"We all wanted to take a moment to celebrate and we said let's start this year where we finished," coach Terri Mitchell said in reaction to the falling of the banner.,”The Marquette women's basketball team unveiled its WNIT Championship banner prior to their season opener against Oral Roberts this afternoon at the Al McGuire Center.

"We all wanted to take a moment to celebrate and we said let's start this year where we finished," coach Terri Mitchell said in reaction to the falling of the banner.

"I told (the team) to celebrate it, enjoy it, smile, you've earned it.and take that emotion out to the court."

Marquette rallied off five straight wins en route to its championship in April, and has not missed a step since defeating Michigan State in the WNIT finals.

Today the Golden Eagles of Marquette wasted no time in continuing their winning ways as they defeated the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles 89-67.

It took a little time for the home squad to get back in the swing of things as Oral Roberts hung close for a majority of the first half.

Early on, the visitors took a 20-19 lead thanks to a 17-10 run, which included four three-pointers in the span of six minutes.

However, that was the only lead the visiting Golden Eagles would hold as Marquette rattled off 19 straight points of their own to make it a 38-20 lead, one in which they would not relinquish.

Sophomore forward Paige Fiedorowicz drained an uncharacteristic 3-pointer during the run, which sent the crowd and the Marquette bench into frenzy, and forced Oral Roberts to call a timeout.

"(Coach) says if we work on our three's, which we have been, that I guess it's OK and I heard my teammates telling me to shoot it," Fiedorowicz said about her shot.

Fiedorwicz tallied 13 points coming off the bench, a role in which she admits she does not mind.

"Whoever plays the best together should definitely start the game," she said. "If we need a spark to go in I'm completely fine with that."

Marquette's bench added 40 points as Oral Roberts was only given 14 from its subs.

But guards Krystal Ellis and Angel Robinson combined led the team with a combined 30 points and 11 assists.

"We've got a fast team, and we use our speed to our advantage and it wears teams out," Robinson said. "We worked hard out there and just never quit."

Marquette dominated the stat sheet as five players scored in double figures and they out-rebounded Oral Roberts 44-32.

Marquette forced 18 turnovers accompanied by 8 steals, two stats which really keyed today's victory.

Oral Roberts guard Mariana Camargo, the team's returning leading scorer, was a non-factor and held to only one point.

"Defensively I thought our first half was amazing with our pressure," Mitchell said. We'll just keep building and we're gonna find the right combination to help us be successful."

Marquette's next contest is Monday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. at the Al McGuire Center, where they will take on the Sacred Heart Pioneers.

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