In the past three years, two women's basketball teams have ranked in the Big East's top three in scoring offense for the season. It is probably not surprising that one of those two teams is the perennial powerhouse Connecticut Huskies. The other team is perhaps slightly less obvious.
After joining the Big East for the 2005-2006 season, carrying over to the 2006-2007 season and through 16 games this season, the DePaul Blue Demons have ranked first, third and first respectively in scoring offense.
This Saturday, the Marquette Golden Eagles will get their chance to stifle the Blue Demons' offense and their 83.8 points per game.
In reality, holding down the Blue Demons' offense is far less problematic for the Golden Eagles than simply outscoring the opposition. DePaul's scoring offense may be tops in the Big East, but its scoring defense sits dead last, allowing 67.9 points per game. Marquette's scoring defense is fourth to last in the Big East allowing 63.4 points per game, which suggests a high scoring affair is to come.
"They're a very potent offense and they always have been," Marquette assistant coach Michelle Nason said. "That has always been their trademark."
Between the two teams, Marquette junior guard Krystal Ellis is the leading scorer with 19.6 points per game, followed closely by DePaul senior guard Allie Quigley, who is averaging 18.7.
After Quigley comes DePaul sophomore Deirdre Naughton with 14.9 points per game and junior forward Natasha Williams with 12.1.
The Golden Eagles have no other double digit scorers on the squad this year.
"We need to score," Nason said. "That's what makes DePaul versus Marquette exciting. We could be the one ranked in the Top 25, and they could be having an abysmal year, and we would play to an 82-84 final. That's the way the rivalry goes."
Strong in the post
The recent play of junior Kelly Lam has provided the Golden Eagles with a much needed inside presence. While her numbers over the last four games, 8.5 points and 6.5 rebounds, have not been off the charts, Lam has shown the coaches they can rely on her to score inside.
An injury to freshman Paige Fiedorowicz towards the end of non-conference play made Lam's effectiveness a key issue for Marquette.
"When Paige (Fiedorowicz) got hurt…I think Kelly (Lam) knew that she was going to play a lot of minutes, and the minutes that she's been playing has really built her confidence," Nason said.
Lam's breakout game came at home against Western Michigan Jan. 2 when she had 15 points, 11 of which came in the final four minutes and 23 seconds of the game. Lam displayed an array of post moves to lead Marquette to a 78-74 victory.
With Fiedorowicz likely to play during Marquette's current two-game road trip, the Marquette coaches are excited to have two efficient centers they can count on.
"It's just going to be really nice to have two centers—two strong centers—and it's really going to add another dimension to our team," Nason said.
So far this season Lam is averaging 6.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game while leading the team in blocked shots with 13.