PREVIEW: No. 24 Marquette goes on the road to face Georgetown in first conference game

Kaylynn Wright, Assistant Sports Editor • December 1, 2022

Marquette women’s basketball head coach Megan Duffy (left) and senior guard Jordan King (23) will compete in their 100th career game at Marquette Friday afternoon at Georgetown. (Photo courtesy of Marquette Athletics.)

In its first true away game of the season, the Marquette women’s basketball team heads to the nation’s capital to begin Big East conference play tomorrow morning against the Georgetown Hoyas.

“We’re really excited,” junior forward Liza Karlen said about facing Georgetown. “The Big East is an incredibly hard conference. It’s hard to win on the road anywhere you go. (We’re excited to) lock into our game plan and get back into our routine.”

The Golden Eagles (6-1) began their campaign by winning the first five games of the season including wins over then-No. 3 Texas and Gonzaga. Marquette’s only loss on the season came against then-No. 20 UCLA in overtime in the Battle 4 Atlantis Championship Game.

Marquette is coming off an 83-40 victory over the Saint Francis Red Flash at the Al McGuire Center Sunday. Karlen led all scorers with 18 points. In addition, she grabbed five rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

“It was efficient, in 21 minutes to get her numbers was great,” head coach Megan Duffy said following Sunday’s game. “I thought she was aggressive in this game, and somebody that can continue to score inside outside.”

The Georgetown Hoyas (4-2) enter the matchup off a win against High Point, defeating the Panthers 67-60. Junior guard Kelsey Ransom led the way with 18 points and eight rebounds.

Fun Facts:

Marquette enters the week ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll for the first time since 2019 and the first time under Duffy. The Golden Eagles are also ranked No. 24 in the WBCA Coaches Poll, moving up from 25 the week prior.
The Golden Eagles are 40-16 against BIG EAST opponents under Coach Duffy.
The last time the Hoyas topped a ranked opponent was in 2014 against then-No. 22 St. John’s.
Both Marquette and Georgetown are currently undefeated on their home courts.
Friday’s Big East opener will mark the 100th game coached at Marquette for Duffy as well as the 100th game of senior guard Jordan King’s collegiate career. The duo, who each arrived in Milwaukee for the 2019-20 season, have combined to help the team to a 72-27 record in that time. King has started all 99 games of her career. With a .727 winning percentage, this has proven to be one of the winningest player-coach duos in program history.
Georgetown is second in the Big East in offensive rebounding percentage with .404, which is just above Marquette.

A Look Back:

The Golden Eagles lead the all-time series with a record of 24-4.
Marquette has won 10 of the last 11 games against Georgetown, with its lone loss coming during the 2017-18 season.
The Golden Eagles are 11-3 when facing the Hoyas on the road.
In the last matchup between the two teams, Marquette defeated Georgetown 64-57 in Washington D.C.

Key Players:

Karlen is the leading scorer for the Golden Eagles and can shoot from virtually anywhere on the court. She is currently averaging 14.1 points per game this season.
Senior forward Chloe Marotta will cause trouble for the Hoyas on the boards as she currently leads Marquette in rebounds per game with 7.9. The Mequon, Wisconsin native is also the second leading scorer for the Golden Eagles, averaging 13.6 points per game.
Junior guard Kelsey Ransom leads the Hoyas in scoring, averaging 9.8 points per game. The South River, New Jersey native may also grab rebounds as she is averaging 7.3 per game.
First-year guard Kennedy Fauntleroy is averaging 9.3 points per game and recently scored a career-high 17 points against Cal State Fullerton.