“Worthington is playing a lot of younger kids and a lot of inexperienced kids, and almost the reverse of what we’re able to put out there. So, with that being said, we felt like we still had a job to do,” Marshall head coach Dan Westby said. “[We] got off to a good start right away, and felt like that was important. We were able to play 15 kids for most of the game, so that’s always a good thing to get some more experience out on the floor.”

Marshall disrupted Worthington’s ability to inbound the ball early, generating a handful of consecutive steals and converting them into offense. Marshall finished with 29 steals and led 71-13 at the half.

Taleigha Bigler had a team-high nine steals to her 10 points and four assists. Reese Drake led with 29 points, 27 of which came in the first half, and shot 5 for 7 from beyond the arc to lead the Tigers’ perimeter shooting efforts.

Everyone on the Marshall roster saw playing time and offered contributions in some capacity, including 13 different players scoring.

Marshall's Taleigha Bigler makes a pass in the first half against Worthington Monday night.

Avery Schneekloth had a team-best seven assists to her 18 points, while Avery Fahl followed with another 10 points. Sydney Towne led with 10 boards.

Drake had the hot-hand from the start, draining a 3-pointer off the tip won by Avery Fahl and immediately found Danielle Nubile down low on the next possession.

Running a full-court press to begin, Marshall held a strong height advantage. Fahl and Schneekloth each stand at 6-foot-flat while Nubile is 6-foot-1. Kaitlyn Mulder, at 5-foot-11, was the only Trojan over 5-foot-8 to enter the game.

The Tigers made a habit of honing in on the defensive end, not allowing Worthington to pass half court into Marshall territory for the first several possessions when the Trojans tried to inbound.

Reese and Maddie Panka also each had four steals.

Marshall's Avery Schneekloth drives in toward the lane in the first half Monday night against Worthington.

“One of the things that I think is so important is getting our head up and seeing what we’ve got [in transition],” Westby said. “I thought we did a good job of getting our head up and realizing that we had things going our way, and people on the other end available.”

Drake, who scored 8 of the first 12 points, hit a trio of 3-pointers to help give Marshall a quick 15-0 lead to start the night less than three minutes in

Bigler got herself on the board with a 3-pointer off the top of the key for a 22-1 edge, followed with another layup off an inbound steal and a Schneekloth post-up.

Drake quickly reached 20 points on the night, going on a solo 7-0 run with back-to-back fastbreak layups and yet another 3, to put the Tigers ahead 39-7. Julia Fahl then drew a charge on the defensive end that eventually led to a Schneekloth 3-pointer.

“We always feel like pressure is important,” Westby said. “That’s another part of what we do. So, [we] felt like we needed to do that from the beginning, and we did.”

Marshall broke 50 points following a Schneekloth fastbreak, 51-10, as the Tigers continued to run away behind their transition play.

With the half winding down, Drake nailed one more 3 as Bigler grabbed another steal and layup to send the Tigers to the locker room in a comfortable position.

Along with Drake’s 27, Schneekloth scored 12 points by the half while Avery Fahl and Bigler each had 10.

Westby allowed his reserves to get several minutes of playing time during the second half, who continued to find the basket and break 100 points and also tested out a 1-3-1 zone on defense.

Marshall hasn’t played much zone this year, but Westby said he felt good about how his team managed it in the game. He added that they broke out the zone defense because he felt like it was something they’ll need in their arsenal down the road.

Marshall will continue to play a tougher regular-season schedule. It returns to the court today to play its second top-10 ranked game in five days after falling to No. 1 Class 4A Hopkins last Thursday.

The Tigers take on No. 9 Delano today on the road. The Delano Tigers are riding a four-game win streak. Marshall will soon compete against Class 2A No. 3 Duluth Marshall on Dec. 29, with more ranked opponents to come down the stretch.

Marshall moved up a spot this week in the Class AAA coaches polls to No. 2, only behind undefeated Benilde-St. Margaret’s, who the Tigers fell to in last year’s state championship. Marshall traded places with now-No. 3 Orono.

Marshall (5-1) and Delano (5-3) will tipoff at 5:30 p.m. today, with the boys game to follow directly after.

Delano’s three losses have come to BSM by 4 points, No. 4 Hill-Murray by a single possession and Class 4A Chanhassen’s by 7 points. Immediately following tonight’s game, Westby took the team back in for another practice to continue preparations.

“It kind of starts [Tuesday],” Westby said of playing tough competition. “We’ve got a tough game on the road and Delano is having a great season. They’re a lot like us.They’ve got a lot of kids returning, and we feel like we need to go up there and play well.”