Marquette University Athletics
Marquette's Johnson Bombs Bearcats
1/10/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 10, 2000
By Dan Manoyan
of the Journal Sentinel staff
MILWAUKEE - Memo to Conference USA women's basketball scouts:
You might want to rethink that strategy of dropping off a perimeter defender to help inside against Marquette University's big guns, Lisa Oldenburg and Abbie Willenborg.
The reason? Kristi Johnson.
Cincinnati apparently missed this memo, but the Bearcats have it now. Johnson is not your average here-you-shoot-it point guard and she proved that again Sunday, raining 6 three-pointers on Cincinnati in the Golden Eagles' 79-62 conference victory.
With Oldenburg (17 points and eight rebounds) and Willenborg (14 points, four rebounds) taking care of business inside and Johnson handling the outside shooting, Marquette is off to blazing start in the conference. The victory left the Golden Eagles at 3-0 (11-3 overall) and, coupled with North Carolina-Charlotte's 57-52 loss at Houston, alone atop the American Division.
Marquette hasn't played a conference game outside of Milwaukee yet this season, but coach Terri Mitchell is nonetheless pleased with her team's lofty position.
"It's a long season but considering we were 1-2 at this point last year, I'm very pleased about the way we've started," Mitchell said. "Now we just have to take the same kind of passion with us when we go on the road."
The Golden Eagles leave the friendly confines of the Milwaukee Arena and travel to St. Louis (Friday) and Charlotte (Sunday). But the victories over Louisville and Cincinnati, the two teams that tied Marquette in the American Division standings last season, should ease their angst concerning the trip.
The victory over Cincinnati was especially sweet considering the Bearcats beat Marquette three times last season. Johnson shot a combined 4 for 16 from three-point range in those losses. On Sunday she was 6 for 8 from long range and equaled a personal best with 20 points.
Cincinnati played a man-to-man defense the entire game but their plan of sagging inside created opportunity for Johnson.
"They were giving me a lot of open looks and my teammates did a nice job of getting me the ball," Johnson explained. "They were doubling up the post quite a bit and Abbie, Lisa and Sarah (Zawodny) kicked it back out."
Mitchell, who has been begging Johnson to shoot more all season, made her point Sunday.
"(Assistant coach) Michelle Nason did the scouting report on Cincinnati and she noted how they commit to going under ball screens," Mitchell said. "So we went into this game saying 'Kristi, you're going to shoot it up. When they go under, you're going to stop and pop and keep shooting.'
Johnson's shooting helped break the game open in the first half as Marquette went on a 13-0 scoring run. Consecutive three-pointers by Johnson capped the streak at 3 minutes 46 seconds and gave Marquette a 31-21 lead, a lead that Cincinnati (7-6, 1-2) would never recover from.
