The Tigers and Cardinals got off to a competitive start on the defensive end of the floor before Marshall found its footing sparked by its press to eventually build a 22-point lead at the break.

“It was a physical game all the way through. Willmar kind of caught us off guard there to start the game,” Marshall head coach Dan Westby said. “They took to the basket a couple of times, and we kind of found ourselves behind there early. Again, I think that was Willmar just being ready to play, and us maybe having to find it at that point.”

Avery Schneekloth had a team-high 16 points and two blocks, while Reese Drake and Danielle Nubile followed with 15 and 13 points, respectively. Avery Fahl led with six rebounds to her 9 points, coming from a trio of 3-pointers, and Taleigha Bigler finished with a team-best five steals and eight assists along with her 6 points.

Willmar kept the Tigers on their toes throughout the first half before Marshall got its rhythm going. The Cardinals were chippy on defense and forced a handful of turnovers by interrupting passing lanes and forcing a few steals.

Marshall's Sydney Towne dribbles the ball up the court after getting a steal in the first half against Willmar Tuesday night.

Marshall finished with 21 turnovers to Willmar’s 20, and both teams had 11 steals.

But, Marshall’s tenacious full-court press once again shined and got the Tigers back on track midway through the opening half to eventually build a large lead at the break.

Willmar scored the game’s first 4 points with a pair of free throws by drawing a foul on the first offensive possession, followed up with a layup after breaking through the defense.

Nubile got the Tigers on the board after cleaning up the offensive glass, while Fahl found a cutting Schneekloth on the next possession across the paint to cut into a 6-4 deficit.

Bigler herself had a string of steals and fastbreak layups off Marshall’s press in the first half, just as she did to tie the early game up 6-6.

Marshall's Avery Schneekloth drives the baseline in the first half against Willmar Tuesday night.

The Cardinals and Tigers continued going basket-for-basket in the competitive start to a 12-12 tie before Maddie Panka drilled in a 3-pointer along with a layup off a Drake steal to help give the Tigers a 19-13 edge.

As Marshall was working to clean up its early turnovers, Sydney Towne and Schneekloth got in on the 3-point action with back-to-back 3s and a Bigler defensive rebound turned into a long pass up the court to Drake to give Marshall its first 10-point lead, 27-17.

Willmar, however, scored a quick 4 unanswered points to bring the game back within 6 points.

“It wasn’t a good start. I thought we gave up way too many offensive rebounds,” Westby said. “Again, it was physical, and Willmar was physical, and it worked out for them.”

Willmar outrebounded Marshall on the offensive boards 12-7, while the Tigers returned the favor 22-16 on the defensive glass.

Marshall's Taleigha Bigler drives toward the basket in the first half against Willmar Tuesday night.

Following a timeout, Marshall responded on a strong 11-0 run to take a 38-21 lead and never looked back the rest of the way.

The Tigers made a series of defensive stops including a 10-second violation, a steal and forcing a steal amidst the run.

Another Bigler steal and layup, and 3s from Drake, Schneekloth and Avery Fahl contributed to the offensive end of the run.

Drake ended the first half taking the ball up the court herself for a floating layup to send Marshall to the locker room with its 46-24 lead.

Schneekloth and Drake led Marshall with 12 points each in the first.

“That last five or six minutes of the first half, we kind of took control and that was largely due to our pressure and then kind of maintained that throughout most of the second half,” Westby said. “We had a 35-point lead there, and you wish we could have kept that cushion, but Willmar hit some shots [during the second half].”

Marshall again caught fire from the perimeter that spread contagiously throughout the second half, sparked by Fahl opening on a 6-0 run with a pair of 3s from the corner.

Nubile and Panka also nailed a 3-pointer over the next few minutes, giving Marshall a 65-30 lead while continuing to handle the defensive end the rest of the way.

Schneekloth and Nubile both shot 2 of 3 from deep.

Marshall finished with 13 3-pointers and held Willmar to five.

“It was good for us to play that team, because like I said, it’s a physical team. We don’t see a lot of those throughout the course of the season, so that was good,” Westby said.

Willmar entered Tuesday looking to snap a four-game skid and even its record up to .500. The Cardinals have been playing through a tougher stretch in their regular season, with their last four straight games, including Marshall, having been against teams with at least 13 wins on the season already along with two ranked opponents in their last five games.

The Tigers most recently were coming off their third game this season eclipsing 100 points with a meaningful 100-85 win over No. 5 Hill-Murray on Saturday behind Drake’s 40 points and Bigler’s 26.

Marshall (15-2) will next embark on a three-game road trip starting at Waseca (3-15) on Friday at 7:15 p.m., and will have another tall task of taking on No. 2 Stewartville (15-1) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Stewartville is currently riding a 15-game win streak.

“Stewartville has been having a great year. They’ve been highly ranked all year, and going to their place won’t be easy,” Westby said. “We got to figure a few things out. We got a couple days of practice, it’ll be tough, and we’re going to have to play better than we did tonight.”