Freshman Paige Fiedorowicz and senior Svetlana Kovalenko scored 19 and 18 points, respectively, shooting a combined 15-20 from the field.,”After all the talk surrounding Krystal Ellis and her band of speedy guards, it was the play down low that led Marquette to a 80-47 exhibition win over Cardinal Stritch Wednesday night.
Freshman Paige Fiedorowicz and senior Svetlana Kovalenko scored 19 and 18 points, respectively, shooting a combined 15-of-20 from the field. Marquette outscored the Wolves 50-18 in the paint.
Kovalenko's "energy in the first half got us going and we started the scoring well and then we just hit a wall and my whole thing is when you hit a wall offensively you have to know that defensively you can get it done," head coach Terri Mitchell said.
Kovalenko certainly got the job done on the defensive end as well, finishing with seven of the team's 21 steals. Marquette came with a full court press from the opening tip and the Wolves struggled against it all night.
The Golden Eagles had 25 fast-break points in the game, compared to just eight for Cardinal Stritch.
"We're a really quick team and we need to stick to that and I think our goal is to keep that up and get more fast breaks every game," Fiedorowicz said.
Mitchell was happy with the pace of play but she knows her team still has room to improve.
"Obviously I'm pleased with the steals, but then on the backside of that we had 24 turnovers, so we can get the steals but wehave to take care of it," Mitchell said. "Exhibition is a great opportunity to show us what are the most glaring areas to work on."
Ellis and junior Kelly Lam had four turnovers apiece, while seven other Golden Eagles had at least two.
The Golden Eagles started the game hot, taking an early 12-2 lead on the strength of eight points from Fiedorowicz in the first five minutes. But the Wolves fought back to make the score 19-17 after back-to-back three pointers from senior Jeni Cardwell. That was as close as they would get as Marquette did not once trail on its home floor.
Ellis finished with 12 points and seven assists for the Golden Eagles, but was held scoreless until there were just 40 seconds left in the first half. Marquette closed the game on a 25-5 run.
Mitchell's starting lineup consisted of Ellis, Kovalenko, Fiedorowicz, freshman Angel Robinson and junior Erin Monfre, but Mitchell said she does not yet have a steady starting five.
"I think it's important right now to figure out who are the best people to start, who are the best people to come off the bench and spark, and we're going to use all of non-conference to figure out what that is," Mitchell said.
Robinson contributed just three points but had six rebounds, five assists, and three steals, while Monfre had just three points on 1-of-6 shooting, all of which were three pointers. As a team the Golden Eagles were 2-of-18 behind the arc.
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