The only similarity between Marquette’s games against UW-Green Bay on Saturday and Monday night’s game against Loyola-Chicago is that the Golden Eagles started the game with a free throw.
The Golden Eagles looked like a much improved team and beat the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers for the ninth-consecutive time Monday night by a score of 86-71. The victory is the first of Marquette head coach Carolyn Kieger’s career and the first of the season for Marquette.
Freshman guard Kenisha Bell led the Golden Eagles with 16 points and redshirt junior Lauren Tibbs had career highs in points and rebounds, with 14 of each for her second career double-double. Marquette out-rebounded the Ramblers 52-30 and had five players score in double figures. Every player on the team scored a basket.
Kieger said the biggest difference in her team’s play was an improved defense and was in good spirits after the game.
“First of all, I just want to congratulate these young ladies. They showed a lot of fight, a lot of heart.” Kieger said. “I think this team is gonna grow every single day and that’s gonna be our message that every possession, every drill, every game they’re getting better and they showed me a lot today… I’m just really proud of them.”
The first 16 minutes of Monday’s game were back and forth, but after Loyola’s Simone Law hit a jumper to tie the game at 26, it was all Marquette. The Golden Eagles went on a 16-6 run over the last four minutes of the half, capped off by an acrobatic lay-up by Arlesia Morse, to give Marquette a 42-32 advantage going into the locker room. Tibbs led all scorers in the half with 11 points and picked up six rebounds.
After a dismal 5-for-21 shooting performance in Saturday’s first half, the Golden Eagles shot 15-of-29 from the field in the opening 20 minutes of Monday’s game, more than doubling their field goal percentage between the two games. Marquette also utilized open opportunities from 3-point range, hitting four of their first seven three-point attempts.
However, not everything was better for the Golden Eagles. The officials called a tight game and called some questionable fouls against Marquette, leaving the Golden Eagles with five team fouls in the game’s opening four minutes. Marquette also struggled to take care of the ball, committing 13 turnovers in the first half.
The Golden Eagles did not slow down after the break. Loyola opened the scoring in the second half by going on an 8-4 run and cut the Marquette lead to six. But, Marquette responded decisively with a 14-5 run of their own, highlighted by a Tia Albert steal and three-point play on the fast break. The freshman guard’s and-one bucket gave Marquette their biggest lead of the game to that point, 60-45, and the Golden Eagles never looked back.
After the game, Tibbs called the game a huge confidence boost for her team and said she wanted to be relied on as a strong player in the front court.
“It feels really good,” Tibbs said after her career night. “I’ve put a lot of hard work in since the end of the season last year, honestly, and that was one of my goals, just to come out and be a dominant post player like that.”
After the post-game press conference, Kieger could be heard letting out a passionate “Woo!” Her first win is out of the way, but Marquette will next hit the road for the first time to play Wake Forest on Friday at 5 p.m. in Winston-Salem, N.C.
