Ten different Golden Eagles have started games up to this point and only two players-senior forward Svetlana Kovalenko and sophomore guard Janelle Harris-have started all 15 games.,”The Marquette women's basketball team is now two games into its conference schedule and one thing has become clear: head coach Terri Mitchell is not afraid to mix up her starting lineup.

In multiple cases, as a result of injury, Mitchell has had no choice but to open games with a new look. But injuries aside, 10 different Golden Eagles have started games up to this point and only two players – senior forward Svetlana Kovalenko and sophomore guard Janelle Harris — have started all 15 games.

One other player who had been a fixture in the starting lineup had been freshman forward Paige Fiedorowicz. On Dec. 6, while warming up to start against Kansas, Fiedorowicz told coaches there was pain in her left foot. Fiedorowicz played 19 minutes.

"She had an injury that needed rest," said assistant coach Michelle Nason. "She has been day-to-day."

Fiedorowicz watched the next seven games from the bench as junior center Kelly Lam started in her place. Lam had one start last year for Marquette and saw limited minutes this season before Fiedorowicz's injury.

In her first start, Lam logged 17 points in 28 minutes in an 83-79 win Dec. 15 over Indiana State. She shot 7-for-8 from the field and added four rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal.

Since then the Golden Eagles have gone 4-3, losing to Northwestern, then-No. 23 Arkansas and then-No. 5 Rutgers by a combined eight points.

"It lets us know where we are at," said junior guard Krystal Ellis. "And hopefully the next ranked team that we play we can finish it."

According to the coaching staff, finding an identity was something that was expected to take half the season.

"If you look at our play, we were so up and down and really inconsistent individual wise," Nason said. "And it seems like they are starting to come together now. They played Arkansas tight, a game that we probably should have won, but we just made some silly mistakes in the end. I felt like they learned from that. It made them hungry a little bit and they realized where they could be if they played."

Though Northwestern, Arkansas and Rutgers were three close losses, the silver lining is that while searching for that identity, the Golden Eagles stumbled upon yet another inside presence in Lam.

In her eight starts this season Lam has averaged 9.0 points and 5.4 rebounds in more than 24 minutes per game. She is also shooting close to 60 percent from the field.

"I think I have been helping the team by just trying to be a continued force inside," Lam said. "Being active and aggressive and trying to get energy for my other teammates."

Nason said since the Kansas game, the team has been working to have the post players touch the ball more even if it isn't to score on the block. She said she feels the strategy has given all of Marquette's post player's more confidence, including Lam.

While Nason said Fiedorowicz is still not quite 100 percent, she returned for eight minutes Jan. 8 against Rutgers.

Now, Mitchell and Co. have a new problem in front of them: start Lam or Fiedorowicz?

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