HUNTINGTON -- Ask Marshall women's basketball point guard Casey Baker and she will tell you that statistics don't matter to her.

And, maybe they don't.

But even for her, Saturday's statistic line is going to be hard to ignore.

According to the release by Marshall sports information, Baker finished with 14 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in a 71-56 exhibition game victory over the DT-3 All-Stars at Cam Henderson Center.

"Casey Baker was phenomenal and really set the tone," Marshall coach Royce Chadwick said. "I'd like to be a freshman on this team and watch her and learn from her all year long. She's matured as a player, matured as a person and really leads her team exceptionally well."

Baker had a lot of help from the Marshall frontcourt. Despite a lack of players because of injuries, Marshall's trio of forwards helped set the tone for Baker and the other guards to get involved scoring and on the glass.

Tynikki Crook logged 33 minutes and finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds -- her second consecutive 20-point, 10-rebound outing of the preseason and her fifth-straight double-double dating back to last season's Conference USA tournament.

Crook was joined in the post by Andrea Ibezim, who netted 12 points and six rebounds in 25 minutes of action. Baker said a lot of rebounds were a credit to those players.

"The post players had their players boxed out, and it was easy for me to be able to get in there and get the ball," Baker said.

Marshall finished the evening with a 57-36 edge in the rebounding department despite being smaller than the DT-3 All-Stars. The activity of Marshall's guards was the difference. The Herd backcourt finished with 33 of the 57 rebounds.

Coming in, the DT-3 All-Stars had already defeated No. 13 George Washington and led Virginia and Maryland at halftime. However on this evening, they were no match for the Herd.

Marshall jumped out to a 14-3 lead and DT-3 did not notch its first field goal until the 10:30 mark of the first half. DT-3 didn't get closer than seven points in the first half and Marshall took a 38-28 lead to the break.

"That's the first time in any of their games that they have been down at halftime," Chadwick said.

The second half was much of the same with the Herd maintaining its cushion thanks to a stellar defensive performance that held DT-3 to just 29 percent shooting.

The Herd put the game out of reach with a 17-4 run midway through the second half, even increasing the lead to 69-48 with 3:30 to play.

The only negative spot in the contest came late when Ibezim went down with a possible ankle injury after fighting for a rebound. She gingerly walked off the court and was on crutches after the game.

It adds another post player to the walking wounded list for Chadwick, who played the exhibition without Chantelle Handy (back), Kamille Lisonbee (ankle) and Keona Brooks (foot).

"We have to keep them all healthy," Chadwick said. "We missed Chantelle and missed Keona tonight, there's no doubt about it. But when you have a team and you have good chemistry, when this one's sick, this one steps up."

Marshall will look to get healthy this week in preparation for Friday night's season opener in Boone N.C., against Appalachian State. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.

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