It was the star guard's first game back since injuring her right knee Nov.,”Krystal Ellis was back in action Saturday when the women's basketball team traveled to UW-Green Bay to take on the Phoenix. Marquette won the game 60-48 behind 21 points from Ellis.

It was the star guard's first game back since injuring her right knee Nov. 17 against Wisconsin. Marquette went 1-2 without Ellis in the lineup.

In the first half, Ellis appeared a bit sluggish, periodically getting beat off the dribble and scoring only three points on 1-of-7 shooting.

"I don't think she's 100 percent yet," head coach Terri Mitchell said after the game. "We just keep reading her and talking to doctors, and right now they say she's ready."

Ellis may not have been at full strength, but her 18 second-half points were enough to lead Marquette to victory.

Green Bay head coach Matt Bollant did not know until minutes before the game that Ellis would be playing but said he was pleased with his team's effort against the star guard.

"I thought for the most part we did a pretty good job on her," he said. "She's a special player."

Marquette shot 27.3 percent from the field in the first half but held Green Bay to just 17 points in the half for a 23-17 advantage.

Marquette shot 48 percent from the field in the second half and 42.9 percent from behind the three-point line.

Senior Svetlana Kovalenko had eight points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the win. Sophomore Kelly Lam had her best game of the season with nine points and seven rebounds.

Green Bay shot 30.8 percent from the floor. Entering Saturday's game the Phoenix' trio of Rachel Porath, Kayla Groh and Kati Harty were averaging a combined 41.6 points per game. Against Marquette, they were held to 26.

Marquette did many things well to get their first road win, but turnovers remained a problem.

Krystal Ellis came into the game with just three turnovers in the two games she had played but committed five in the game, all in the first half. Marquette was able to win its first game in which it committed more turnovers than it forced. Green Bay recorded 15 turnovers, compared to 24 for the Golden Eagles.

"It's unbelievably great to win on the road," Mitchell said. "When the game was on the line, we didn't turn the ball over."

Marquette coughed the ball up three times in the final 10 minutes of play Saturday.

Despite the loss, Bollant said he felt his team played well in front of the 2,657 fans that weathered the blizzard to make it to the Kress Center.

"I was proud of how we played defensively," he said. "Holding them to 60 was respectable."

Marquette entered the game averaging nearly 70 points a game and 76 points in victories.

The run-and-gun offense that Marquette fans are growing accustomed to was non-existent against the Green Bay defense. The Golden Eagles were not allowed a single fast-break point the entire game.

At the end of the day, the difference on the floor was Krystal Ellis, a fact that was not lost on Bollant.

"She makes them a better team," he said. "They're 3-0 with her on the floor."

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