By GRANT TRAYLOR

Associate Athletic Director of Strategic Communications

BLACKSBURG, Va. – The historic season for Marshall’s Women’s Basketball team came to an end on Friday with a loss at Virginia Tech.

Marshall’s season came to a close following a 92-49 loss to the Hokies at Cassell Coliseum in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon in Blacksburg, Virginia.

“You have to take a second and reflect on the entire year as a whole, not just the last few hours,” Marshall Women’s Basketball coach Kim Caldwell said. “There’s going to be some time where we – hopefully, quickly – can look back and celebrate our season. I appreciate every Marshall fan that tuned in, I appreciate every Marshall fan that was here in Green. It was great to see. Our fans come out and show out in a hostile environment. We appreciate you and we’re sorry we didn’t give you a better show.”

With the loss, Marshall’s season ends at 26-7. The 2023-24 season was one for the record books with the team setting the record for the most wins in a single-season in program history while also earning its first NCAA Tournament berth since 1997.

Marshall never could find its rhythm from the floor, struggling to a 6-of-41 mark from 3-point range while shooting just 24.4 percent overall in its field goal attempts.

Virginia Tech scored the first 13 points of the game, but Marshall fought back, scoring the final nine points of the first quarter to cut the margin to 18-12 at the end of the first period after a Breanna Campbell reverse layup at the buzzer.

However, the Herd’s inability to find its mark took its toll as Virginia Tech used a big run at the end of the first half to turn a 7-point game into a 17-point halftime lead. That surge proved too much and the Hokies extended the advantage with a big third quarter.

“It was a big momentum changer because we were only down seven and we had 1:30 left and they went on a 10-0 run and we were down 17 at half,” Marshall guard Abby Beeman said.

Beeman ended the game as the lone Marshall player in double-figures with 12 points.

The game marked the last contest for Marshall’s trio of seniors: Beeman, Breanna Campbell and Tamia Lawhorne.