At the start of the first quarter, Old Dominion looked like they were going to cruise right past the Thundering Herd. Since they were coming off a gallant 84-82 overtime victory against the Georgia Southern Eagles (11-4), the Monarch’s momentum was no surprise, especially with a fired-up crowd cheering non-stop behind them.
ODU, with fifteen points, kept Marshall to just five points for the first 6:40 seconds of the first quarter. However, momentum began to shift when Marshall’s junior guard Roshala Scott hit a three-point jumper. From that point on, ODU scored only two more points while Marshall scored seven, closing the Monarch’s lead to just two points (17-15) by the end of the quarter.