HUNTINGTON, West Virginia - Fresh off their holiday break, the Salem women's basketball team had the tough task of heading down to Huntington this afternoon for a matchup with NCAA Division I's Marshall Thundering Herd. The Tigers competed hard against the Herd, but fell by a final score of 98-41. 

In the first quarter, Salem had a tough time getting the offense game plan moving initially. Kori Pillette and Karmen Vasquez opened up the scoring for the Tigers, but an experienced Marshall squad jumped out to a 29-12 lead after one. 

In the second, the Tigers needed to find some scoring, and they found some of it from Cassandra Smith and Taja Stephens. Despite making some strides, Marshall controlled the contest well into the halftime break, and the period ended with a 47-23 scoreline favoring the Thundering Herd. 

After the break, Salem still had a deep hole to fill offensively. Kamryn Ruffin and Lucia Yanez nailed some big shots for Salem, but the deficit was simply too large to overcome in the period. Therefore, Salem went into the fourth trailing Marshall 67-36 after 3 quarters. 

In the final frame, a tough offensive day only got worse for the Tigers. Salem could only muster 5 points in the final quarter, and the game ended with a 98-41 loss for the Tigers. 

Statistically, Salem was led by their only scorer in double figures, Taja Stephens with 14 points. Cassandra Smith finished just short of double figures with 8 points as well.

After this exhibition loss, the Tigers will be ready to get back on track this week. They head over to Glenville State for a 10 AM contest on Wednesday, December 4th.