CHICAGO — The second half of the Marquette women’s basketball team’s (19-6, 8-6 Big East) 69-58 victory over the DePaul Blue Demons told two different stories.
After leading 27-22 at the half, Marquette’s dominant third quarter — which included an extended 16-2 run over the first 3:30 of the frame — saw the Golden Eagles with a 19-point advantage heading into the final quarter.
DePaul responded with a 19-6 run in the fourth — which dwindled Marquette’s lead to as little as four points — before a Rose Nkumu layup put the nail in the coffin and allowed the Golden Eagles to ice the game from the line.
“I’m just happy we hung in there at the end. I thought we played some great basketball. Beginning of the game and second quarter and then went on a great run in the third quarter. And then we know DePaul, they go on runs, they can get hot quick,” Marquette head coach Megan Duffy said.
“Just really proud of the effort of hanging in there making our free throws down the stretch.”
Double-edged sword
Marquette opened the third quarter on back-to-back steals and scores, capping on senior forward Liza Karlen buckets. The St. Paul, Minnesota native finished with eight points in the third quarter, and a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double overall.
The thievery was a trend throughout the frame, as Marquette scored 11 points off of DePaul’s nine third-quarter turnovers.
“We let our defense and rebounding fuel us, and we were able to get out in transition,” Duffy said.
The Golden Eagles outscored the Blue Demons 26-12 in the third quarter, but ended the frame with three turnovers over the final 1:37. The miscues started the snowball of DePaul’s fourth quarter offensive avalanche.
DePaul’s comeback was fueled by eight points from both graduate forward Jorie Allen and graduate guard Katlyn Gilbert. The two finished the night with 18 and 12 points, respectively.
The Blue Demons outscored the Golden Eagles by 13 in the first 7:34 of the fourth quarter, and held Marquette to only six points in the stretch.
Then the Golden Eagles went on an 8-2 run in the final 2:26 of the game and secure the road win with free throws.
“They would go one-on-one and we just had to be competitive and get stops,” sophomore guard Mackenzie Hare said. “We were able to do that and hit big free throws.”
Hare hit the first two free throws in that final stretch after being fouled by Allen. Outside of one free throw from senior guard Jordan King, it was Nkumu who had seven points in the run, including the layup and five makes from the line in the waning seconds.
Nkumu finished with nine points, four rebounds and five assists.
Hare has the hot hand
Hare earned her rocky road ice cream from Baskin-Robbins after the win.
The Naperville, Illinois native scored a game high 19 points on 5-f0r-8 shooting in front of her family and friends.
“It feels good to play in a rivalry and be back home,” Hare said. “It was nice to have that crowd [of family and friends].”
Hare was quick out of the gate with seven first quarter points on 2-for-2 field goals, but foul trouble in the second quarter cooled her off. Then, in the third, Hare was back firing, hitting an and-one layup and a three pointer during the Golden Eagles’ extended run.
“It’s kind of a quiet 19, I thought,” Duffy said. “She made some timely baskets.”
Up next
Marquette welcomes Seton Hall (14-11, 6-8 Big East) to the Al McGuire Center Tuesday, Feb. 2o. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CST.
This story was written by Trevor Hilson. He can be reached at [email protected] or @hilsontrevor on Twitter/X.
