"We've obviously come off of a very difficult road trip," said Golden Eagles head coach Terri Mitchell.,”After suffering consecutive losses on the team's west coast road trip this past week, the Marquette women's basketball team regained some confidence with a 79-61 victory Monday night over the College of William & Mary at the Al McGuire Center.

"We've obviously come off of a very difficult road trip," Marquette head coach Terri Mitchell said. "Difficult for many reasons. You lose two in a row, so just the psychology of it all. Also playing without Krystal has been a big thing for this team."

Marquette's leading scorer Krystal Ellis, who is nursing a sprained right knee, never left the bench in a 57-56 loss to Oregon last Monday as well as in a 77-64 defeat at the hands of Gonzaga.

"The present seems larger than life," Mitchell said of the team's struggles minus its star player. "A month from now the growing up that we did last week, even in losses, is going to mean a lot."

Back at home against William & Mary, Ellis continued to watch from the end of the bench as her teammates rose to the occasion.

Forward Marissa Thrower had 13 second-half points to lead Marquette with 19. She also recorded five rebounds in 18 minutes.

Also in double figures were freshman guard Angel Robinson, who pitched in 10 points, a career high eight assists and five steals, and freshman forward Paige Fiedorowicz, who posted 17 points and six rebounds.

"We have to be physical," Fiedorowicz said. "We don't have the much height, so we have to use our strength and our speed."

The Golden Eagles have out-rebounded their opponents on the offensive end 90-46. They also are averaging 6.2 steals per game more than their opponents through five games.

Marquette continued its trend of sharing the offensive wealth. Through its first five games, the team has been led in scoring by Janelle Harris, Ellis, Svetlana Kovalenko (twice) and Thrower.

"I'm committed to giving a lot of people experience," Mitchell said. "We are looking for people to step up."

Thrower showed she is capable of doing just that. She is the only reserve to have led the team in scoring.

"The one thing that coach has been preaching all week throughout practice is confidence," Thrower said. "I just think that had a lot to do with it. Coach keeps saying it, and you eventually believe it."

Confidence is a must from everyone going forward, more so than before with no timeline for Ellis's return.

"It's really just day-to-day," Mitchell said. "She hasn't gone through a full practice yet. She did a little bit more today. Now we have to see if her knee swells. If her knee swells she has to rest. Tomorrow is our day off, so we'll have three days to figure out if she is playing on Saturday."

What is clear is that Mitchell is not shy about throwing increased minutes at her

remaining guards if it means keeping Ellis healthy for Big East play. Robinson saw many of those minutes filter to her.

"Now I know I have someone who is really consistent, who can run it," Mitchell said of Robinson's emergence. "It's too early in the season and too long of a season to risk not having (Ellis) later on."

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