April 4, 2026
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall used a fast start, great crowd and a decisive third-quarter run to defeat Illinois State, 66-41, in the 2026 WNIT Championship on Saturday at the Cam Henderson Center. Marshall improved to 28-9 with the victory, while Illinois State finished 24-14.
Marshall set the tone early, shooting 9-for-12 in the first quarter and building a 21-10 lead after 10 minutes. The Thundering Herd took a 31-21 advantage into halftime, then opened the second half with a 12-0 run and outscored the Redbirds 19-13 in the third quarter to push the margin to 50-34 heading into the fourth. Marshall added a 16-7 edge in the final period to close out the 25-point win.
Timaya Lewis-Eutsey led all scorers with 27 points on 12-of-17 shooting and added seven steals for Marshall. Ni’Kiah Chesterfield scored seven points off the bench, while Blessing King had six points and a team-high eight rebounds. Meredith Maier also added six points.
Illinois State was led by Addison Martin with 11 points, while Trista Fayta added nine and Grace Nelson scored six. The Redbirds shot 29.2 percent from the field (14-of-48) and 17.6 percent from 3-point range (3-of-17).
Marshall finished 28-of-57 from the floor (49.1 percent), scored 44 points in the paint, and forced 23 Illinois State turnovers that led to 17 points. The Thundering Herd also received 21 bench points and recorded 15 steals.
The championship marked the close of a record-setting season for Marshall, which finished with a program-best 28 victories. Lewis-Eutsey, named WNIT Tournament MVP, also became Marshall’s single-season scoring leader during the game and finished the season with 741 points.
2026 WNIT All-Tournament Team
MVP - Timaya Lewis-Eutsey
Timberlynn Yeast (Marshall)
Doneelah Washington (Illinois State)
Addison Martin (Illinois State)
Angelina Robles (South Dakota)
Zyion Shannon (Ark State)