Waseca, who entered the night looking for its first win of the season, was troubled by the Tigers’ aggressive full-court press and trapping in the opening half to fall behind early. Marshall led 52-6 at the half, who controlled all areas of the court along with its effective shooting.

“We felt like it was important to try and use our pressure early to try and get a lead, and we did that. That’s always a big part of what we do.” Marshall head coach Dan Westby said. “I thought in addition to that, we shot really well. We were able to knock down a number of outside shots.”

Reese Drake led all scorers with 19 points, nine assists and five steals, while Taleigha Bigler and Avery Schnkeeloth both grabbed four steals as well. Danielle Nubile was a dominant force in the paint, finishing the night with three blocks to her eight points going 2 for 3 from deep.

Avery Fahl was perfect from the arc, shooting 3 for 3, to finish with 13 points and five rebounds.

Marshall’s Danielle Nubile lines up to take a shot in the first half Friday night against Waseca.

The Tigers bounced back from an 81-77 road loss to No. 2 Delano on Tuesday, their second top-10 matchup in five days after taking on top-ranked Class 4A Hopkins the week prior.

“Those games are a learning experience, and we’ve got a few more on our schedule down the road here,” Westby said. “So, we’ve got to hopefully learn from some of those games and then come out on top.”

Nubile got the scoring started with a feed from Drake on the night’s second position off the low block, which Drake followed up with a wide-open layup after Marshall stole the ball back on Waseca’s inbound.

A 3-pointer and putback off an offensive rebound from Drake after a Bigler steal gave Marshall a fast 11-0 lead to begin the night, eventually becoming a 24-0 start after holding the Bluejays scoreless for the first eight minutes of the game.

“We always feel like we need to hang our hat on our defense. We say that, because if we defend hard, we’re going to be in every game,” Westby said. “We work on that [press and trapping] every day, and we think that’s another aspect of our pressure.”

Marshall senior guard Taleigha Bigler faciliates the offense in the first half.

Fahl grabbed three-straight offensive rebounds on one possession during the run surrounded by a trio of Bluejays to make the Tigers’ height advantage known. Fahl stands at 6-foot amongst three others on Marshall’s roster, while Waseca’s tallest active player stood at 5-foot-11.

“We should be able to rebound, because we’ve got some kids who are fairly decent athletes, and we’ve got some good size. So, we should be able to rebound,” Westby said.

Marshall made a habit to continue trapping on its full-court press or in the corners on defense, while effectively reading the passing lanes, which led to several Waseca turnovers and extra Tiger points.

Fahl hit a corner three, which she was practicing pregame and sank several from the same spot consecutively, to put the Tigers ahead 24-0. She hit from the same spot later in the half as well.

Waseca got points on the board with a 3-pointer midway through the half, to which Drake immediately answered back with a 3 of her own, and had 15 of Marshall’s first 32 points.

Marshall sophomore guard Sydney Towne dishes out a pass in the second half.

Schneekloth also had several good looks inside the paint while both teams were playing in a zone defense, and put away back-to-back buckets from the right block for a 20-point Marshall lead, 36-6. She finished the night with 14 points.

On Marshall’s final possession of the half, Bigler drove the left side of the lane to kick out a pass to an open Sydney Towne for a 3-pointer to send the Tigers to the locker room in comfortable position.

Drake led all scorers with 17 first-half points, followed by Schneekloth’s 12 and Fahl’s 10 points.

Marshall didn’t lose a beat coming out in the second half with Fahl, Nubile and Bigler all draining a 3 as Westby allowed his reserves to get a handful of minutes to finish off the night.

“Our outside shooting has been good. When we’ve got open looks, we’ve been able to knock them down, and we’ve been really pleased with our outside shooting to this point,” Westby said.

Marshall played a clean game, only committing four turnovers, while shooting 52% from the field and 50% at the 3-point line, going 11 for 22. The Bluejays were held to 27-28% shooting clips.

The Tigers (6-2) will remain at home and host Mankato West (4-5) on Monday at 7:15 p.m. for Meet the Tiger Night, where the players will be available for autographs following the game.