Following its overtime loss Friday to Villanova, the Marquette women’s basketball team returned to the Al McGuire Center Sunday to host the No. 8 UConn Huskies.
Despite not leading by more than four points throughout the first three quarters, the Huskies took over in the fourth quarter to defeat the Golden Eagles 72-58.
Here is a breakdown of Marquette’s loss:
Game MVP: Liza Karlen
Sophomore forward Liza Karlen made a big impact when it came to grabbing rebounds and scoring inside the paint. Karlen led the way on the afternoon for Marquette with 15 points, seven rebounds and an assist.
“She’s just more mobile than the guys that we had that were guarding her. In some ways, we were bigger than them (Marquette) inside but Marquette’s big guys were more mobile,” UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said. “She was able to operate inside and outside and we just didn’t have the ability to guard her well.
It is the 10th time this season that Karlen has finished in double-figure points.
“When teams tend to double Louie (Lauren Van Kleunen) and really focus on our post play it opens up the floor a lot and I can go out to the perimeter more and shoot,” Karlen said. “It’s always helpful when I have a bigger kid on me, it allows me to go out to the perimeter and run the floor on transition”
Key Stats:
- Marquette out-rebounded UConn 33-28 on the night.
- UConn scored 21 points off of Marquette’s 15 turnovers, meanwhile the Golden Eagles had just seven points off of the Huskies’ six turnovers.
- The Huskies outscored the Golden Eagles 26-22 inside the paint.
- Marquette’s starters scored 54 of the teams 58 points.
Notes:
- Graduate student forward Lauren Van-Kleunen and junior forward Chloe Marotta combined for 18 rebounds.
- In the first quarter, Marquette outscored UConn in the paint 10-2.
- In the fourth quarter UConn shot 73.3% from the field, while Marquette shot 50%.
- Huskies first-year guard Azzi Fudd finished with 21 points, five rebounds, three assists and a block.
- UConn graduate student forward Dorka Juhasz finished with 21 points, four rebounds, four assists and a block.
- Today’s game marked the 13th meeting between these two teams, UConn holds a 13-0 record on all-time series against Marquette.
- Sunday’s game was televised on FOX, marking the third time that a women’s basketball game aired on the network television.
Quote of the day:
“What a tremendous crowd here at the Al McGuire Center. The place was rocking,” Marquette head coach Megan Duffy said. “I felt like we got a lot of our energy for about 35 minutes from the crowd.”
Next up:
Marquette (17-7, 10-5 BIG EAST) will now embark on a four-game road trip beginning Wednesday at DePaul at 7 p.m. CST.
This article was written by Kelly Reilly. She can be reached at [email protected] or found on Twitter @kellyreillyyy
