After an unexpected six day break, Marquette (7-2, 1-1 Big East) opens up a four-game home stretch in a matchup against the Loyola Chicago Ramblers (3-7).
The Golden Eagles are coming off of their second loss of the season with a 78-82 final score against Seton Hall Sunday.
Senior forward Chloe Marotta had a double-double in the game against the Pirates with 30 points and 12 rebounds. Senior guard Jordan King added 14 points, five rebounds and five assists.
The Ramblers are coming off of a 52-78 loss to DePaul Wednesday night. Junior guard Maya Chandler scored 23 points on just 11 shots while grabbing four rebounds. Senior guard Sam Galanopoulos added 11 points, six rebounds and two assists of her own.
Fun Facts:
- NET rankings were released on Monday and there is a 243 team gap between Marquette and Loyola Chicago. Marquette comes in at No. 24 while Loyola Chicago is at No. 267.
- Despite being No. 24 in the NET rankings, Marquette fell out of the Associated Press and Coaches Poll rankings this week.
- Loyola Chicago and Marquette have each played University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and St. Francis already this season. Marquette is 2-0 in those matchups winning by a combined 69 points while Loyola lost by 10 to UW-Milwaukee and beat St. Francis by 13.
- Loyola Chicago is 352nd in the country in rebounds per game while Marquette 25th. In each of the Marquette’s games this season (except their win over Texas), the team that grabbed the most rebounds won the game.
A Look Back:
- Marquette leads the all-time series 11-8 against Loyola Chicago.
- The Golden Eagles haven’t lost to the Ramblers since 1991.
- The largest margin of victory in Marquette women’s basketball history came against Loyola Chicago in 2017. The final score was 92-30, making a 62 point margin.
Key Players:
- King has started every single one of her college games. She’s averaging 14 points per game and 4.3 assists per game which puts her in the 97th percentile in assists per game. Her ball movement has been an important part of the Golden Eagles’ offense.
- Marotta comes into this game averaging a full stat book of 15.2 points per game, exactly nine rebounds per game, 3.4 assists per game, and just under one block and one steal per game.
- Chandler has started nearly every game in her collegiate career for the Ramblers, the only exception was a game in which she still ended up playing 30 minutes. She leads the team with 12.8 points per game and is second on the team in rebounds per game with 4.2.
- Galanopoulos has scored in double-digits each of the last three games and leads her team in minutes per game.
Keys to the Game:
- Marquette: Rebound. Loyola Chicago has been out-rebounded in all of its games this season except for one, while Marquette has lost two of the three games in which it has been out-rebounded.
- Loyola Chicago: Get free throws. 20.5% of opponents’ points come at the free throw line against Marquette, that’s #270 in the country. Loyola Chicago also boasts the sixth best free throw percentage in college hoops at 80.9%.
How To Follow:
- Watch: Marquette University Television Youtube Channel
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This article was written by John Gunville. He can be reached at j[email protected] and on Twitter @GunvilleJohn.
