Marquette University Athletics
Marquette University
Arkansas St.
Women's Basketball Hands Arkansas State Its First Loss
12/18/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 18, 1999
MILWAUKEE - Kiesha Oliver?s three-point bank-shot gave the Marquette women?s basketball team the lead for good as the Golden Eagles? downed previously-unbeaten Arkansas State 65-62 this evening in the Milwaukee Arena. Marquette clawed back from an 11-point deficit in the first half to hand the Lady Indians their first loss of the season. The Golden Eagles improve to 8-2 with the win, while Arkansas State is now 7-1.
The athletic Lady Indians opened first half with a tight man-to-man defense and opened the 11-point margin by relying on the moves of Tanisha Johnson. The 6-3 senior used an array of post moves and a soft shot to get 13 of her team-high 19 points in the opening half. While Johnson?s inside game was on, Marquette?s potent combo of Willenborg and Lisa Oldenburg struggled from the field, going 4-11 in the first 20 minutes. Sarah Zawodny came to the Golden Eagles? rescue, though. The 6-4 sophomore tallied career-highs with 13 points and nine rebounds on the evening, with eight coming in the final minutes of the first half, when Marquette climbed back into the game.
?We weren?t getting Sarah the ball enough at Syracuse (last week) and I stressed that to the team,? Marquette head coach Terri Mitchell said. ?But she also was active tonight, and Sarah can be very effective when she?s active. She was ready and she stepped up tonight.?
After Zawodny?s first-half flourish, the Golden Eagles turned to some familiar faces after the break, as Willenborg pounded her way to 19 points and eight rebounds and a stiff defense led by Oliver and Kristi Johnson buckled down. Ebony Williams, getting the first start since her freshman season, also helped the perimeter defense, as the Lady Indian guards went 9-27 from the field. It was Oliver?s three-pointer as the shot clock wound down that pushed Marquette into the lead for good, though. The senior guard banked in the three from the left wing with one shot left on the shot clock, and Willenborg dropped in a layup for the final margin.
?I certainly called ?bank? as Kiesha put that shot up,? Mitchell said jokingly. ?It wasn?t pretty, but it went in. She was willing to step up and take the shot - that?s what seniors do.
The Golden Eagles get a holiday break before returning to action at the Milwaukee Arena on Thu., Dec. 30, when they host DePaul at 7 p.m. (CT) in both team?s Conference USA opener.
MARQUETTE 65, ARKANSAS STATE 62
ARKANSAS STATE (7-1) Goodall 2-6 0-0 6, Johnson 8-16 3-3 19, Davis 2-3 1-2 5, Evans 6-18 0-0 12, Hagood 3-9 5-6 12, Smith 2-3 0-0 4, McKiernan 2-4 0-0 4, Harris 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-59 9-11 62.
MARQUETTE (8-2) Williams 1-2 0-0 2, Oldenburg 3-11 2-2 8, Willenborg 6-15 7-9 19, Johnson 2-6 0-0 6, Oliver 3-12 0-0 7, Klug 0-0 0-0 0, Gales 2-3 0-0 4, Bowman 3-5 0-2 6, Seffern 0-5 0-0 0, Zawodny 5-7 3-5 13. Totals 25-66 12-18 65.
Halftime_ Marquette 32, Arkansas State 32. 3-point goals_ASU 3-14 (Goodall 2-6, Johnson 0-4, Evans 0-2, Hagood 1-1, Smith 0-1), Marquette 3-8 (Williams 0-1, Willenborg 0-1, Johnson 2-4, Oliver 1-2). Rebounds_ASU 37 (Johnson 9), Marquette 42 (Zawodny 9). Assists_ASU 14 (Johnson 4, Hagood 4), Marquette 21 (Oldenburg 6). Turnovers_ASU 20, Marquette 16. Fouled out_None. Total fouls_ASU 18, Marquette 10. Att_752.
