The Marquette women’s basketball team beat down NJIT 81-41 Thursday night for its fifth victory of the season.

The victory was overshadowed somewhat by news that sophomore center Georgie Jones had announced that she was leaving the team. A press release cited personal reasons and Mitchell did not disclose any other information.

Coach Terri Mitchell said, “Georgie, for personal reasons, decided to leave and while she was here I enjoyed coaching her.”

The Golden Eagles were led by junior forward Paige Fiedorowicz who scored a game high 19 points, 15 of them in the first half. Freshman Sarina Simmons scored a career high 17 points and also grabbed nine boards, another career high.

“I’m really proud of the effort that our players had tonight,” Mitchell said. “We really, really focused on shot selection. If there’s any growth that we came out of Cancun from was shot selection.”

Jones’ absence will leave a big hole in the Marquette front court where Jones had established herself as the team’s second leading rebound.

“WIth Georgie gone … I think we need to step it up,” Fiedorowicz said. “I think we showed tonight that we can and I think we just need to keep each other positive and working hard in practice.”

Simmons will feel Jones’ absence even more as it means she will go from being a perimeter-oriented player, to a low post player for the first time in her career.

“The coaches are really giving me a lot to work with,” Simmons said. “I think it’s more mental than anything. I came out there and I told myself that I had to do it.”

The results, after one game, seem to show that Simmons will do well in her new role. A career high in points and rebounds is not a bad way to debut in the post.

She, along with Fiedorowicz and sophomore Jessica Pachko, controlled the paint and took over for Marquette. The three combined for 49 points and 20 rebounds in a contest that was never close.

Marquette led 36-15 at the half, led by Fiedorowicz whose 15 points matched NJIT’s total output. The junior hit 6 of 7 from the field and made up for junior Angel Robinson’s struggles in the first.

The second half was a sloppy one that favored a Marquette team that shot 17 free throws and made 15 of them. Robinson scored all six of her points in the half and also added 5 assists in the process as the Golden Eagles finished off the HIghlanders.