar defensive game, notching three points, eight rebounds and two steals.
Marshall shot with accuracy and ran the half court game with precision passing from its back court for open shots on the perimeter. Meanwhile, Waldron and April Reinhart battled Murphy for position in the lane to close out the quarter down by only four points.
Mclean opened up a double digit lead off of quick transition points from the Highlanders eight steals, forcing Marshall to chase them for the rest of the day.
Marshall’s Greenwood said her team had miscommunication issues after the first quarter and hopes to feel better after its next game.
“I think we just got disorganized on defense and didn’t talk and they pulled away,” Greenwood said. “We need to remember how this feels and we want to feel different after the next game [a win].”
Klippenstein said she was impressed with McLean’s defense and it was hard to catch them.
“McLean’s defense stepped up a notch and created a lot of turnovers and that really created some separation between us,” Klippenstein said. “It sure is hard to get a lead when they have the ball.”
She added the team would continue to work on fundamentals and short-term goals for the remainder of the season.
Kaniut said she was happy with the victory and her team likes to keep the game aggressive and play at a quick pace.
“We are a really athletic team and Marshall is pretty scrappy too,” she said. “We work on being aggressive, going after the ball, working on the fast break and that is pretty much our game.”
McLean will play at home against Madison on Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m. while Marshall plays at Langley on Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m.
