Marquette women’s basketball entered Wednesday night’s matchup against DePaul looking to sweep the regular-season series and end its two-game losing streak.
However, the Blue Demons had other plans as they defeated the Golden Eagles 77-66 at Wintrust Arena.
DePaul got out to a quick start, as they jumped out to an early 16-7 lead within the first five minutes of the first quarter. The Blue Demons headed into the second quarter with a 28-17 lead behind shooting 60% from the field in the opening frame.
The Blue Demons continued to grow their lead in the second quarter, leading as large as 17 at the 4:05 mark of the frame after graduate student guard Deja Church hit a 3-pointer to put DePaul up 43-26.
Despite a strong showing from Marquette junior guard Antwainette Walker, who scored five points in her first three minutes on the floor in the quarter, the Golden Eagles headed into halftime trailing 48-32.
A 16-point Blue Demons lead at halftime marks the largest halftime deficit of the season for the Golden Eagles.
Senior guard Sonya Morris led the Blue Demons in the first half with 14 points, while junior guard Jordan King led the Golden Eagles with nine points.
The second half began quite similar to the first with DePaul off to a quick start, increasing their lead to 21 at the 6:58 mark of the third quarter.
Marquette graduate student guard Karissa McLaughlin posted her first points on the night in the third quarter on a jumper off of a DePaul turnover with 5:13 left to go in the frame.
With 2:05 remaining in the third, DePaul ran a lead of 25 points, their largest of the evening. The Blue Demons took a 69-45 lead into the final stanza.
Despite a 24 point deficit to open the fourth quarter, Marquette continued to chip away as King hit a 3-pointer to open the frame and bring the deficit to 21.
With 1:17 remaining in the final frame, McLaughlin secured her first 3-pointer of the night on a fast break to bring the deficit to 13 points.
Marquette’s late game momentum continued as a layup from sophomore forward Liza Karlen extended the Golden Eagles run to 9-0.
Despite the comeback attempt, the Golden Eagles fell short as they lost by 11 points.
As a team, the Blue Demons went 39% from the field and 28% from beyond the arc.
The Golden Eagles ended the night with 43% from the field and 27% from beyond the arc. Marquette also totaled 20 points from off the bench, DePaul had zero.
Church lead DePaul with 23 points, while first-year forward Aneesha Morrow contributed 21 points and 17 rebounds.
For Marquette, King was the leading scorer with 16 points. Karlen and Walker both finished with 12 points.
Graduate student Lauren Van Kleunen moved into 11th place in program history in all-time rebounding (252) as she finished with seven rebounds.
The Golden Eagles (17-8, 10-6 BIG EAST) continues their four-game road trip on Friday in Washington D.C. when they take on the Georgetown Hoyas. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. CST on FS2.
This article was written by Ava Mares. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @avamaresMU.
