The Marquette women’s basketball team celebrated more than a victory at Finneran Pavilion Wednesday night as senior guard Selena Lott made history.
Lott just added her name to the record book as 30th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points in MU’s 95-77 victory over Villanova.
The win marks the Golden Eagles’ seventh road win of the season, which is a BIG EAST best.
Marquette got out to an early lead in the first quarter, quickly going up 16-7 in the first four and a half minutes. The Golden Eagles’ defense brought struggles to the Wildcats offense, holding them to shoot 5-for-14 from the field in the quarter.
Sophomore guard Jordan King hit a jumper inside the paint at the buzzer to send the Golden Eagles into the second quarter leading 27-14. Sophomore forward Camryn Taylor and King combined for 22 of MU’s 24 first quarter points.
The second quarter was tighlty conteseted as Villanova brought Marquette’s lead within seven at the under-five media timeout.
Despite VU’s run and narrowly outscoring MU 25-23 in the frame, the Golden Eagles finished hot with tw0 3-pointers off the bench from first-year forward Liza Karlen and were on a 12-6 run to finish the half.
Marquette went into halftime with a 50-39 lead as the Golden Eagles shot 62% from the field and 67% from beyond the arc.
The Golden Eagles really came alive in the third quarter, outscoring the Wildcats 30-15 in the frame. Lott scored 17 of MU’s 30 points and shot a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc.
MU lead 80-54 heading into the final frame.
Villanova did not back down as they opened the final quarter on a 10-4 run forcing Marquette head coach Megan Duffy to call a timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, Marquette held their poise and fell back onto their bread and butter — driving through the lane and being aggressive under the glass.
Sophomore guard Claire Kaifes provided the final dagger with a 3-pointer with 1:14 left to go to give the Golden Eagles a dominant 10th win of the season.
As a team, Marquette pulled down 39 rebounds compared to Villanova’s 28. It is the 40th time in 44 games under Duffy that the Golden Eagles out-rebounded their opponent.
On the night, Marquette shot 58.8% from beyond the arc and made a season-high 10 3-pointers. The Golden Eagles also had a season-low of five turnovers which is the first time since Jan. 11, 2019.
Lott led the way for Golden Eagles with 27 points, shooting 8-for-17 from the field while adding five rebounds and a career-high of 11 assists.
Four other Marquette players finished in double-figures. Taylor added 16 points, eight rebounds and an assist. Junior guard Marotta put up 13 points, six rebounds and four assists. King added 12 points, four rebounds and six assists. Redshirt senior forward Lauren Van Kleunen recorded 10 points, six rebounds and two assists.
Herlihy and Siegrist both led the way for the Wildcats with 19-points each. Herlihy shot 6-for-12 from the field with six rebounds and three assists while Siegrist shot 7-for-14 with eight rebounds and an assist.
Following tonight’s win the Golden Eagles have outscored their last four opponents — St. John’s, Georgetwon, Butler and Villanova — 334 to 235 and averaging 83.5 points per game.
Marquette (10-2, 7-1 BIG EAST) will stay on the road as they travel to Omaha next to face Creighton Feb. 1. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. CST.
This article was written by John Leuzzi. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JohnLeuzziMU.
