Marquette moved their winning streak to four Saturday afternoon defeating North Dakota 89-65 on First Responders Day at the Al McGuire Center.
Here’s a breakdown of the victory:
Game MVP: Lauren Van Kleunen
After setting a new career-high in points Wednesday night, graduate student forward Lauren Van Kleunen put together another strong performance Saturday afternoon.
Van Kleunen finished with 20 points, shooting 10-for-11 from the field, along with five rebounds, three assists and a block. It is the eighth time in her career she finished with 20 or more points in a game.
In the first eight minutes of the first quarter, Van Kleunen stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, going 6-for-6 from the field, two rebounds and an assists.
“She’s extremely confident right now,” Marquette head coach Megan Duffy said. “I thought she took really great shots, very efficient shots within our offense. I feel like the last two games she has scored in some different ways against two very different defensives, and that is a very positive sign for us.”
Key Stats:
- Marquette led by 22-points going into half, this was the largest lead the Golden Eagles have had this season.
- In the first half, the Golden Eagles shot 70% from the field while the Fighting Hawks shot 31%.
- The Golden Eagles out-rebounded the Fighting Hawks 43-30.
- Every Marquette player saw time and contributed in the stat sheet.
- Marquette finished shooting 58% from the field and 40% from the 3-point line.
- North Dakota finished shooting 35.9% from the field and 33.3% from the 3-point line.
Notes:
- Sophomore forward Liza Karlen hit her first 3-pointer of the 2021-2022 season within the first five minutes of play.
- Sophomore guard Danyel Middleton finished with new career-high at 9-points.
- Marquette finished with 33 assists on the afternoon, which is tied for best in program and two assists shy of tying the BIG EAST all-time record.
- During halftime, Marquette Athletics hosted another “Chuck a Duck” event where all proceeds were donated to the United for Waukesha Community Fund.
- Graduate student forward Lauren Van Kleunen totaled 20-points, going 10-of-11 from the field.
- Marquette scored a season-high 51 points in the first half.
Quote of the Day:
Less than three weeks ago, the City of Waukesha suffered tremendous pain and loss after a driver drove through the annual Christmas parade, resulting in six deaths and 62 injuries.
Today, the team honored first responders specifically those in the Waukesha community.
“Imagine the holiday season, losing your loved ones in such a terrible way, and the first responders probably eased a little bit of that devastation right there on the spot,”Duffy said. “We are trying to keep this community strong in whatever way possible … We just want to say thank you to the people that have been working extremely hard to make Milwaukee and its surrounding areas better.”
Next up:
Marquette (7-2, 2-0 BIG EAST) will resume BIG EAST play Dec. 19 when they travel to South Orange, New Jersey to face Seton Hall at 11 am CST.
This article was written by Ava Mares. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @avamaresMU.
