Marshall Tiger Bri Simpson drives baseline early in the first half against the New Ulm Eagles on Monday’s evening contest.

MARSHALL–The Marshall Tigers girls’ basketball team routed the New Ulm Eagles 71-43 on Monday evening.

The Tigers came out by hitting the outside shot. Bri Simpson and Randi Wendorff paced the scoring early for the Tigers. The Tigers could hold the Eagles to one shot and frustrate them with their press defense all night.

Taleigha Bigler hit a buzzer 3-pointer ending the first half on a good note and taking a 14-point lead for the Tigers, 31-17.

In the second half, the Tigers continued to pour it on as four Tigers scored in double figures. Bigler led the way with 16 points, Wendorff had 14 points, Bri Simpson had 12 points and Brooke Andries finished with 10 points.

The Tigers kept pushing the pace tiring out the Eagles and controlled the glass with a 31-16 advantage. Andries led the Tigers with five rebounds.

“I think we worked well together tonight,” Wendorff said. “The last game against them was hard, coming into this game we were fired up and ready to go. Tonight our defense was really good and we were trapping very well.”

The Tigers’ defense forced 25 turnovers in the ballgame. The Eagles had more turnovers (25) than field goals made (15).

“We had a 14-point cushion at the half and we felt that was important,” Dan Westby said. “I thought our kids made a big push in the second half, not letting New Ulm get comfortable. They’re a quick-strike team. They can pile up the threes in a hurry. We didn’t let up and we kind of made them uncomfortable. We thought our kids got after them and just a great overall effort. We shuffled 10 kids in and out of the lineup and there wasn’t a dropoff. We have to look to improve every day in practice.”

The Marshall Tigers will be back in action this evening as they will travel to play against Jordan High School.

The first tip is at 5:30 p.m.