Photo by Collin Nawrocki

Graduate student forward Lauren Van Kleunen (42) goes up for a layup in Marquette women’s basketball’s 61-59 win over Providence Feb. 4.

After coming off a tight road victory against St. John’s Sunday, the Marquette women’s basketball returned home to the Al McGuire Center Friday night to host the Providence Friars.

Despite a late surge from the Friars, the Golden Eagles were able to squeeze out a tight home victory defeating Providence by a score of 61-59.

Here is the breakdown of Marquette’s victory:

Game MVP: Lauren Van Kleunen

Graduate student forward Lauren Van Kleunen put together a strong performance Friday night, finishing with 19 points on 8-for-15 shooting and eight rebounds.

Despite struggling early on in the first half, Van Kleunen was able to find her footing later in the game.

While Van Kleunen struggled early, she was able to find her footing later in the game.

“At first I think I was being a little too patient and then I realized my reads were way more quicker, just to be able to play out of things so when I got the ball I knew I had to finish pretty quickly because they were coming whether that was a dig or a double,” Van Kleunen said. “I think the team did a good job of finding me in different execution plays that we had.”

Key Stats:

• Marquette shot 16-for-20 from the free-throw line on the night, marking the fourth most free-throws  attempted this season in a single game.
• The Golden Eagles finished with 16 assists on 21 made baskets from the field.
• Marquette out-rebounded the Friars 44-30. It is the fourth time in this five-game win streak that the Golden Eagles have out-rebounded their opponent.

Gallery • 15 Photos

Photo by Collin Nawrocki

Notes:

• Marquette is now 15-1 when leading at half time this season and 49-2 overall under Duffy.
• Marquette shot 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the first half.
• Marquette is now 15-4 when out rebounding teams this season.
• The Golden Eagles are now 21-5 against the Friars all-time and 10-3 as the home team.
• Sophomore forward Liza Karlen finished with 10 rebounds in the first half, marking the single most in a half by any Marquette player this season.
• Marquette shot just 4-for-16 in the final quarter but made 6-of-10 free throws to seal the win

Next up:

Marquette (16-5, 9-3 BIG EAST) will remain home to host the No. 2 seed in the BIG EAST Creighton Sunday at 1 p.m. CST.

This article was written by Jackson Gross. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JacksonGrossMU.