In the last act of National Marquette Day, the Marquette Women’s basketball team looked to sweep Georgetown in the season series at the Al McGuire Center Saturday evening.
“I was excited to play and we were trying to tell the freshmen what it’s about,” senior guard Jordan King said. “Being able to perform in front of so many fans, I think it’s a really cool day.”
And the Golden Eagles did just that defeating the Hoyas 66-49 to sweep the regular season series.
The Golden Eagles’ offense was on display in the first half as King led the charge with 11 points in the period. Senior forward Chloe Marotta and first-year guard Mackenzie Hare each pitched in eight points.
The second half was more of the same for the Golden Eagles. They ran their lead all the way up to 23 points early in the fourth quarter.
“I’m really proud of our overall team effort after our loss at Villanova on Wednesday,” Marquette head coach Megan Duffy said. “I thought we really settled in and took out a little bit of frustration on Georgetown after how we played the other night. One of our goals was to loosen things up on the offensive end and move the ball around a little bit better and I though we did a really nice job of that.”
Statistical Leaders
King led all scorers with 23 points on 10-for-17 shooting with five assists, three rebounds and a steal. It was King’s 12th career 20-plus point scoring performance and ninth of the season.
Marotta finished the game with a double-double and game-high 13 rebounds. King and junior forward Liza Karlen each pitched in 5 assists.
Georgetown’s junior guard Kelsey Ransom led the Hoyas with 23 points.
“Ransom is one of the top players in the league,” Duffy said. “She got off to a hot start hitting jumpers and we told our team just to kind of sustain that wave. She’s so good going downhill as you saw in that in that fourth quarter. Just trying to make it as difficult as possible have a lot of bodies around her.”
Karlen’s Connections
The junior forward made her first start in eight games for the Golden Eagles. Karlen was the focal point of the first half offense for Marquette as she racked five of the Golden Eagles 12 first half assists.
“The biggest thing is just getting the rust off or getting her game minutes again,” Duffy said. “She was a great contributor to our offense with moving the ball five assists one turnover.”
As a team Marquette ended the game with 22 assists while Georgetown recorded just seven.
“To have 22 assists is a really crazy number in college basketball,” King said. “For us to achieve our goal doing that is really huge. It says something about our players and being able to buy into the coaches, buy into each other and trust.”
Fourth Quarter for the First Year
With Marquette holding a substantial lead in the fourth quarter, first-year forward Charia Smith saw time on the court.
Smith, who has seen action in 14 of the team’s 23 games this season, finished with two rebounds on the night.
“She’s playing behind upperclassmen post players right now,” King said. “Her ability to continue to learn through practice, different film sessions and individuals, I think it’s great for her. She’s really bought into that, so I’m super proud of her.”
Next Up:
Marquette (15-8, 8-6 Big East) sticks around Milwaukee for a matchup with No. 5 UConn (21-2, 13-0 Big East) at the Al McGuire Center Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. CST.
“It’s a great opportunity to have them on our home court,” King said. “It’s no better way to then do it in front of Marquette Nation. I’m really excited for that and I know my teammates are as well.”
This article was written by John Gunville. He can be reached at j[email protected] or on Twitter @GunvilleJohn.
