The Marquette women’s basketball team held on to secure a 55-48 win over Georgetown Wednesday afternoon.
The Golden Eagles were led by sophomore guard Jordan King who put up 17 points on the night, while veterans Lauren Van Kleunen and Selena Lott were held to eight and two points, respectively.
Coming off a Monday night win against Creighton at home, Marquette had a quick turnaround and headed out to Washington D.C. where they had a slow start against the Hoyas.
After half of the first quarter was complete, they were shooting just 1-for-9 from the field.
Lott and Van Kleunen finished the first quarter with no points, but buckets from King, sophomore guard Claire Kaifes, first-year forward Liza Karlen and sophomore forward Camryn Taylor put Marquette up 12-10.
In the second quarter the Hoyas tested the Golden Eagles, tying, and even taking the lead a few times. Sophomore forward Graceann Bennett and graduate guard Milan Bolden-Morris made back-to-back buckets to help gain the edge. However, Marquette was able to regain the lead and went into halftime ahead 24-20.
The Golden Eagles started the second half on a 7-0 run and were able to gain a 10-point lead heading into the final quarter of play. King, Taylor, Kaifes, Karlen and sophomore guard Taylor Valladay all contributed to the third quarter surge. Junior forward Chloe Marotta contributed as well, with assists and defensive rebounds that allowed MU to get out front.
Marquette went on to score 13 points in the final 10 minutes, while Georgetown rallied on the offensive end. Despite the comeback efforts, the Golden Eagles were able to hold on in the last few minutes even though buckets from Bolden-Morris, Bennett and first-year guard Yasmin Ott made it a two possession game.
Bennett put up 12 points on the day for the Hoyas, while first-year guard Kelsey Ransom, junior forward Jillian Archer and Bolden-Morris all followed with nine points each.
Behind King, Van Kleunen posted eight points, Taylor tallied seven and Kaifes had six for MU.
The Georgetown Hoyas are now 1-8 in BIG EAST play, while Marquette squeaked by to improve to 9-1 in conference play.
Marquette will now be put to the test this weekend as No. 3 UConn comes to town on Friday, followed by the reigning BIG EAST champion DePaul on Sunday.
Tip-off against Connecticut is set for 6 p.m. Central Standard Time. The game will be telecasted on SNY.
This story was written by Molly Gretzlock. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @MollyGretzlock.
