Before heading for the warm weather of Fort Myers, Florida, the Marquette Golden Eagles had business to take care of.

And business was indeed taken care of, as the Golden Eagles (4-0) beat the Saint Peter’s Peacocks (1-3) 96-36 Sunday afternoon at the Al McGuire Center.

The Golden Eagles were led to the 60 point win in large part by five different players finishing in double figures for the third time this year.

“It shows our versatility as a team and I think it makes it hard to guard,” graduate student guard/forward Frannie Hottinger — who scored a season-high 16 points — said. “On any given night I have faith that anyone can go off and be a double-digit scorer, but more importantly that we can have team defense.”

More than a win

For the Golden Eagles, it wasn’t only a win, it was history.

When the buzzer sounded at the end of the first quarter, Marquette outscored Saint Peter’s 29-7, its largest first quarter lead under Duffy. Al the end of the half, the Golden Eagles led 56-16, marking the largest first half lead under Duffy.

Later in the game, at the 2:58 mark of the fourth quarter, Utberg scored a layup on a fast-break, giving Marquette a 96-33 lead and marking the Golden Eagles’ biggest advantage (63 points) at any point in a game during the Duffy era.

Largest lead in the Megan Duffy era at Marquette! pic.twitter.com/xKrlojoyVJ

— Marquette WBB (@MarquetteWBB) November 19, 2023

“We are just striving to be the best versions of ourselves everyday,” Duffy said. “It’s less about the score and more about how we’re moving and shaking with all this and showing that improvement.”

First half Hare

Coming into Sunday afternoon’s tilt, sophomore guard Kenzie Hare was the Golden Eagles’ third highest scorer, averaging 14.3 points per game. With 50 seconds remaining in the first half, she already had 15 points.

“She’s (Hare) been doing such a great job of helping Rose and Jordan with the scoring load,” Marquette head coach Megan Duffy said. “Kenzie’s a kid that’s confident with her game.”

It only took one minute for that confidence to show, when Hare her first 3-pointer of the game. 30 seconds later, the Naperville, Illinois native got her second make from deep in a row, this time from the corner.

Back-to-back 3’s for Kenzie! pic.twitter.com/Neg9bZVnvs

— Marquette WBB (@MarquetteWBB) November 19, 2023

Hare finished the first half with a team-high 19 points, shooting 6-for-8 from the field and going 5-for-6 from deep.

Statistical leaders

Senior guard Jordan King finished with a game-high 21 points, shooting 7-for-13 from the field. Senior forward Liza Karlen scored 17 points and shot 100% from 3-point range, going 2-for-2 from deep.

For the Peacocks, sophomore guard Reilly Sunday finished with a team-high 16 points.

Lights out shooting

The Golden Eagles finished 57.4% from the field and 14-for-25 from behind the arc, two season-high shooting marks for the team.

“Coach Duffy really emphasized finding the best shot, maybe not the first shot,” Hottinger said. “That allowed us to get open looks for each other just to knock it down.”

The starters for Marquette shot a combined 14-for-21 in the game, with four of the five of them knocking down multiple 3-pointers.

Up Next

Marquette travels to Ft. Myers, Florida to take on Boston College (3-2) in the Fort Myers Tip-Off Nov. 24. The game is scheduled to start at 3:3o p.m. CST.

“We’ll have a great game with Boston College, and then two other great teams in the tournament,” Duffy said. “We’ll reset and get a little bit of rest here. Looking forward to taking our team on the road a little bit.”

This story was written by Matthew Baltz. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @MatthewBaltzMU.