Five Golden Eagles-Janelle Harris (13), Svetlana Kovalenko (12), Krystal Ellis (12), Erin Monfre (12) and Angel Robinson (10)-scored double digits and head coach Terri Mitchell saw that 10 different players saw at least 12 minutes of playing time.,”The Marquette women's basketball team claimed a victory in its season opener last night against the Loyola University-Chicago. The team outscored the Ramblers 82-69 on the shoulders of, well, everyone.

Five Golden Eagles – Janelle Harris (13 total points), Svetlana Kovalenko (12), Krystal Ellis (12), Erin Monfre (12) and Angel Robinson (10) – scored in double digits and 10 different players saw at least 12 minutes of playing time.

"We all know Krystal is going to have games like she did last year," head coach Terri Mitchell said. "But I think we are an extremely unselfish team and to have five players in double figures in your first game is a good thing."

One player who helped carry the load for the women was junior guard Erin Monfre. After a poor showing last season, Monfre already has begun to establish herself as an offensive threat.

She found her stroke from beyond the perimeter in the team's first exhibition game against Concordia (St. Paul), going 3-6 from three-point range. She improved upon that mark last night, hitting four of her seven attempts.

"I think the main issue was confidence, and that comes from the staff and the players," Monfre said. "Another big thing is we always talk about screen assists. I had post players and guards that were setting screens and really getting me open. And I just come off thinking shoot first and then create for others."

Not to be outdone, sophomore Janelle Harris showed her worth, going 6-for-8 from the field, pulling down five boards, handing out two assists and grabbing three steals in 24 minutes.

Harris was another player who struggled last season, but after cracking the starting lineup in the team's first exhibition game and again last night, Harris has shown improvement.

Aside from Mitchell, no one is more relieved to see so many different players step up than Ellis, last season's leading scorer.

"It is nice to know that I don't always have to be the person scoring all the points to make sure we have the win," Ellis said. "It's nice to know that I can score 12 points, someone else is going to have 13 and then two other people are going to have 12 points also. It's really good to see that the majority of the team can score in double digits, and we can win."

After averaging fewer than 15 assists per game last season, the Golden Eagles dished out 19 against Loyola.

Mitchell's plan this season is for fast-paced, high-scoring games where her team can force turnovers and score points in transition.

Monday night, the Golden Eagles turned the ball over 25 themselves.

"The turnovers we all know are unacceptable," Mitchell said. "It's not something that we say, 'It's ok, first game jitters.' It's just unacceptable. Part of that is we are predetermining what we are going to do. Part of it is youth. Part of it's just figuring out our team right now."

“