After beating Seton Hall in dominant fashion, the Marquette women’s basketball came into Wednesday night’s matchup against Xavier hoping to extend its Big East win streak to two games.
The Golden Eagles (13-7, 6-5 Big East) did just that defeating the Musketeers 64-40 to move to 9-2 at home on the year.
“I thought tonight was overall just a really great team win. Always good to protect your home floor. Defensively, I thought we did a lot of great things to slow down Xavier,” head coach Megan Duffy said. “A little bit of a slow first and second quarter, but loved us after that first minute of the third quarter (when) we came out, made a great run, scored 21 points and just never looked back.”
Marquette also hosted its second annual Pride Night.
“It’s just so important at Marquette. We talk about inclusive environment and just making sure that we keep all groups on campus at the forefront of what we do,” Duffy said. “We had a chance to meet with our LGBTQ+ group last night and just welcoming them to our family and just know that they have our support throughout the school year.”
Statistical Leaders
First-year guard Kenzie Hare led Marquette with 18 points, shooting 6-for-11 from the field and 4-for-6 from deep. It was Hare’s sixth double-figure performance of her career.
Senior guard Jordan King also finished with 17 points, two rebounds, one assist and two steals.
“Jordan (King) probably had a quiet 17 tonight, I felt like (she was) just consistent with her shot selection,” Duffy said.
For Xavier, first-year guard Fernanda Ovalle led with nine points, seven rebounds and two assists.
A Game of Runs
Marquette has had trouble starting Big East games all season and the early woes continued Wednesday.
The Golden Eagles started the game shooting 0-for-5 from the field, going down 4-0 early behind two layups from Ovalle and senior forward Nila Blackford.
But after Duffy called a timeout, the Golden Eagles put together a 10-2 run to take a 14-8 lead.
“I thought tonight after timeouts, whether it’s media or my timeout, I thought we made some great positive plays out of that, which is a good thing,” Duffy said.
The runs continued all night for the Golden Eagles as in the third frame they were able to go on an 8-0 run. As Marquette continued the rack up the score sheet, the crowd racked up the decibel chart levels.
“Oh, it (the environment) definitely helped. I mean, we had a lot of fellow athletes up there. Just continue to have their support, and then it just brings energy,” Hare said.
Another Accolade for King
King became the 22nd all-time leading scorer in program history when she hit a 3-pointer at the 5:42 mark of the fourth quarter. She passed Selena Lott and Kerri Reaves and now sits tied with Courtney Romeiser with 1,204 points in her career.
Mackenzie Hare scores a game-high 18 points in @MarquetteWBB's 64-40 win over Xavier. #muwbb@LittauTimothy and @JackAlbrightMU give us their post-game takeaways: pic.twitter.com/VgZNInPjXR
— Marquette Wire Sports (@MUWireSports) January 26, 2023
Her 17 points on the night marked the 16th time this season and 59th in her career that she finished with double-figures.
“She’s (King) awesome. I mean, I learned from her every single day in practice,” Hare said. “I’m just very thankful to be playing with her.”
Hare the Sharpshooter
Hare has been dominant from beyond the arc all season for Marquette, something she continued Wednesday night. In the second quarter, Hare hit two back-to-back 3-pointers in a one-minute timespan which sparked a 10-2 run for the Golden Eagles.
“I thought she made timely shots again tonight, just taking really quality shots,” Duffy said. “I’m just proud of the progression she’s making as the season goes towards the end.”
She ended the opening 20 minutes with eight points on 2-for-2 shooting from deep.
The second half was more of the same for her as the Naperville, Illinois native, as she got another back-to-back 3-pointer streak early in the third frame to give Marquette a 43-24 lead.
“I just felt like we needed a bucket,” Hare said.
Hare has 41 points on a combined 13-for-24 shooting record in her last two games.
Next Up
Marquette travels to Indianapolis to face Butler (7-14, 2-10 Big East) Jan. 29 at 1 p.m. CST at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
“We gotta get better before the Butler game,” Duffy said. “Butler is not an easy place to play.”
This article was written by Jack Albright. He can be reached [email protected] or on Twitter @JackAlbrightMU.
