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MARSHALL - It didn't seem to matter what the Marshall girls basketball team threw at No. 5 ranked Sioux Falls-Washington at Marshall High School Tuesday.

The Warriors never skipped a beat and were the better team in every aspect of the game as they muscled their way to a 39-26 halftime lead en route to a 64-50 victory.

The most glaring difference in the matchup was on the boards. Behind the strength of five players at least 6-foot or taller, SF-W (9-6) dominated the glass, outrebounding the Tigers 56-25.

"They were a tough matchup for us," MHS head coach Dan Westby said. "They're bigger and faster and more explosive than we are. They're a good team, there's no doubt about it. It's certainly good for us to play teams like this, but we have to find ways to equalize some of those disadvantages we have."

The lone Warrior senior, Whitnee Clayton had her way in the paint, posting a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Junior Mercede Stotesbery also had a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards.

"We played hard at times, but we gave up too many offensive rebounds," Westby said. "It's been an ongoing problem for us and until that gets fixed, we're just going to be behind the 8-ball all the time. It makes it so much more difficult for our team and we can't do that."

SF-W jumped out to an 8-2 lead after Stotesbery converted a three-point play. Despite not matching up well physically against the Warriors, Marshall battled back with strong shooting from the perimeter.

Morgan McKittrick nailed a triple on an out-of-bounds play to cut the Tiger deficit to 8-5. After Dani Beekman lost a shoe on a hustle play, she drilled a basket behind the arc from the left win to cut the lead down to two.

With 13:35 remaining, Beekman found Kelsey Verdoes posted up along the baseline to knot the score at 10-10.

Then, McKittrick hit for three to give the Tigers their only lead of the contest at the 11:39 mark.

Behind the offensive power of four different players, the Warriors proceeded to show their dominance with a 14-2 run.

With just over seven minutes to play in the opening half, Marshall had its biggest surge of the night when Rachel Westby went 2-for-2 at the line, Amanda Tate added a free throw and then Rachel drained a three from the left wing to cut the lead down to 27-21.

Rachel Westby led the Tigers with 16 points. McKittrick added 11 points, two assists and two steals.

"They're really big and were good rebounders," Rachel Westby said. "We've been working on boxing out, but we definitely need to change that. It could have been a whole different ball game if we would have done that."

SF-W recorded 17 offensive rebounds and were 10-for-12 at the stripe in the first half.

"As soon as the shot goes up, we have to find people and get them away from the basket," Dan Westby said. "Right now we're not doing that. Until that changes, we're going to continue to be frustrated."

The Warriors came out of the half and quickly let Marshall know they were not about to let up as they scored four straight points before Rachel Westby hit another three and Taylor Miller went 1-for-2 at the line for the Tigers.

Marshall got a little break in the physical matchup when SF-W's Rachel Walters picked up her fourth foul. The Tigers tried to take the ball to the hoop and make things happen, but Kelli Vanleeuwe and McKittrick were both called for offensive fouls despite their solid efforts.

Although Kelsey Saugstad added five points late in the game for Marshall, the Tigers could not make any progress as the Warriors continued to press offensively. SF-W shot 25-for-71 from the field for 35 percent. The Tigers shot 13-for-40 from the floor for 32.5 percent.

"We're playing some tough teams this week," Rachel Westby said. "But that's good because it will help us in the future. We see it as a challenge and not as a burden."

Marshall (9-8) continues action Thursday against Southwest Conference rival Windom Area.

Sioux Falls-Washington (64)

Whitnee Clayton 8 1-2 17, Mercede Stotesbery 7 1-1 15, Sarah Zirpel 2 2-2 6, Jessica Carson 1 3-4 5, Rachel Walters 2 0-0 6, Hannah Weber 3 3-4 7, Becca Ryan 3 2-2 8, Emma Hanson 0 0-2 0, Totals 25 12-17 64. Three-pointers 2 (Walters 2) Rebounds 56 (Clayton 14, Stotesbery 10) Assists 6 (Zirpel 3) Steals 16 (Ryan 3) Blocks 1 (Zirpel) Turnovers 17 Total Fouls 23.

Marshall (50)

Kelsey Saugstad 2 0-0 5, Rachel Westby 4 6-6 16, Dani Beekman 1 2-4 5, Morgan McKittrick 3 3-5 11, Alexis Boyd 0 3-4 3, Taylor Miller 0 1-2 1, Amanda Tate 1 1-2 3, Kelsey Verdoes 2 2-2 6, Totals 13 18-25 50. Three-pointers 6 (Westby 2, McKittrick 2, Saugstad, Beekman) Rebounds 25 (Verdoes 3, Sarah Deutz 3) Assists 6 (Beekman 2, McKittrick 2) Steals 5 (McKittrick 2) Blocks 1 (Deutz) Turnovers 22 Total Fouls 19.

Halftime Score: Sioux Falls-Washington 39, Marshall 26.