Marquette University Athletics
Marquette University
Houston
Women's Basketball Stays Ahead Of The Field
1/30/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 30, 2000
MILWAUKEE - The Marquette women's basketball team hit the boards like no other Conference USA team before them and stayed ahead of the pack in the league standings with a 66-38 victory over Houston in the Milwaukee Arena this afternoon. The Golden Eagles set new C-USA single-game standards for most rebounds in a C-USA contest (63) and for most defensive rebounds ever by a C-USA team (43). Abbie Willenborg led the way for Marquette, tallying 13 points and 13 rebounds as the Golden Eagles improve to 16-4, 8-1. Houston, which had no players reach double figures and shot 17% on the afternoon, falls to 6-13, 3-6 with its second straight loss.
The win in the Arena extended the Golden Eagles' home-court winning streak to 19 games, tied for the sixth-best mark in the nation. With the win, Marquette also remained a game ahead of the rest of C-USA in the league race.
"We love playing at home," Marquette head coach Terri Mitchell said. "But we don't really think about the streak, we just try to protect our house. This weekend, for us, was bout getting better, and we feel we're at a pretty good spot right now. Our defense has come together and we were strong on the boards today. We played a lot of different combinations and it was good to get some people some minutes."
Marquette broke open a tie game with a 20-2 run over the final 6:29 of the first half. The Golden Eagles took advantage of the marked height advantage, with Sarah Zawodny and Abbie Willenborg combining for 13 points and 11 rebounds in the opening frame.
The Golden Eagles systematically built the lead to the final 28-point margin throughout the second half by pounding the glass and shutting down the athletic Lady Cougars. Six Golden Eagles had six or more rebounds, led by Willenborg's 13 and Kiesha Oliver's season-high 10. Heidi Bowman added nine rebounds, while both Zawodny and Ebony Williams collected seven.
Marquette held Houston to only three second-half field goals, as the Lady Cougars went 3-29 after the intermission. The 10 field goals for Houston matches an opponent single-game low for Marquette.
Despite suffering through an uncharacteristically poor shooting day from the field, Lisa Oldenburg added 11 points and six rebounds, while Zawodny tossed in nine and freshman Rashida Gales added a career-high six.
"We were trying to do a number of things and get some different combos out there," Mitchell said. "We didn't come into the game with a specific defensive goal, but the players et a goal of holding Houston to 40 points during halftime and they went after it."
Houston was led by junior guard Jessica Shanklin, who had nine points and eight rebounds.
The Golden Eagles open a four-game road swing this Thu., Feb. 3, in Hattiesburg, Miss., where they face Southern Miss at 7 p.m. (CT)
MARQUETTE 66, HOUSTON 38
HOUSTON (6-13, 3-6) Lida 2-11 0-3 5, Sykes 1-3 0-0 2, Lasseter 2-6 1-2 5, Shanklin 3-12 0-0 9, Randle 1-4 3-4 5, Mitchell 0-8 4-6 4, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Navarro 0-1 0-0 0, Noel 0-2 0-0 0, Fenderson 0-0 0-0 0, Curl 1-8 2-4 4, Hart 0-2 2-2 2, Stavropoulos 0-2 2-3 2. Totals 10-59 14-24 38.
MARQUETTE (16-4, 8-1) Oldenburg 4-16 3-3 11, Bowman 2-9 2-2 6, Willenborg 6-8 1-3 13, Johnson 2-7 3-4 8, Oliver 2-9 2-2 6, Nelson 0 0 0-0 0, Gales 2-5 1-2 6, Williams 2-3 2-2 7, Zawodny 3-8 3-6 9. Totals 23-65 17-24 66.
Halftime_Marquette 36, Houston 18. 3-point goals_Houston 4-24 (Lida 1-4, Shanklin 3-7, Randle 0-3, Mitchell 0-6, Curl 0-4), Marquette 3-15 (Bowman 0-3, Johnson 1-5, Oliver 0-2, Gales 1-3, Williams 1-2). Rebounds_Houston 34 (Shanklin 8), Marquette 63 (Willenborg 13). Assists_Houston 6 (Lida 2), Marquette 12 (Bowman 3, Williams 3). Turnovers_Houston 16, Marquette 19. Fouled out_None. Total fouls_Houston 23, Marquette 20. Att_1,030.
