HUNTINGTON -- Julie Fulks likes the new kids on the block.
And beyond the 3-point arc, at the free-throw line, on defense and everywhere else.
Not the 1990s boy band, the basketball players.
Senior transfer Tamaya Lewis-Eutsey and freshman Olivia Olson each scored 16 points in their first game with the Thundering Herd in an 84-52 victory over Pikeville in a college women's exhibition game Saturday at Cam Henderson Center.
Fulks, Marshall's second-year coach, said she was pleased with both players.
"We need to make sure with (Aislynn Hayes and C.C. Mays) leaving, we needed to make sure we brought in some scoring," Fulks said. "That was a huge push for us. They both had pretty good games shooting it. They do it different."
Olson won a state championship at New Smyrna Beach (Florida) High School as a senior. On Saturday, she made 6 of 9 shots, 4 of 7 from 3-point range, grabbed three rebounds and made two steals. Lewis-Eutsey was 5 of 9 from the floor, made all six free throws, snagged five rebounds, made three assists and snared a trio of steals.
"They had really good games," Fulks said. "(Eutsey-Lewis) found (Olson) a couple of times. Timaya did a good job creating on her own. She's hard to keep in front. Both were good for us."
Eutsey-Lewis and Olson helped make up for the absence of senior Meredith Maier and sophomore Emily Bratton, a transfer from Miami (Ohio). Both missed the game with what Fulks called minor injuries.
Marshall defeated Pikeville 87-77 in an exhibition last season, and for a while, Saturday's game took on a similar tone. It was tied 17-17 after one quarter as the Bears made 8 of 20 shots. In the second quarter, the Herd turned up its intensity on defense and limited UPike to four baskets in 10 attempts on its way to a 43-27 halftime lead.
A big part of the success was Marshall's full-court pressure defense, which forced the Bears into 22 turnovers. The Herd outscored UPike 28-6 off turnovers in taking a 34-point lead.
"We watched some of that film this week," Fulks said of last year's exhibition with UPike. "Everybody looked around and said, 'Oh my gosh, we didn't get any defensive coverages right.' Last year, we couldn't apply nearly as much defensive pressure as we needed to. Today, we could. That was a big difference."
Fulks complimented Pikeville, which received top 25 votes in the NAIA preseason poll. The Bears were led by former West Carter High School star Allie Stone, who scored 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting. Jaidy Meijia-Andrade chipped in 10 points.
"We need to turn the pressure up on defense and speed people up," Fulks said. "We did a really good job of that. We have the people to do it. We have the speed to do it. (Timaya) makes things harder at the front. She gets hands on a lot of different things. That will be good for us. We're going to be able to score. We know that. This will help us get some extra possessions and speed things up."
Aarionna Redman, playing her first game since knee surgery in November, scored 10 points, as did Timberlynn Yeast. Blessing King snared a team-best six rebounds.
The Herd begins regular season play at 6 p.m. Nov. 3 at home against Buffalo. Pikeville opens at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Marion University in Indianapolis.
