Basketball <\/p>\n
Louisiana Tech was once the standard in NCAA women\u2019s basketball. After winning the first NCAA women\u2019s basketball tournament in 1982, the Techsters continued a run of 25 seasons where they qualified for the annual national tournament. That included another title in 1988 and six total trips to the NCAA national final. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s now been 13 years since the last trip to March Madness, but the future of college basketball in Ruston, Louisiana is bright. In part because of freshman forward Jordan Marshall.<\/p>\n
Go to ESPN\u2019s top 100 recruits for the 2024 prospect class<\/a> and you won\u2019t see her name alongside UConn\u2019s Sarah Strong<\/a> or Ohio State\u2019s Jaloni Cambridge<\/a>. You didn\u2019t see her play in the McDonald\u2019s All-American game. There wasn\u2019t the hype surrounding her as she entered her freshman year. <\/p>\n No, Marshall isn\u2019t a player talked about across college basketball social media \u2014 but she should be. She deserves attention, and will have it as her college career grows.<\/p>\n The 6-foot forward already has experience with being overlooked. In her senior year of high school, Marshall played for Central Little Rock, in her native Arkansas. Entering the 2024 6A playoffs, the Little Rock Tigers were the fourth seed, and had their fair share of trouble against teams ranked higher in the tournament bracket.<\/p>\n After making it through the second round, shocking the No. 1 seeded Northside, Marshall and the Tigers had semifinals and the final game against teams Central already faced in the regular season to the tune of an 0-5 winless record.<\/p>\n What happened next wasn\u2019t expected around Little Rock. Marshall led the Tigers to the 6A state championship, their first title in school history. <\/p>\n Against Conway in the state final, the reigning state champions who defeated Central twice in the regular season (once by 18 points), Marshall led the Tigers with nine points and 12 rebounds. It helped secure the victory and the tournament MVP award. <\/p>\n Following Central\u2019s Cinderella season, Marshall left home for Louisiana Tech, where the forward is already making her mark. In Marshall\u2019s first week of the season, she averaged 15.7 points and 8.7 rebounds for the Techsters in three consecutive victories. That earned Marshall her first Conference USA\u2019s Freshman of the Week honor.<\/p>\n In the next two games against Stephen F. Austin and Mississippi Valley State, Marshall had two double-doubles with 14 rebounds apiece and 16 and 18-point performances. <\/p>\n Marshall became the first freshman Techster to score 20 points in a game since 2014. She also became the first LA Tech freshman since 1996 to score in double figures, matching Tamicha Jackson who went on to have a six-year WNBA<\/a> career. <\/p>\n The forward excels inside, sometimes taking on multiple defenders to take chances at the basket. Marshall achieves this through athletic moves reserved for players normally shorter in stature, like this move against UT Arlington.<\/p>\n Marshall\u2019s play has worked so far in the non-conference season, but her scoring doesn\u2019t have a singular focus.<\/p>\n Beyond the arc, Marshall is beginning to grow in confidence. After missing five three-point attempts in her first three games, the freshman has one in two consecutive starts. <\/p>\n In terms of court vision, Marshall has that too and isn\u2019t a score-first style player. Against Stephen F. Austin, the Techsters lost but there were a handful of moments where Marshall proved to hurt opponents on the offensive side of the ball without taking a shot. <\/p>\n On an inbound pass, which Marshall sent into play, the freshman received the pass with SFA pressuring full-court. Marshall caught a pass and then used a chest pass to send it into the far top corner of the court for an open three-point shot. <\/p>\n Not a quarterback style toss but using upper body strength, balanced with accuracy, to chest pass it over the opposing defense and into the hands of her teammate.<\/p>\n In the same game, Marshall showed her magnetic-like connection with winning the ball, attacking the rim and getting extra attempts at points from the free throw line.<\/p>\n It isn\u2019t only passes that stretch the court. With Marshall\u2019s physicality and speed inside, she\u2019s started to find outlets and lay the ball off to teammates. One of those teammates is another standout big in Conference USA by the name of Isla Airey. <\/p>\n The two are beginning to play off each other well, both showing an aptitude to adjust to the NCAA quickly. <\/p>\n \u201cI thought they had some great plays for us at critical times,\u201d said head coach Brenda Stoehr about Marshall and Airey. \u201cBut, I think there\u2019s just so much more that they\u2019re capable of and just finding that consistency of taking care of the basketball and being strong and going and crashing every time, posting up hard every time and doing those things.\u201d<\/p>\n So far this season, Marshall leads LA Tech with 14.5 points per game, good for sixth in the conference. Her 9.8 rebounds not only leads the Techsters but also Conference USA.<\/p>\n
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